What Tanqueray can teach nonprofits about storytelling
Did you catch the feature story by Human’s of New York recently?
Stephanie, or perhaps better known by her stripper name Tanqueray, is both all of us and none of us - exactly the type of story Humans of New York tells all of the time.
In this 32 part series released over 7 days over social media - a part of the world was captivated. Literally, each post had nearly 1M+ unique interactions. On the edge of their phones - people waited for a new post - what would become of Tanqueray?
Perhaps what is even more impressive - the story raised over $2.6M!
That’s right. $2.6M+ in less than 7 days from over 127,100 donors making the average donation size around $20.
Of course, this all made me think, “What makes the Humans of New York storytelling so effective?” and then I wondered, “How can nonprofits do this type of storytelling at their own organizations?” Here is what I came up with:
Tell stories of everyday people:
Like I said above, Tanqueray is both all of us and none of us all at the same time. Before this story came out, she was not famous. She wouldn’t have been recognized on the street by anyone. She was a New Yorker and like many of us, had interesting, harrowing, hard, exciting and joyful parts of her life. I will conceded - she may have more thrilling parts to her life story than the average Joe, but I think that can be true of all of us actually. The point is, tell the stories of people you serve. Your community will want to read about them.
Tell stories of transformation:
I teach my students that the stories you want to tell are of people who have come out on the other side and it is because of your organization that they’ve realized their transformation. For example, if you are telling your community about the homeless veteran who came through your program and is now thriving because of the job training and housing you’ve been able to provide him - tell the story of him working at his new job or the pride he gets from sweeping his floor and filling his fridge. Tell that story vs. the story of him first walking through the door of your organization.
Tell stories 1:1
People love to connect and it’s easier to do that when it’s one person, one neighborhood, or one community at a time. Global warming effects the entire world, but it’s overwhelming to ask your donors to try to save the planet. Rather - when you tell the story of one - one person they can support, one dog they can rescue, one policy they can change - it makes the donor feel like their support is actually creating an impact. Tell a story of ONE.
Revisit stories from the past:
Perhaps what made Stephanie’s story so effective is that she was featured previously on Humans of New York and the world had already fallen in love with her. Everyone is invested in her, they care about her, and they want her to succeed. This called priming your donor audience. Disney and Pixar do this well all of the time. Nonprofits, do not. Have a story you’ve told before of someone transformed by your organization? Go back to that story - give your donors an update.
BONUS:
If you are using storytelling to ask for money (which you should be doing!), the more specific you can be in your ask - the better. At the start of Tanqueray’s Human of New York story - the author clearly stated that Stephanie’s (Tanqueray) health had taken a turn for the worst and that he was sharing her story to raise money to be able to allow her live the rest of her life in comfort and with dignity. He explained the costs would be expensive.. He simply said, “If the series adds any value to your life over the next 7 days, please consider making a contribution.” $2.6M+ later - they more than achieved their goal.
People always ask me how I’ve gotten to be an effective storyteller and in turn a successful fundraiser. My answer is twofold: I consume good stories and I practice. The more you do both, the faster and better you too will become at telling the stories of the people you serve and raising resources on their behalf.
What story are you going to tell this week?