It’s all about the story.
Effective storytelling is the primary driver behind meaningful action. The business world has known this for decades, as memorable stories, usually displayed in print or video, tug at our heartstrings and compel us to buy a product.
Making the transition to compelling storytelling shouldn’t be that difficult for nonprofits, charities, and ministries. After all, we have great material to work with! The very basis of what we do — good work that helps great causes — is filled with stories of inspiration, courage, positivity, and more. We just need to become better storytellers.
AdWeek recently highlighted some of the best ads of the last year. These are truly remarkable in their ability to communicate and motivate.
Some of these ads come from nonprofits and some from the business world (but all were created by for-profit agencies). The overall trend in all of these is the use of storytelling as advertising. Many of these brands created really incredible films with heartfelt stories and messages – sometimes telling stories that didn’t even directly relate to the brand but were memorable. Film + story is becoming a powerful form of marketing. Nonprofits should be encouraged to try this type of storytelling and move beyond just the overview video.
For your next donor development campaign, consider bold storytelling through video; be inspired by some of our favorites featured in the AdWeek article:
- H&M Christmas Spot
This functions more like a film than an ad, but it’s emotionally moving and has a memorable message. This type of appeal is becoming increasingly more prevalent, as consumer brands have to step outside their normal messaging to create this. But nonprofits don’t have to look much farther than within their own ranks to find stories with heart.
- Paralymics
This is a nonprofit organization with a meaningful cause and puts a fun (but still moving) spin on it. It’s a nice contrast to the typical emotional nonprofit marketing (which is always super effective), but if your cause lends itself to something a little more upbeat, take advantage of the opportunity. - Fearless Girl and Amnesty International Refugee Nation
One from the business world and one from the nonprofit world. These are both interesting because each organization created symbolic campaigns that tackled a social issue/topic; however, the videos/ads they released are not campaign videos but actually behind-the-scenes videos showing how the campaigns came together. - Addict Aide
An addiction treatment center created a fake Instagram account that quickly gathered a large following. It featured a beautiful girl posting pictures of her life, like most popular lifestyle bloggers; the twist was that in all of her pictures, she always had a drink in her hand. At the end, the big reveal was that it was a fake account and that most of her followers missed the hidden addiction in her life. It’s a really creative way to illustrate a problem and begin to put the audience in your shoes.
You can see more inspiring ads at the AdWeek article here. How do these ads inspire you to tell more and better stories for your nonprofit?