All marketing professionals tell stories in order to sell their products or services. It drives a deeper commitment to a brand by uniting consumers through shared experiences. Nonprofit marketers are no different. In fact, I feel it is even more crucial for nonprofits to be effective storytellers in order to stay viable. Our stories of human impact are, in a sense, our product.
As the leader of a marketing and communications team at a large social service nonprofit, I am responsible for creating meaningful messages that connect critical constituency groups like donors and volunteers with our mission. Truly meaningful messaging not only brings in a donor dollar or volunteer hour, it also creates an opportunity for shared purpose and long term relationships.
That’s why understanding brand strategy is so important. Our organization’s brand voice and tone are two very important factors in helping us communicate our mission. They are just as crucial as our logo or our website. Storytelling is more impactful when written with a clear brand voice and tone. Our brand strategy helps us stand apart from other nonprofits.
We do this is by sharing real-life stories of clients using our services to better their lives. The stories are not about our agency or even about our services. The stories are about our clients. This practice is the central tenant of our brand voice; we strive at all times to talk about our clients, not ourselves. My team writes messaging from the perspective of one person impacted telling another person about their experience with our programs. The one-to-one storytelling makes the messaging feel very personal, engaging, and unique. It is reflective of how people talk to each other.
In developing our brand voice, my team created a list of words we use and words we don’t. It’s important to us that we don’t ever generalize our clients or the situations they are in. Being homeless does not define a person, so we never use words like “the homeless”. We say “people experiencing homelessness.” We don’t want to minimalize them as individuals in any way. We also developed a specific brand tone, one of hope and renewal. Our clients come to us to change their lives for the better and we are proud and humbled to be a part of that restoration. Our storytelling is permeated with that uplifting tone, even when talking about the need for our services. We think this specific brand voice and tone makes our stories more meaningful and our messaging more impactful. The other ways to tell stories are not wrong. Many nonprofits use the more hard-hitting approach. Just think of the heartbreaking ASPCA commercials on television that we all know and love (or not). They definitely tell a story and create an impact. But that is not right for our brand.
Here’s an example. One of our service lines is a safe haven domestic violence shelter. Our victims often come to us fleeing horrific violence and abuse by people who profess to love them. They have been continuously beaten down not only physically, but mentally, financially and emotionally. You may think that describing the abuse inflicted on these victims would be an impactful way to show how a donation to our services could make a difference. But we take a different tact. The stories we tell are about the courage our clients show in leaving their situation and their plans for the future. We don’t dwell on the details of how they came to us. Our clients are working hard to find safety and healing for themselves and their children and we are here to help them. With an impactful call-to-action along with the client’s story, we think prospective donors will want to help as well. And they do.
Establishing a consistent and clear brand voice is a critical element of telling stories. Our shared stories make our agency human. It’s important not to lose that message with a tone that does not resonate with the culture of your programs or the focus of your services. With the right brand voice, you will give prospective donors and partners a face to relate to and a mission to get behind.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/using-your-brand-voice-storytelling-pamela-georgiana-mba
