Nonprofit Tip: The value of a single story

As an organization, its easy to get carried away selling the good of an organization as a whole. However, studies show that donors have a more favorable reaction when the goals of an organization are expressed using a single story. It seems a donor can step into the shoes of one person much easier than those of a group or entity. When telling a single story, you can go into much more detail about that person—details that hang in your donors’ minds, details that enable them to relate to your mission, details that motivate them to give. The fact is that people form a connection with the story of a single person much easier than that of a collective. And this connection drastically increases their incentive to give.