The Power of Origin Stories

Dive into how storytelling can transform your fundraising efforts, turning perceptions of affluence into compelling narratives of purpose and participation.

From high-tuition schools, to high-profile political candidates, to non-profits who have high brand visibility - fundraising can be challenging if the outside world already perceives you as "rolling in the dough." We all know that is a very simplistic perspective to have, but humans tend to make big generalizations when trying to decide whether to part with their hard earned cash in the form of a donation.

With the amount of organizations, groups, individuals, etc. all asking for money on all the various media channels, it's hard enough to even catch the attention of your target audiences, let alone convince them to give. You need to find a way to capture their attention, compel them to engage, inspire them to give and then nurture them into a lifelong supporter.

One of the best ways to break through these obstacles is to lean into authenticity and tell your stories.

Just because you're a top tier edu charging top tier tuition fees, or a self-made billionaire running for political office, that is just one part of your story, and not likely the most important one. But if you're not out there explaining how you got to be a top-tier anything, or sharing how the continued support will impact what you're able to do going forward (and who you will be able to help), that will be the only story there is to pay attention to.

In the 2023 CauseVox Giving Study, 39% of donors shared that testimonials from beneficiaries would boost their likelihood to donate. Personal stories have an undeniable impact on fundraising efforts.
CauseVox, Crafting Impactful Narratives: The Art of Nonprofit Storytelling

One of the biggest challenges for any fundraising endeavor is to free up the mechanisms that slow or prevent your stories from getting out there. Hello Bureaucracy! Hello Fear! Hello Board of Directors! And once you and your teams are ready to start putting that content out, there is often little time left to develop a real strategy around the content or the campaigns.

You want to be planning your fundraising campaigns as far ahead as possible, giving your teams the time to unearth, edit, resurface, and discover all the stories you're going to want to be sharing as part of these initiatives.

A Study on Donation Behavior: A study presented at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies Research Symposium investigated the effect of personal stories in fundraising appeals. It found that the inclusion of a personal story, compared to appeals without a story, influenced the willingness to donate, particularly among higher-income individuals. This suggests that storytelling can be an effective tool in soliciting donations, though the impact may vary across different donor demographics. The study concluded that a "one size fits all" approach might not be most effective due to the diverse reactions from different groups​ (Richmond Scholarship Repository)​.

In fundraising, there are several archetypes when it comes to content and stories.

There are the origin stories. There are the early days stories. There are the impact stories. And there are aspirational stories about what you want to accomplish in the future.

Each archetype establishes a different kind of relationship with the audience. 

The origin and early days stories build trust and establish a history with the audience. Even if your organization or campaign is doing very well today, it's good to remind people how it all got started, and what it took to keep going and building. That goes for the people involved in these stories as well. 

Campaigns, organizations and groups are not really things we can relate to the same as individual humans. And often there was a lot of grit and determination that got things going initially, and a lot of help from outsiders. There are likely hundreds of untold stories living in these areas.

Also, just because these stories are "old news" to insiders within the organization does not mean that they are old news to new or current donors and supporters. It's very easy to fall into the mindset that all stories must be new ones, but that just removes about 90% of your content from contention in building your audiences. 

The impact stories are essentially your ROI stories - how did the support of past fundraising and donations make a big difference in individual lives? Skip talking about the fancy new buildings that get built on the backs of capital campaigns or the big numbers hit in past fundraising efforts, and instead use those buildings and big amounts as the backdrop to the lives of people that were positively impacted by those efforts.

Most people can't relate to the concept of millions of dollars, let alone millions of anything. It becomes an abstract concept that has little room for emotional connection. Remember that while you and your team might have gotten used to talking in these big numbers when it comes to goals, budgets, etc. - the rest of the world doesn't think that way. They care about the individual stories, the change, the impact on lives and trajectories. 

The aspirational stories - these are the ones that invite the audience in as participant. Show them how they can make a difference by talking about what will be done with the fundraising that will have a direct impact on individuals' lives. Let them know that even a small donation can be a brick in the foundation that will build significant change - and change happens when lives (or animals, or ecosystems, or political systems, etc.) are transformed. These stories can come directly from the people on the front lines of the fundraising efforts - and why they are there in the first place. Telling the stories of those who are actively trying to help your cause, your organization, or your campaign, can be a great way to create a connection for prospective donors and other supporters.

Studies show that storytelling makes a big impact. Network for Good and Vanessa Chase of The Storytelling Non-Profit surveyed more than 400 nonprofits about their storytelling practices and found that 55% saw improved fundraising results.
 DonorBox, Tell the Perfect Fundraising Story for Your Campaign

Humans are moved to action by stories, and we use them all the time to direct our actions and attention, as well as that of others.

We know our ten bucks won't likely stop global warming, but we would still like to know what that ten bucks is likely to help accomplish. We want to know the specifics, the details, the whole story. We want to feel part of the story.

You're still going to have to chase those high-value donors and keep nurturing tomorrow's version of today's donor. In the meantime, you should be compiling, organizing and leveraging your story history to engage with new and small-value donors.

Develop internal campaigns that outline how you will cast your nets, how you will adjust your asks and your stories, and most importantly, how will you care for that donor once they give?

Every small donor represents an opportunity to spread your messages and fundraising activities into their network, if you give them the right elements and right motivations. If you make people feel like they are a part of something, they will amplify it, because they now see their own story within yours.

That is the ultimate secret to great fundraising - being a great storyteller and letting your supporters become part of the next story.