Suzanne Skees

Exponent Philanthropy & Northern California Grantmakers:

Storytelling: Empathy to Action

Our storyWhy stories?Types of storiesTips for storytellingImpact of storiesFull-circle investment

WHO: 30 family members across 3 generationsWHAT: End poverty worldwideWHEN: 2005?WHERE: U.S. and 125 countriesWHY: An equal-opportunity worldHOW: Education and job creation: 1. Seed-funding innovative self-help programs

2. Storytelling for social change

Why do we invest in storytelling?1. Our partners are too small, busy, and humble.2. Advocacy works best when it comes from someone else.3. Data comes to life when proved out through real human

experience.

Source: The New York Times and OneSpot.com: “The Science of Storytelling.”

7 Types of Stories to Tell:

1. Donor2. Founder3. Program4. Client5. Partner6. Investor7. Impact

7 Types of Stories to Tell:1. DonorWorking Mother News: Microfinance

2. Founder

The School Friends: An Unlikely Pair Build Educational Opportunity

3. Program

Rwanda Now: Healing the Grandchildren of the Genocide

4. Client

Giving Birth in a Graveyard: Mobile Midwife Client Leticia

5. Partner

Pay-It-Forward Leadership Training Program Transforms Youth into Visionaries

6. Investor

The Dirt on Seed-Funding Social Change

7. Impact

Scooping International News While Empowering Women

7 Ways to Get People to Care:1. Set goals: who, what, why.2. Tell the whole story: the good, the bad, the ugly.3. Study ahead: place, people, and program.4. Aim for your specific audience (no “general”).5. Bring readers along with you: sensory details.6. Establish rapport and humor with your subject.7. Secret sauce: find “connective tissue” between story

+ reader.

Impact of stories

Impact of stories

Full-Circle Storytelling:From Stories to a Book That Funds Jobs

myjobstories.org

Stories and tips: skees.org

My Job book: myjobstories.org

Suzanne Skees831-334-7622