The Pentera Blog
Nonprofits Are Dissatisfied with Their Storytelling Abilities
While storytelling has become one of the most popular marketing and fundraising strategies for nonprofit organizations, the vast majority of charities are dissatisfied with both the quality and quantity of the stories they produce—and the biggest reason is limited staff resources.
Those are the key findings of a study by Georgetown University's Center for Social Impact Communication in conjunction with the Meyer Foundation based in Washington, D.C. The center and foundation reviewed more than 150 organizations and conducted surveys, in-depth interviews, and workshops with some of them.
The study, Stories Worth Telling, found that 96% of nonprofits agreed that stories are an important part of their organizations' communications, but that:
- Only 23% were satisfied with the quantity of stories they produced.
- Only 39% were satisfied with the quality of stories they produced.
Here are the barriers to effective storytelling cited by the nonprofits:
| Percent of Nonprofits Citing Storytelling Barriers | |
| 31% | Limited staff resources |
| 16% | Budget |
| 11% | Difficult mission to convey |
| 11% | Concerns with privacy/confidentiality |
| 7% | Process/coordination issues |
"Very few organizations have a firm grasp of what good storytelling truly is and how it can be leveraged to improve outreach and fundraising," the center stated on its Web site in introducing the study. "This is especially true among smaller organizations, which often lack the resources and staff to invest in developing the required processes and fostering in-house expertise."
Solution
Pentera offers a story writing service for donor and impact stories that has proved popular with clients. The service is free for clients who complete a story questionnaire; there is a small fee when Pentera conducts an interview. Here is a typical client comment:
"Pentera's donor stories are wonderful. Something that would take me or someone else here weeks to do is quick, accurate, and beautifully written."
The complete Stories Worth Telling report is available here.
