Latest / We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits / 437. Storytelling for Good (Part 1) - Jon McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE

Transcript

437. Storytelling for Good (Part 1) - Jon McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE · We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Hey, I'm John.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: And I'm Becky.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: And this is the We Are For Good podcast.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: So welcome to the Good Community.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: We're nonprofit professionals, philanthropists, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: So let's get started.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Happy Friday, my friend.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: What's going on?
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Happy?
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Friday, it's just us.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: It's been a while since it's been just us.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: I know We're kicking off a little mini-series, just the two of us, and we're talking about one of our softball kind of things, like the thing that really we love to talk about, and not just because we like to talk, but because we know of the transformation that is behind storytelling.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: We just feel like it's this secret sauce.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: you know that our nonprofit friends can pour into and create connection unlike really anything else.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: So that's why we love storytelling and that's what we're going to be doing the next couple of weeks.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: And I mean it is our third core value.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Our third core value is to simplify, humanize and tell a good story, and we've been beating that drum since we launched the podcast almost three years ago.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: And we get your questions all the time about how do we storytell?
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: well, how do we get to the heart of what the storytelling is?
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: that so much so that it's going to connect with the listener or the viewer on the other end.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: And so today we're just rolling up a lot of the questions that we get often in the special AMA series, because we want to dispel the myths of storytelling.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: We want to go deeper into what really connects with someone on the other end.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: And guess what?
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Because you are in mission work, because you see joy and transformation on the front lines, let me just tell you my friend congratulations, because that is the kind of content that is trending.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: This is the kind of content that people want right now.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: So we're going to teach you how to lean into it, and we got a special little surprise at the end.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: We're going to announce too.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: So I love when we get questions in our community or even in our DMs or just when we get to.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: We've seen a lot of people recently just being on the road at different events and whatnot, and storytelling comes up a lot.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, this is a piece that I think everybody's thinking through.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Everybody wants to be experts at this, but we're all trying to be students, and so Becky and I had a lot of fun pulling together just some of the questions we've heard over the last few months, because we wanted to give you a jumping off point and hopefully give you some ideas to bring back to your team and start better conversations around it, and so I'm really jazzed to jump in.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: You want to go with the first one, bea?
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Okay, I love this question because we get it all the time And it is who is the hero?
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: Who is the hero in this story?
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: Is it the donor, Is it the beneficiary, Is it the storyteller?
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: Is it the mission?
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: And we kind of have a unique take on this because I think in the sector you've seen seasons where the donor is the hero and then there's been a swing to the other side that says, you know, the storyteller is the hero, But the reality for us is that the collective is the hero.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we didn't even like compare notes when we were both thinking through how we would answer this question and we both arrived at the same place, which is really kind of interesting.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: We had different words with it.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: But before I go into you know kind of my piece of what I think about this, a couple table stakes that I feel like we always have to talk about when we're talking about storytelling.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Is that, first, ethical storytelling is the only way.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: So before we start to label anybody as a hero or not a hero, if you're centering ethical storytelling and we have a whole playlist on our website about this, it's been a thread of our conversations, it's been a trend we've lifted If you're centering dignity and you're sign centering, painting whoever you're serving, whoever you're helping in the greatest possible light And there's a lot of nuance with that the words that we choose, the way that we photograph, the way that we story tell it's all about consent, all these kind of things.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: If that's based at the beginning like that's a minimum, you got to be doing right.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Secondly is really flipping the storyline on its head of this hero victim narrative, and we went deep with Travis Nning, who's one of the I think most great thought leaders on this back on episode 146.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: So I'd point you to that, but it's really incumbent upon us to really flip the narrative that we're never telling.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: A story that somebody is swooping in and fixing everybody's problems is like the savior.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: It tends to perpetuate a lot of the systems that we're trying to append with our work And so the more that we story tell in that vein or even have those conversations in that vein the power dynamics of funding in that same way it's holding us back.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: So I think, as table stakes which that conversation is really funny because I always think of like steak, which grosses me out.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, please give me a good.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Of those two things of ethical storytelling and really flipping the hero victim narrative are like imperative before we even start to think about who's the hero, and so I wanted to add that piece to the conversation.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Okay, i'm like a bobblehead to that, because the reality is, what if impact was the hero?
