Sonya Campion from the Campion Foundation, a US philanthropic foundation, urges us to tell our stories in a way that will provide helpful context for donors.

“Stories are the foundation of good fundraising,” says Campion. “We have to be able to tell good stories about what our mission does, what would happen if our mission wasn’t in place - I call those deficit stories. But I think it is important to always balance those stories [with a business case].”

Campion says donors not only want to know what you are doing (the programme); they also want to know the context. You can help them understand that by telling them:

• What environment you are operating in.
• What other people are doing what you do.
• What your niche in the community is.
• What your potential is.
• What your budget is.
• What your limits are.

Importantly, Campion says, we must understand that donors give to organisations because they meet needs, not because they have needs. She relates an example she read about, of a food bank that needed bigger facilities. Instead of telling the story of how they needed a larger warehouse, the food bank told the story of how the city had a hunger problem. If they had a centralised facility they could get more food in and more food out. So, it was about meeting that city’s hunger problem, not about raising money for a warehouse.

“Sometimes we are telling the warehouse story and not the community needs story,” she says. 

See the difference?

This information was taken from a presentation from Sonya Campion filmed by 501 Videos, a US company that creates professional videos for not-for-profits. You can sign up on their website for ‘Monday Movies’ - every Monday you will be emailed a link to a video clip with different fundraising professionals talking about how they raise money/awareness. It is free for their basic service.