Research shows that people want to connect with an organization before considering investing in them. One of the first places they go to do that is the organization’s website. When there, they are in search of understanding more about the organization and its mission. So, how can your nonprofit organization connect with the donors and volunteers coming to your website? 

In a single word…storytelling. Powerful storytelling can captivate the reader, guide them through a situation and motivate them to help make a difference. How is it possible to do all these things with storytelling on a website? 

In this post, I’m going to break it down into a 3-step process for developing a powerful story that can motivate website visitors into acting (donate, volunteer, sign up for newsletter, etc). Let’s look at each of them in depth to see what it takes to create effective stories online. 

Build Up Their Emotions 

When we watch movies with people, like Jason Bourne, who are on the hunt for truth and justice we find ourselves holding our breath waiting to see what will happen next. Will Jason finally know the truth about who he is? Will he be able to get justice for what was done to him and those he loved? The effective storytelling keeps us captivated and wanting to know what will happen next. 

Harvard Business Review did a study on the impact stories have on the brain. What they discovered that “in order to motivate a desire to help others, a story must first sustain attention – a scarce resource in the brain – by developing tension during the narrative.” 

Those same motivating emotions can be created by a nonprofit. For example, if your organization focuses on helping abused children get their lives back after the experience. Telling your visitors about the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of children your organization helps every year can absolutely help website visitors see how much you make a difference… but will it build the emotions needed for motivating action? 

Take that same organization and instead tell about a little girl named “Sally” (please keep in mind, this is not suggesting you use a real name) who, like 1 in 4 other girls under the age of 18, was abused by someone she knew. Telling her figurative story creates a clearer image to website visitors of the experiences these children go through. The same story creates more sympathy in the reader, making them more interested in helping the organization make a difference for those other children like “Sally.”  

Create Opportunity to Become a Hero 

When watching a movie, we have seen time and time again how there’s always a hero to fix whatever problem/tragedy there is in the story. Without the hero, who is going to save the people and defeat the bad guy? 

Stories used on a website to tell about the work done by the organization also need a hero… except that hero should be the reader, not the organization. 

I know what you’re thinking… 

Shouldn’t my organization be the hero because we are the ones coming in and helping “Sally” get past this horrible experience she’s gone through? To “Sally”, yes you definitely are the hero, but she’s not the main reader of your website. Your main readers are likely going to be donors and volunteers. 

By giving the hero power to the reader you are encouraging them to act. 

Instead of thinking of your organization as the hero, think of it as a guide for the reader. You are here to guide the reader through the situation, so they know what’s at stake. Once they understand the situation, your organization tells the hero what they can do to save the day. 

Show How They Can Be the Needed Hero 

Now that your readers know the story about “Sally” and you’ve told them there is need for a hero…all that’s left to do is to show how they can become the hero. 

This is where it becomes important to know what you want to accomplish with your website. Are you wanting to use it for collecting donations? Are you more concerned with increasing your number of volunteers? Whatever the focus, this is your time to transition from telling the story to showing the reader how they can make a difference in the story. 

It’s important that we lead the reader all the way to whatever is the organization wants visitors to do on their website. If the reader isn’t shown how they can become the hero, then they are left to figure out how to do it.  Not showing the next step reduces the amount of readers who take the desired action. Most readers are willing to let you walk them through the story… and, with the help of a powerful story, you can show them how to become the needed hero. 

Conclusion 

Your organization can create a powerful story that guides visitors through your website. By following the 3-step process to developing a powerful story, you can guide readers through to the point of acting. To start your story, you want to generate emotion in the reader. It has been found that tension is the more powerful emotion when it comes to motivating action from the reader. Once the emotions have been created, you want to show the need for a hero. All that’s left is to show them how they can become the needed hero. By following the 3-step process you can effectively show visitors how their help makes a real difference to your organization and its mission.