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: because that's what we're chasing the most.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: But it simply cannot happen without the collective pouring into the cause into a myriad of ways, and we're not just talking about financial ways, you know.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: But if we're going to chase impact and maximize it to its fullest extent, yes, we're going to need a lot of capital and resources to get there, but we're also going to need a lot of amplification.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: We're going to need people sharing that story within their networks.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: We're going to need them pouring in with their own story.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: We're going to need them, you know, fundraising in their community.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: We need volunteers, we need advocacy.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: And the impact is not just the financial impact, it is the collective impact of what we can do to help human beings, to help fund the nonprofit, to help get to the root of the cause.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: And the reality is it's going to take a collective approach.
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: And I just wanted to lift this really great quote that we had from John Buddington.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: He was on episode 426, which just happened recently.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: And we're talking about a guy who understands language in words.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: He has a degree in it And we love their product over at Mythos, And his quote is a donation is a transaction.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: It's a really easy thing to do, But a very good story helps people fully invest in the idea that they have the agency here and they can make the world a better place.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: So when your story telling, we need to create such a human story that people see themselves not only within the story but see themselves as a catalyst to get to that maximized impact.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: I mean the way you just worded that, becky, just makes me think of the conversation that started off this week.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: We were talking to Amy Freitag at the New York Trust And she was describing the community foundation framework as just this tapestry of donors and organizations and all these people coming together to make this tapestry And it's like that's the story.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: And I think of the collective you know you get to interview the Emerson Collective and that interview is coming up soon.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: It's like the power of collective in the moment that is the hero That's centers with us saying community is everything, talking about community.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: you can't show up in community and be like, hey, i'm the hero over here.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: It's like, no, we're all together in this And it levels the playing field and it makes it so much better.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: So I think it's not easy but it's worth it to figure out the way to make the impact and the collective, the hero of your story.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: No-transcript.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, i think about that third core value simplify, humanized, tell a good story.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: And I'm telling you that if you can do that, it will ultimately lead right into our second core value, which is you are playing that long game, great storytelling, seeing people for who they are, valuing what they can bring to the table.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: You are going to get not just a donor, you're going to get a believer in your mission, and storytelling is a really cool vessel to be able to do that.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: Love it.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: I love talking about storytelling.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: So here we are.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: It's so great.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: I'm having the best time.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to lie.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Okay, this question came up when we were presenting a live workshop.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: We were talking about storytelling and we were, you know, in a room of probably a hundred people or so, and we're talking about interviewing people because we believe in the power of interview, obviously, right, i mean, this is episode what 450 something.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: At this point, the power of gathering people's stories and sharing those lived experiences gives so much heart and gives so much of a heartbeat to our mission.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: And so I remember going around and we're trying to help people, identify great people to interview, and there's a whole process for this And we'll share a little bit about that at the end today.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: But someone raised their hand and said I don't, i don't know who to ask.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: I'm looking at my board members and there's not one person that I feel like I could go ask for their personal story.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: My heart broke when she said that.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: That question B.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: I think you took the floor like right away because we felt the empathy of like, ah, the moment that you don't feel like you got a person that you can go interview at just even the easiest level, what do you do if you really feel like, who do I go?
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: What story do I tell if I don't know where to start?
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: Well, first of all, that does not mean you're doing something wrong.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: I think I want to say that like right away.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: That doesn't mean that you have done anything wrong.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: It just means that maybe we don't have the right people on the front line that are going to be the greatest advocates, or maybe they're serving in a different capacity.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: But I remember telling this woman go back to your values When you think about your organizational values.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: Do those board members, do those volunteers, reflect those values?
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: If not, that's a pretty clear signal to you and to your organization.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: Maybe we should find some better alignment.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: Even if that's the case, let's talk about practically what you could do.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: I think the starting point for this is let's look at engagement signals that are in your data.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Sorry, we're from Oklahoma.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: We say data, not data.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: This is really about looking for things that are not just financial flags up in your data.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: How are people engaging with you?
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: Are they opening your emails?
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Are they coming to your events?
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Are they following you on social media?
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: Have they given more than twice, maybe once or twice a year?
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: What is their consistency of given?
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: The things you're going to be looking for is loyalty opens, clicks, comments, volunteers, people who are peer fundraisers, people who tag you on social media or share your story.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: Those right there show a really elevated sense of someone raising their hand, saying I'm proud to be aligned with this organization.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: We're really looking for those believers, those rabbit fans.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: I have to tell you all, in a world where it is so easy and so normalized now to just reach out to somebody through DMs or maybe through email, you can just say, hey, really love what you're doing to support our mission.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: We're really grateful.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: Would you mind taking a moment and just answering this question, which is what does our mission mean to you?
