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The brain is a mysterious organ. Case in point: someone’s brain decided that huge hair bows and rubber neon bracelets would be in style… and that is how the 80s happened.  But I digress.

A complicated mix of factors (both internal and external) lead us to make the decisions we make. Sometimes those decisions, when viewed on the surface, make sense. Sometimes they are counterintuitive.  Sometimes they are downright mysterious.

And frequently, they are really challenging. Especially when it comes to inspiring people to do something like, say, donate money or time.

Case in point: Donor decisions about supporting good causes – which organizations to support, how and to what degree.  You can do all of the right things to communicate your mission to the people who matter: tell a good story and talk about the scope of your impact. And all you get in return is crickets.

Brain science to the rescue! Brain science explains how idiosyncratic the human mind can be. In creating a call-to-action for donors, focusing on the needs of a single, prototypical individual actually generates more engagement than focusing on the needs of a group. You’d think the bigger the need, the bigger the gift. But on the contrary, bigger can be bad. It immobilizes us. There’s simply something more inspiring—and motivating—about the opportunity to impact the life of a single individual…something about the number one.

Johnah Sachs touches on the concept of “human scale” as it relates to storytelling and engagement in his book Mobilizing Generation 2.0: a practical guide to using web 2.0.

Christopher Hsee, a psychological scientist at the University of Chicago, is studying this phenomenon, which he calls “scope insensitivity”. Hsee’s research highlights the effectiveness of using impact stories as tools for demonstrating results, and developing appeals based on the experiences of individual service recipients.

Brain science would tell us to keep it simple: connect one potential donor with the opportunity to help one person.

If you’re looking for examples of doing this well, check out See Your Impact. Awesome examples of the power of one!

For any organization, the extent to which its story is effective can be gauged by how often it is told. That means you won’t always be the one doing the telling. If you were the only one telling your organizational story, you’d be completely exhausted! You want a story that is so memorable and repeatable that people adopt it as their own.

Donors, board members, employees and volunteers each have their own reasons why they care about the work of your organization. When they tell their individual stories (also known as their WHYs) as part of the larger organizational story, it’s kind of like Red Bull but without that jittery feeling—the stories take flight.

Chris Davenport recently published a little gem of a book that is quickly becoming the wind beneath the wings of many a nonprofit story (forgive me, couldn’t resist the Bette Midler reference, what with this year’s musical-filled Oscars still on my mind…). This pocket-size guide, called Nonprofit Storytelling for Board Members, is, as the title implies, definitely great for board members. But don’t let the title lead your astray: the tips it offers are great for all of your people. It teaches:

•three types of stories they need to tell

•the four building blocks of a powerful story

•seven story triggers to keep their listener captivated by the story

•three phrases to engage anybody

•how to structure a story for maximum effectiveness

•how to find great stories

•what types of details to include in their stories

Awesome, right? Get out there and help your stakeholders turn the altruistic goodness in their heads and hearts into messages that inspire others!

You are emotionally involved in your mission. It’s a big part of why you do what you do, right? And as much as that personal connection to mission is a motivating force, it can also work to your disadvantage. Because the people on the receiving end of your communications? They aren’t as invested in your mission. They don’t live it and breathe it every day. It’s your job to get them there.  Caring begins with feeling. Your job, therefore, is to make them FEEL

Consider storytelling an arrow in your quiver, suited for the specific purpose of creating an emotional connection with the people that are important to your mission. And the protagonist is the arrowhead, helping you land that message right in the heart of your donors, board member and volunteers. (Hey. It’s just a metaphorical arrow, so no killing is involved.)

Frequently folks embark on an effort to tell a story and what they end up with falls short – sometimes they go overboard with the data or tell the story from end-to-beginning….talk about a spoiler. Over on her Nonprofit Marketing Blog, Katya breaks down the key elements of winning stories: character, desire and conflict. A great first step is to thoroughly develop your protagonist (kind of like a hero, but with a good dose of ordinariness too). Copyblogger has a great piece about effective protagonist development. And if you want to have a little fun with character development, check out what Pemco has done with its “We’re a Lot Like You” series. For those of us living here in the Northwest, it’s nearly impossible to leave that site without a self-identified persona.

And of course, because your story is a pitch, or is leading to one, watch out for those pitchfalls.

Let me tell you a story: there once was a hare who bragged about his speed. A tortoise grew tired of the boasting and challenged the hare to a race. Oh, you’ve heard that story before? Maybe you could recite it from memory. That’s the magic of storytelling.

Since before folks were rubbing sticks together and hoping for a little spark, stories have been used to pass on lessons and values… the important stuff. And to think it was done without the benefit of the interwebs.

You have a story to tell and people who want to hear it. You have characters, plots and perspective. You might even have some data to help you make your point.

Wondering how to get started? Pamela Grow has some great ideas for fundraisers and her tips can help you find your stories regardless of your role.  Katya Andresen, Alia McKee, and Mark Rovner offer some great storytelling tips in Lisa Simpson for Nonprofits and, as an added bonus, they talk specifically about how to sprinkle data into your stories—a common conundrum.

Don’t let all the storytelling hype psych you out. Go slow and steady, just like the tortoise and you’ll get there in due time.

Telling a good story can feel daunting enough. Throw in data and it sounds like an epic challenge—there’s so much data and it’s SO BORING. But using data to tell your story doesn’t have to mean presentations with lots of charts and graphs, or complex narratives that detail the 47 reasons why you do what you do. (Zzzzz…oh sorry, fell asleep there for a minute.) In fact, telling your story with data can –and should—be quite simple. Your audience doesn’t want to look at those pivot tables any more than you do. Your job is to deliver the few pieces of data that best help you tell the story of how you’re having a great, big impact (or being impactful, whichever floats your boat).

One organization that does a great job of this is Splash, which set up a website called “Proving it” telling their impact story with data. Front and center, they present a map showing projects and the number of children with safe drinking water. Boom! Impact story told. This is why Splash’s CEO, Eric Stowe, will be on a panel about ‘Data, transparency and impact’ with Beth Kanter, Jane Meseck and Paul Shoemaker (moderated by yours truly) on February 11. Because they’re the bomb when it comes to this impact story-telling stuff.

You might not be in a position to invest in development of an impact-showing webpage that’s as splashy as Splash’s, but you already have some stories that you tell about people whose lives have been changed by your work (on your website, at your events, in brochures, etc). And there’s data you’re already collecting (in your 990s, Google analytics, evaluations, etc). Connecting the two can put you on the path to becoming a telling-your-story-with-data rockstar.

Check out these other examples of organizations that use a few simple pieces of data to tell a compelling story:

Do Something

ActiveforLife.ca

“Impactful” is officially a word. Yep, it’s jumped from the Urban Dictionary to Oxford Dictionary. What the heck happened here? And who’s to blame? It couldn’t be us, could it?

We live in a culture that is obsessed with accountability. Partly influenced by the availability of data online (and maybe some disappointing politicians…sigh), people hold other people and organizations responsible for doing the things they say they will do.

As mission-driven organizations, you compete every day for the time and money you will use to change the world. So telling your story isn’t just about showing outcomes, it’s about demonstrating impact—it’s about holding ourselves accountable at scale.

You may find it difficult to tell a compelling impact story that will pull at both the headstrings and the heartstrings. It’s a delicate balance: part storytelling, part data-geek. But if you want to show just how impactful your work is, strike that balance, you will.

To see someone who has mastered that balance, check out Hans Rosling’s TED Talk. That guy makes data sing. And while few of us will be on stage sharing “ideas worth spreading” in the near future, we should all be thinking about how we can use data to show the impact we’re having…and the futures we’ll building because of it.