Nonprofits face a tough funding landscape. They hope better storytelling will bring more donations

Cindy Eggleton has always believed in the power of a story. But the CEO and co-founder of Brilliant Cities, a Detroit-based early childhood development nonprofit that supports learning in underserved communities, never expected someone to tell hers. “It’s never been about me,” said Eggleton, adding that participating in the Nevertheless: The Women Changing the World documentary series on YouTube was her way of honoring her late mother, Geraldine, who inspired her to speak out and help others in their community. However, as they face an increasingly uncertain funding landscape, nonprofits are focusing more on storytelling in outreach to donors—both big and small—and raising production values for videos and podcasts. “Storytelling is how we’re able to draw people in and get them to connect to a deeper truth about themselves or about the world or a problem that needs to be solved,” said Elevate Prize Foundation CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram. “It’s connecting those issues back to you as a human and not saying, ‘Well, that’s their problem. That’s all the way over there.’ The story allows it to be human.” “But storytelling is not only about reaching viewers, it’s also about having the right message for the right viewers,” said Lance Gould, whose firm works with nonprofits to help them produce their own story-driven content. A Council on Foundations report released last year found that people had positive attitudes toward foundations, but most didn’t really understand how foundations worked. Nicole Bronzan, from the Council on Foundations, said stories that provide more transparency about how donations are used and how those decisions are made help connect people to a nonprofit and its work. “If you’re telling those stories,” she said, “I can only imagine that people will be more inclined to open up their pocketbooks and say, ‘Oh, okay, these are causes that need my support.’” “This is the time that we really do need to figure out how we build empathy through stories and not necessarily saying, ‘You’re wrong or you’re right,” Eggleton said. “You just show the world what can be and what should be.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.