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: Or why do you give, or tell me why you're so passionate?
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: Any one of those three could be a starting point to one, a really great story, to an incredible byproduct of your deepening your relationship with a rabbit fan, and you're about to learn a lot.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: If they choose not to my gosh, that's an opportunity to say you know what?
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: thank you, thank you for what you've already done and we appreciate how you show up for us.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: If they do decide to step forward and share that story, won't le do you have an opportunity here, not only in marketing, but for the way that you're gonna cultivate and move them through your moves management process.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: Okay, i love everything you said be and it's.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: It's hard to even top what you just said, because i think it points to it's really building a culture of storytelling at your organization.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: You know, and i think there's a lot of ways to carry this out, but if you really do have a culture that it's normalized to tell story, that's why you know you get from us that there's always the data piece, that's that really matters, but there's the gut or the heart, or the head and all these kind of things converging.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: So if you listen to the podcast, you know we're gonna encourage you that if you're really trying to build a movement, it's not just about the money.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: You know, in 2023, when this is being recorded here this strongly, it's not just about the money and building any kind of movement, solving any kind of you know, worldwide crisis that maybe we're pouring into, and so having a culture of storytelling that at every part of the organization it matters, everyone's story matters, everyone's perspective matters.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: It starts to be this thing that's normalized and we think it's beautiful when we see people putting a qr code on a mailer encouraging someone to share their story, or they're putting a blank text box after you donate saying, hey, would you mind sharing why you gave today or what's your story?
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: But when you're just always asking for those stories, it gets less odd to personalize and to bring us personal story into the beginning of a board meeting or before you start your huddle board or whatever your meetings look like.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: Add and thread those personal stories.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: You know we had the pleasure of working for Oklahoma State University foundation for a period of time and our CEO, kirk, really did this so well.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: You know there was never a moment as the CEO, he could have gotten up and talked about the financials or the giant endowment or all these things right.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: But what did he do?
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: he would message Becky because Becky has a steel trap mind.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: I need a story and I would get these emails can we talk about this?
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: or text, and it'd be like hey, about to go talk to somebody, i need a story.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: And it'd be like, oh crap, like where's the scholarships to do to?
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: where's a really great story about something a professor's done.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: But man did it work.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: It worked and became this thing.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: It became a cultural thing that if Kirk was going to talk you would know that he was going to bring a story.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: And don't you want to be that organization?
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: because it does.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: It gives us all things to walk out of and share with people.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: We're not going to remember with the numbers, or at least I won't But I may remember that student's name or that student story and so threading this and building a culture of that is you know just where it's at.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: And here's the positive thing There's a lot of friends out there with software tools that make this incredibly easy and be.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: I think we made a little mini list here because there's lots of ways to plug in.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Let's go through a couple of them.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, i think there's some that are free and there's some that are super affordable and y'all do not be afraid of this tech, of the storytelling tech, because it is going to improve your life.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: When I think of People who are putting it together so well, so beautifully I'm thinking about memory fox.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: I'm thinking about Dave Norris over at proof packed.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: I also think check out overcher in mythos.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: I just mentioned John buddington below and he is the one that took all that knowledge about language And about storytelling imported into this fabulous product that's gathering stories over at mythos and activating them into campaigns and into endowment reports and into Any sort of storytelling vessel through your impact reporter annual reports.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: And there's so many great tools to use.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: And I want to give one more pro tip for this if you're gonna share A story from your rabbit fan, celebrate that story, tag them in it.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: When you share it, talk about what an impact they're making on what you see in them.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: That rabbit fan will feel so seen, so appreciated and proud of what they've done and I can guarantee you they're gonna want to chase that high even more.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: And you know one thing I want to lift into this ethical storytelling pieces were trying to find the right people first whose story we want to tell.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: I think Becky straw said it really really well.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: She's the founder of the adventure project, of whom John is a proud monthly donor, and we are all obsessed.
