BRANDING FOR NON-PROFITS USING NEW AGE STORYTELLING

Abstract:

Storytelling provides vertical alignment with engagement and connectedness, two

important points in philanthropy that can often prove elusive for nonprofit organizations.
Comprehensive data supports this idea and although higher education is the primary focus of the
study, there are evident results to make the recommendation that this will work for other
nonprofit organizations.

Introduction:

Brand Marketers know emotional connection can drive business results and that good
storytelling can be key to building emotional connections. Branding is, essentially, a way of
telling a story about yourself to strangers. Branding your nonprofit boils down to the visual and
written way you communicate who you are and what you do. It’s a way to communicate the
cause you work towards, and the approach you take towards this cause. And the story you tell
depends on many different factors. The colors you pick can help tell your audience if you’re
modern or outdated. A font can show that you’re a caring, hands on nonprofit or a clinical,
research-based organization.

Brand marketers know emotional connection can drive business results and that good
storytelling can be key to building emotional connections. Since time immemorial, stories have
been at the core of our human experience, the tool we use to shape our identities and make sense
of events and the world around us. When told well, stories can inspire loyalty and spark social
movements; they have even been shown to change the very neural pathways in our brains.

Nonprofit storytelling can be a powerful tool to attract and motivate donors. A story can
spur someone to take action because suddenly the cause is more than just an abstract idea—it’s a
real situation affecting real people. Because of the identifiable victim effect, when you put faces
to those being impacted rather than referring to general people groups, supporters can form
genuine connections with your cause and be more willing to help. A deep emotional connection
is a strong motivator to not only donate, but to become the ultimate champion for an
organization: a loyal donor, fundraiser, and lifetime supporter.

Storytelling has been used in organizations since many years, some of the earliest
research in this area dating back to the early 1980s. Since then storytelling has evolved from a
tool to understand and create culture to its uses in sustaining brand management. Research on
this topic is needed in the nonprofit sector, because audiences are aware of being over-marketed
to today and are moving away from organizations that are not transparent and authentic.

Literature review:

Nonprofit brands are visible everywhere.

Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity,
and World Wildlife Fund are some of the
most widely recognized brands in the world,
more trusted by the public than the best-
known for-profit brands.1 Large nonprofits,
such as the American Cancer Society and the
American Red Cross, have detailed policies to
manage the use of their names and logos, and
even small nonprofits frequently experiment
with putting their names on coffee cups, pens,
and T-shirts. A comprehensive review of
academic studies and literature shows
storytelling is a tool used across subsectors
and distributed through multiple channels
(print, web, and social media) to engage
audiences with nonprofit organizations
 A digital story is a multimedia story told through the use of still images or film with a
voice-over providing narration. Storytelling is a tactic in service of a larger goal, so first you’ll
need to be clear about what that goal is.

Why Stories are Important

Stories are more memorable than statistics and they can be “told and retold”. They can be used to
describe unfamiliar scenes in a way that is more engaging than a more straightforward factual
report. The history of storytelling is as old as the human race, and its impact remains as strong
today as it was in Biblical times.

 Stories are universal, crossing boundaries of language, culture and age.

 They mirror human thought, which is important, because evidence shows humans think
in narrative structures.
 Stories define who we are. Identity is forged by the stories we tell ourselves, the ones
 We come to believe, and those we choose to dismiss.

Authenticity in Storytelling

Nonprofits have a history of using press agentry and outlandish marketing techniques to
raise money and gain attention. Press agentry can be thought of as sensationalism-
drawing attention and gaining acceptance through embellishment and was seen most
often in early public relations.

Research Design and Methodology:

Qualitative research designs. A formal, objective, systematic process for obtaining

information about the world. A method used to describe, test relationships, and examine cause
and effect relationships. To gain insight; explore the depth, richness, and complexity inherent in
the phenomenon.

To gain insight; explore the depth, richness, and complexity inherent in the phenomenon.
Qualitative research is defined as a market research method that focuses on obtaining data
through open-ended and conversational communication.
Case study research:

The case study method has evolved over the past few years and developed into a valuable qual
research method. As the name suggests it is used for explaining an organization or an entity. A
case study is a research approach that is used to
generate an in-depth, multi-faceted
understanding of a complex issue in its real-life
context.

University of Notre Dame alumnus Robert P.

McGrath and his wife, Joan, have made a $15
million gift to his alma mater to endow the
University’s Institute for Church Life “For more
than 25 years, our Institute for Church Life has
served as the cornerstone for Notre Dame’s
service to the Church and society through
outreach in theological education, research, faith
formation and leadership development, and the
McGraths have been integrally involved in its development and direction,” said Rev. John I.
Jenkins, C.S.C., the University’s president.

Example1: McGraths endow Institute for Church Life with $15 million gift

An Example1 shows that other nonprofits and universities continue to use the more traditional,
dollars-focused ways of sharing their philanthropy narrative, which can be a barrier to
engagement.

References:

https://www.questionpro.com/blog/qualitative-research-methods/

https://cpb-us-
w2.wpmucdn.com/usfblogs.usfca.edu/dist/9/244/files/2016/05/mcinerneymary_5745095_646234
83_2018-Capstone-McInerney-1-1gou38s.pdf

https://venngage.com/blog/nonprofit-storytelling/

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/br/Documents/technology/Deloitte-a-new-age-
of-storytelling.pdf

https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3242&context=etd

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267826287_The_Role_of_Brand_in_the_Nonprofit_Se
ctor_The_Role_of_Brand_in_the_Nonprofit_Sector

https://news.nd.edu/news/mcgraths-endow-institute-for-church-life-with-15-million-gift/

https://www.classy.org/blog/infographic-nonprofit-storytelling/