I once worked with a client who was doing everything right. They had a clear mission and their content was broadly pretty good. But they weren't hitting their donation targets, and recent campaigns had underperformed on engagement and conversion. Through our audience engagement work, we connected with people who had particularly inspiring stories. We brought those stories into the website, and it had a huge effect on engagement. Suddenly, real faces were at the forefront of the campaign instead of stock photos.
Storytelling is essential for charities. It humanises the cause, resonates with your supporters and makes them want to help others through your charity. In this post I cover why storytelling matters, why authenticity is so important, how to craft clear messages, and the power of user-generated content.
Why storytelling matters for charities
Stories build an emotional connection with your audience, so you're top of mind when they think of the cause you're fighting for.
The charity sector is crowded and online content is churned out at a fast pace. How can your storytelling set your charity's work apart from the next one?
Facts and figures are all well and good, but it's stories we remember above anything else. Putting a face to the name is incredibly powerful.
Storytelling content can also be reused: the core story can become a podcast, a video, graphics, blog posts or newsletter content.
The importance of authenticity
Authenticity builds trust. I can't stress enough how important it is to be authentic, transparent and real. Your audience is savvy, and they'll switch off if they constantly see stock photos.
Save the Children does this nicely by threading images of real children through its landing pages. The way the content is written is noteworthy too. It's straight to the point: problem, intervention, result. It's easy to exaggerate in storytelling, but that comes across as disingenuous, and your audience will pick up on it and switch off.
Craft clear and impactful messages
It's very easy to get lost in the creative direction of storytelling, whether that's the video format or the design of the page. But it's important to think about the core message behind your story.
This could be as simple as one or two lines: "X was struggling with X. With our help, they got the support they needed to find X, Y and Z. You can too, by calling our dedicated health advisers."
One simple message that sticks is more powerful than many messages diluted across multiple platforms.
It's the same for calls to action. With one clear call to action, there's no room for doubt about how people can get involved. It also makes success much easier to track and measure.
Videos and pictures are essential to good storytelling
Imagery is so powerful when it comes to sharing other people's stories. Here are a few tips:
- Portraits or self-portraits, created by the person or by their friends and family, can be a powerful way to give creative control to the person being depicted. I think of the many portraits I've seen at the National Portrait Gallery with a real, raw style, because they were created by the subjects themselves or people very close to them.
- If your subjects would rather not be identified, you can commission an illustrator. Visuals like CAFOD's comic book style page tell the story of Fabiano, a boy in Uganda who has to collect water three times a day. It's simple and beautiful.
Whichever approach you take, start to define your visual language and how it will show up across your website, social media and newsletters.
User-generated content is powerful
Shelter has been a trailblazer in using storytelling to raise awareness of homelessness. In the video below, they ran a series of workshops to create a poem, read by nine speakers who had all been affected by homelessness in some way. That adds to the authenticity of both how the poem was written and how it was spoken.
It's really important not to steer the ship too heavily. One of the best things about user-generated storytelling is that you approach it like a journalist: how can you amplify this person's experience in a way that's honest and true to them?
Measuring the impact of your storytelling
As with any content, set specific goals for what you want to achieve. For example:
- increase awareness
- increase donations
- grow your volunteer base
For each goal, be clear on how you'll track engagement, whether that's video views or the number of reposts.
For content like videos, it can be worth showing it to some of your target audience to see how it might affect their giving. Creating ways for your audience to give feedback online also works well, whether that's a feedback box on your website or a community manager responding to comments on social media.
Storytelling is a must-have for any charity
Storytelling through your website and social channels is an incredibly powerful way to give your content a human voice and amplify the great work you do. It needn't be a big, scary process. It's an opportunity to amplify your message. Once you're clear on your message and your call to action, there's space to get creative and do something really exciting.
I've spent over 15 years delivering digital content and strategy for charities, the public sector and larger organisations. I understand the complexities of organising and improving content, and I break it down into something small and actionable. Book a free intro call to get started.
First published on Cultivate Your Content, 23 August 2024.