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: But an episode two, twenty.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: She says every person on our website, we know their name, we know their story and we have a sign waiver that we are allowed to share their story.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: And that sort of co building really gives you consent on all angles to share that story and make sure that everyone is feeling good about its amplification.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: I'm so glad you lifted them because I think the adventure project is such a great job of painting in the most beautiful light and connecting you to people story through all the channels that they show up.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: So love lifting them and go follow their email list if you want to.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: Really Great storytelling threaded email list welcome series to follow to.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: Okay?
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: so, as we kind of round out, there's a couple of questions.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: I hope again.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: We love to hear your feedback on these.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: These.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Some of these Have not a clear, right answer, but there's a lot that we can pour into this.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: We want to hear your thoughts on this.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Show up in the community or tag us on linkedin on what you thought about this episode.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Here's the thing we talk about storytelling a lot.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: We believe in the power of storytelling a lot.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: People ask us about storytelling a lot, so there's a moment when we kind of sit around, look at each other.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Like You know, we should really pull together the frameworks that we have found that have worked for us if you're new to the podcast that you and I have worked together for 20 years, plus Most of that in the nonprofit world using the power of storytelling to not only just grow our marketing of the awareness of our mission, but also to drive fundraising campaigns and to be the backbone of these campaigns.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: And so what we've done is we have put together a four week power course, really called storytelling for good, and we want to invite you in.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: This is a premium offering from we are for good.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: We're putting a ton of our own thoughts on this, our own frameworks in this and giving you the tools to where you'll feel confident as a storyteller and I just gotta say I was not a confident storyteller, you know, and I think I had to do a lot of learning and growth mindset that we talk about on this podcast And over time you realize, no, truly, we're all storytellers, will have the ability to storytell and it is a superpower that we want to help you unlock.
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: So storytelling for good is coming out and we're just like really jazzed about it and once you inside, once your whole team inside.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: Okay, i gotta tease it a little bit, because this is not your grandma's storytelling course and of course, you know that this community Is all about.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: How do we get activated, how do we learn, how do we put it into practice.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: So we're gonna have an actionable workbook that goes with it.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: We're gonna provide templates to make it easy to find and craft these stories.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: You're gonna get live coaching sessions.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: We're gonna create a year long syndication plan, give you tool kits that include interview questions, checklist And just all kinds of things to help you just lock arms with your community so we can lift story as a cultural norm for all of us.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: So we're gonna be diving into that.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: We're gonna be sharing more about it over the next coming weeks.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: But we are jazzed because, john, it only took us like three years to put a course together and to figure out what the heck we do So and we want to learn in community with you.
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: So you're gonna hear a lot of Insights that we've learned from storytelling on the podcast.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: We're bringing a lot of our friends along, people who can teach this really well, people who can implement it, tech that's gonna help you get there faster.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: So let's start.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: Let's like lock arms together.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: Let's build some storytelling.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: Let's go change the world and bring the best of what's happening in our mission To the world, because we want to find our rabbit fans and our believers.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: I love it.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: so, okay, how do you get into this course?
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: great question, thank you.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: It's we are for good dot com slash storytelling and when you go there full disclosure you're gonna add your email address which is gonna put you officially on the wait list, and then it's gonna direct you to a page where you could literally check out today, if you want to get on this course before it goes public, the prices discounted right now, if you want to join us.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: But go to we're for good dot com slash storytelling and you know we're gonna do this in community style you're gonna meet incredible people from the we're for good community that want to grow their own storytelling muscle and you get to hang with us this summer.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: Okay, so we are only 50% of the way through this Friday series.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: It's really diving deeply into storytelling.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: So come back next Friday.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: We're gonna talk about how to prep for interviews, how to balance what your board and executive director expects with what the storyteller expects, and just some tips for collecting storytelling.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: So come back, we're gonna give you all the goods and let's like build better storytelling together.
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: I believe we can do it.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: We got your friends.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: Hey friends, thanks so much for being here.
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: Did you know?
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: we create a landing page for each podcast episode with helpful links, freebies and even shareable graphics.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: Be sure to check it out at the link in this episode's description.
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: You probably hear it in our voices, but we love connecting you with the most innovative people to help you achieve more for your mission than ever before.
• 20:42
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• 20:49
  Speaker 3: It's free and you can think of it as the after party to each podcast episode.
• 20:51
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• 20:52
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• 20:53
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• 20:59
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• 21:01
  Speaker 3: Thanks, friends.
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: I'm our producer, julie Comfort, and our theme song is Sunday by Remy Borsbu.