Now with an understanding of why storytelling matters and the elements that make up effective stories, the next step is identifying the types of stories you can tell to advance your goals. Here at Change, we support our clients to build an organizational storytelling culture internally so that the stories they tell externally can move their audiences to action.
For the fourth part of our storytelling series, we will focus on the strategic use of storytelling in organizational contexts, examining the different types of stories that organizations, leaders, and movements can tell about their work and impact. Two of the most common types of stories that organizations tell are origin stories and stories about wins, yet there are so many stories to be told in-between that can bring your audiences along with you on a journey.
Andy Goodman, a speaker, author, and consultant in the field of public interest communications and the director of The Goodman Center, says, “Good stories are always people stories.” When Andy Goodman works with nonprofits, he teaches them six categories of stories that he feels every nonprofit should collect. Below we break down these core organizational story types.
Origin Stories
How did your organization, coalition or initiative get started? Telling a compelling story about your origin situates the beginning of your work in a distinct moment in time. You might include a personal story about your founder/co-founders and their passion about the work. If your organization started in response to a significant event, it might also detail the reason why you decided to form an organization to sustain your work beyond that event. This type of story allows you to paint a clear behind-the-scenes picture of the context and conditions that are the roots of your work.
Why You Exist
Why does the world need us? What is the nature of our challenge? We often tell organizations to get clear about their big “why” so they can lead with their values. This is key so when you tell the story about why you exist, you can frame the nature of your challenge as a threat to the values you share with your audiences. Stories like this help people connect the dots around the problem your organization is working to solve and the specific solutions you are leading.
How You Stand Out
How does our organization stand out from others through your unique approach? Consider what makes your organization unique in how you operate, whether you’re a multi-racial power-building coalition or a foundation that practices trust-based philanthropy. There’s a story you can tell about how you came to that approach or how it directly benefits the community you serve, which can help position you among your audiences and build your brand. This type of story can also help you become a go-to source and model that inspires organizations within your ecosystem to adopt a similar approach.
People Stories
Who are the remarkable people who are part of your ecosystem? These are stories about the people who make up your organization that help your audiences see how together you are proactively living your values. The founders or executive directors of organizations play important roles and are often the first to be positioned as thought leaders. It’s also key to highlight members of your team no matter what role they play. A story about how someone on staff started as a member or volunteer can help show your commitment to a leadership pipeline to grow the movement. These could be stories of the people you serve and impact, or the partners in the ecosystem you have built to carry out your mission. By telling stories about the people who make your work possible, you showcase the power of a leaderful ecosystem.
Wins and Impact
What is the impact your organization has made on real people and communities? Highlight the wins, big and small, that exemplify the impact of your work. This could include the direct and material impacts made in your community as well as the influence your work has made nationally. Consider concrete policy wins, direct service impact, leadership development, dollars you’ve moved toward the communities who need it most, and the shifts you are making in terms of narrative change. As much as possible, use the stories of real people to bring your impact to life.
Lessons Learned
How are you striving to improve? What have you learned from setbacks or failures? How has it changed how you work and increased your effectiveness? Telling stories about how you sometimes fail and what you learned from it can inspire and support others. With honesty and humility, we can surface challenges that may be shared and help build bridges for connection or collaboration. A story about shifting internal practices could help your audiences understand the necessary choices you made and the external impact that strengthened your work overall.
Future Vision
What will the world look like if you succeed? Imagine years from now what is possible when you achieve your goals as an organization. Stories about how the world could look like when your organization succeeds grounds you in the ongoing work, giving you purpose and drive toward your vision and aspirations. These stories are one of the most important types to help bring people along your journey and help them dream bigger to see brighter futures ahead.
We hope these examples and question prompts help you think about the broad range of stories you can tell as an organization. None of these story types follow a specific formula and must be adapted to the context and framed thoughtfully from a perspective that highlights the most important and relevant aspects. To advance racial and social justice, we must craft stories that can connect emotionally to our audiences to win real systems change and transformation.
In the next and final part of this storytelling series, we’ll go deeper into the “how” by walking you through how to build an organizational culture that values and nurtures storytelling, some best practices for an ethical storytelling approach that values that storyteller and their story, as well as practical insights for establishing processes to collect, curate, and disseminate stories to maximize their reach and impact.