Storytelling for Capital Campaigns

Written By The Donorly Team

After reviewing Donorly’s Capital Campaigns: Crash Course for Nonprofit Organizations for everything you need to know about planning a capital campaign, you will naturally start to think about effective ways to strengthen the campaign’s messaging. That is where storytelling comes in.

The main goal of any capital campaign is to raise essential funds for a large investment project in a specific period of time, most often for construction or expansion of buildings, or acquisition of land. Storytelling is key to engaging your community of supporters in a meaningful way and inspiring them to make a gift. You want to plan out the timeline of your communication strategy for different phases of the capital campaign, from planning to kick-off to completion and follow up.

Now let us get into the significant role that storytelling can play in each of the key phases of a capital campaign:

  • Planning Phase

  • Quiet Phase

  • Kick-Off

  • Public Phase

  • Completion & Follow Up

Planning into Quiet Phase

Think of this quiet phase as your organization’s worst kept secret. Just because you are in “planning” does not mean you are not actively storytelling to solicit gifts. Here’s why storytelling is important in this phase:

Stories are critical to conveying to the public the purpose of the capital campaign, what it will accomplish, and why timely support is critical. While numbers and statistics are also important to share, emotional appeal is what drives many donors to give.

How to create a story?

At its foundation, a story should have a character, setting, plot, conflict, and theme. Think of your stories as a path to an emotionally engaging experience for your audience, that further motivates them to take action.

What are the ways you can convey a story?

Make videos and visual assets, social media posts, and gather testimonials from beneficiaries to communicate the merit of meeting the capital campaign goal. A variety of communication materials pushed through different channels helps to reach a larger audience.

How do you share stories?

The avenues through which you share stories matter just as much as the content itself. Creating stories that can translate to multiple platforms makes them easier to distribute. Consider how stories can be effectively utilized to communicate to the public on your website and social media pages. Engage current donors with direct mail and connect with prospective donors through other marketing collateral like blog posts, case studies, and testimonials. Make the most of events, like galas or conferences, where there is already a large group of relevant people gathered for your nonprofit. Plug into media outlets and make a press release as an impetus for prospective donors.

When planning the campaign, truly consider who is the intended audience for the messaging you will create. Start thinking about enthusiastic donors or volunteers as potential characters. Gathering their testimonials can be a helpful way to tell a story about an integral part of the community that your nonprofit works with. The conflict should be something your work can solve. Be authentic in your presentation and tap into your network. Focus on what makes each story unique and how that fits into the campaign’s theme.

Kick-Off

Storytelling as a development tool is a major part of kicking off or introducing your campaign to the public! The goal here is to shift from the quiet phase to the public phase in an exciting, but genuine way.

  • Spark curiosity for people who want to learn more or get involved. The story is a way for someone to get an idea of your work and mission.

  • Make it collaborative and transformative. Connect community members to the work your organization is doing by elevating their voices.

  • Motivate and inspire donors.

When you are kicking off the campaign, you want to share stories that clearly illustrate the need for this large investment and what impact it can have on the beneficiaries of the nonprofit. How will this expand your services? How will this benefit your organization’s programs and its participants?

Public Phase

As the campaign is progressing, use storytelling to create excitement and anticipation from your community of supporters. Focus on inspiring and motivating your community and create a buzz around what can be accomplished once you have finished the campaign. People want to know where their money goes and how your nonprofit can use it to transform lives. Stories help to create that buy-in for the vision of the future.

Understanding donor motivation is very useful for telling effective stories. Take note of whether the stories you use are activating extrinsic motivations (with rewards like social recognition and praise) or intrinsic motivations (a feeling from within that is personally gratifying). Having this understanding of a donor’s motivation will help with directing the narrative around the goal. Part of activating a donor’s motivation involves persistence and intensity as part of your storytelling to guide their continued effort and vigor. It is important to help donors, as an integral part of this effort, to feel as if they have more control in where their funds are being used.

In this public phase of your campaign, use your case for support or case statement as a jumping off point for sharing stories related to your work and sharing what you have accomplished. Make sure you have prepared an array of marketing materials and coordinate them across all of your platforms.

Completion and Follow Up

Once your capital campaign has reached its goal and things begin to shift into the celebratory phase, storytelling can be a great way to follow-up with donors. In addition to final reports, storytelling is an excellent way to convey impact. In this instance, the story can serve to humanize the work, making it seem less transactional. You want your donors to feel satisfied with their individual contribution to the overall goal. 

Be creative in how the stories are shared. Once you have captured their attention, give them a reason to stay engaged. Whether it be video clips edited together or a written testimony with accompanying pictures, take the time to meaningfully develop these narratives to create a memorable experience for your audience.

Conclusion

A great story will get your audience hooked on following along as you reach your campaign goal. Cater a narrative that champions accomplishments and allows donors celebrate your financial milestones, culminating in the eventual implementation or grand opening of your plan. An excellent story will keep them committed to supporting your nonprofit’s long-term growth. Storytelling is an accessible way to facilitate communication between your nonprofit and donors.

For more information on creative ways to develop valuable relationships between your nonprofit and your community, check out these supporting resources:

The Donorly Team
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