On Tuesday, August 5 F+H Partners hosted a virtual roundtable discussion on storytelling with digital media. Moderated by Amy Funk of F+H Partners, the discussion included guest speakers, Matt Love, Creative Director at LoveCreative, and Leandrew Robinson, Co-Founder and CEO of PosterChild.ai.
Effective storytelling plays a foundational role in nonprofit engagement and fundraising. Our conversation emphasized the importance of a strategic and authentic approach to crafting narratives. Two themes emerged from the discussion: the strategic and systemic collection of stories and the importance of authenticity over polished perfection.
Strategic and Systemic Story Collection: Both speakers stress the need to move beyond sporadic storytelling to a more structured, systematic process. Leandrew's work with Oakland School for the Arts illustrates this, using a form to create a library of alumni stories that can be repurposed for blogs, social media, and fundraising. This approach allows for consistent content creation and improved audience engagement. Matt echoes this by advising organizations to think about stories a year in advance, with staff on the ground actively identifying potential subjects. The idea is to build a "story queue," ensuring a steady flow of content rather than a scramble for new material. This systematic approach also involves using tools like story grading systems and exit surveys to efficiently collect and categorize impactful narratives.
Authenticity Over Polished Perfection: The panelists repeatedly advocate for genuine stories that focus on the organization's impact rather than its operations. Matt advises making the story about the impact on the individual, not the organization itself. They warn against "talking head" videos or overly orchestrated interviews, which can come across as inauthentic and disengage audiences. Instead, they promote "real stories" from program participants, faculty, and staff, emphasizing that consistency and a genuine brand identity build trust. They also see a future where AI can assist in the tedious tasks of synthesizing content, freeing up human capacity to focus on capturing and sharing more of these authentic stories. This commitment to authenticity ensures that the narratives resonate more deeply with audiences and lead to stronger connections and greater support.
Key Takeaways:
Strategic, Systemic Story Collection
- Move beyond ad hoc storytelling; integrate storytelling into processes. Example: Oakland School for the Arts uses forms to build an alumni story library, fueling blogs, social media, and campaigns.
- Plan stories in advance—build a “story queue” with staff identifying subjects proactively.
- Use tools like story grading systems and exit surveys to organize and prioritize impactful narratives.
Authenticity Over Polished Perfection
- Focus on the person’s impact—not the nonprofit’s operations.
- Avoid generic, staged “talking head” videos; opt for “real stories” from participants and staff.
- Consistency and a genuine brand voice build trust and emotional resonance.
Future Role of AI
- AI has potential to streamline time-consuming tasks, enabling humans to spend more energy on capturing authentic stories.
Thank you to everyone who attended this Insights virtual roundtable event! These events offer a regular opportunity to gain fresh perspectives and connect with industry peers. To ensure you don't miss future discussions, we invite you to sign up for our newsletter.
P.S. Want to watch the whole session? Click here.