Does Your Organization’s Storytelling Perpetuate Harm?

Storytelling is a powerful tool. It not only connects our donors with the individuals we are serving. It also allows those we serve to see themselves reflected in the stories of others. It gives real-life examples that can live alongside quantitative data. Long story-short, storytelling connects our work in meaningful, transformational ways to our community members. It is a powerful tool that, when used with an equity and justice lens, can honor the stories and experiences of those you serve and invite others into your movement or organization. 

However, when equity and justice are not considered and applied, when the focus of storytelling is simply to raise more funds or “awareness,” (which is often coded language for raising more money), we can harm those we purport to serve

This essay was originally written by Rachel D’Souza-Siebert for Nonprofit Marketing Guide. Read the full post here.