Episode #222
Can you easily inspire people with your vision?
Many times when I’ve asked a development director or an executive director about what their nonprofit does, I get a laundry list of programs and services. Laundry lists don’t inspire me, and the research out there shows that I’m not alone.
When I met Deidre McCormack Martin, I asked her about what her organization did. Instead of giving me a laundry list of programs and services, she told me what made her organization so special and how they improve the community. And she did it in a very succinct way.
Deidre is the Executive Director at Summer Search Seattle. She learned that in order to inspire people to give, she needed to be able to articulate the vision in a way that would resonate with people outside their organization. She also got her board to be able to articulate the vision and have inspiring stories to back up the vision.
In this video you’ll learn how they were able to articulate their vision so well.
If you’d like help with your board telling inspiring stories, check out the small book called “Nonprofit Storytelling for Board Members“.
If you have any stories or advice on articulating your vision, please share them in a comment box under the video. Your nonprofit friends will appreciate it.
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If you have any stories or advice on articulating your vision, please share them in a comment box. Your nonprofit friends will appreciate it. Thanks! 🙂
Deidre’s passion resonates through her voice and eyes. Her energy would attract many that would want to hitch a ride on her wagon. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you:)
One comment: She might want to speak a bit slower–I actually had to play it three times to catch everything.
I agree. Listeners need to have time to savor not just turn alongside. Varying pitch and pace can make such a big difference. I was still cheering Deidre along and could feel the power of the shift she describes.
Thanks for these resources. Every Monday I am inspired to bring more focus and clarity to my organization. We also went through a strategy meeting recently with a “change agency” to help us find our voice. We knew the story. We just communicated too broad. So, we learned to communicate to one person, the target person instead of communicating to everybody. And, we also answered the “why” while learning to highlight the uniqueness of what we do and what we are accomplishing. Through the process, I’ve realized how statistics can bounce but stories stick. We try to know our material so we can simply be conversational and not robotic.
Giving my board a steady flow of specific, inspiring reports of our students and graduates has changed how they tell our story. Each month, I change our standard thank-you note to tell a new story led by a first-person quote. Since board members are also donors, they now have those stories at their fingertips to share. This has helped to them to view our mission as people rather than programs.
Great idea. Thank you.