Data Informs. Story Converts

Use Story to Shift Focus from Awareness to Action

Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on Unsplash

In the corporate world, storytelling is a strategy. Whether pitching a product, inspiring employees, or securing investor buy-in, businesses know that facts alone don’t move people. Stories do.

This is even more important for non-profits. Your mission is rooted in community and people and has a human impact that can’t be fully captured in spreadsheets. Yet in practice, many non-profits default to statistics, numbers and jargon when it’s time to make the case for funding, to build internal consensus, or to inspire action.

Strategic storytelling, supported by well-communicated data, is a powerful tool. However, there are pitfalls in this strategy—the wrong approach can leave your organization with a damaged reputation that can take years to overcome.

Stories Help Move the Needle

“…data doesn’t change our behavior. Emotions do.” Karen Eber, How your brain responds to stories—and why they’re crucial for leaders.

The above quote comes from a short TEDx Talk by leadership consultant Karen Eber. She explains the difference between how your brain processes story and data, and how stories connect to our emotions and generate trust.

Her final example is a situation familiar to many non-profit leaders—the decision-makers were already aware of the stats and had not taken action. However, strategic use of story plus key numbers got people’s attention: “They already had the data. They didn’t have a reason to overlook the data this time.”

If you’ve ever sat through a dull presentation, you know how an array of charts, graphs and stats can bore an audience, especially if they are not telling you anything you don’t already know.

But, there is no question that the data is important. Non-profits need to demonstrate need and show results. Strategic use of story doesn’t ignore data, it helps the audience connect to it in a different way.

This distinction is crucial. Stakeholders often have at least a basic understanding of data connected to your key issues. What they need is a reason to care. A reason to act. A reason to trust that your organization is the right one to fund, partner with, or trust.

Story Works When the Attention Span is Short

When you have your story figured out, how do you get people to listen? An audience gathered for a formal presentation or event are primed to at least listen to you, but what about those who don’t attend?

Skeptics and the disengaged are difficult to reach, but you can get their attention when story and numbers work together in a visceral way.

The book Making Numbers Count: The Art and Science of Communicating Numbers by Chip Heath and Karla Starr, teaches how to communicate data by converting the numbers into relatable human experience. The authors’ explanation of how we understand numbers emphasizes the need to “translate” data into something more concrete. For example, can you really picture the size of a country if you are just given the number of square miles it sits on? Probably not. But for anyone familiar with California, you might perceive the size of Pakistan better by being told it is “…about the size of 2 Californias.”

This book is full of techniques for different types of data and situations. They can be used on their own if time to communicate is limited, or within a larger story. The key is that numbers are not our “natural language”, so you need to translate them, just like you might need to translate any other language for a non-fluent listener.

Make Internal Communication Part of the Strategy

Stories help with internal communication as well. Board members aren’t always experts in finance, HR, or data analysis. But they’re decision-makers—and ambassadors. Use storytelling and clear data translation internally to:

• Explain financial data in plain language.

• Help new directors understand the impact of their role and responsibilities.

• Cut down on board meeting time by sending the full data in advance and focus discussion time on translating the numbers into relatable concepts and understanding the impacts.

• Help the board make big decisions by translating the potential stakes to relatable situations.

• Use analogies to interpret vendor proposals or program costs.

• Conceptualize potential risks and risk mitigation efforts.

The clearer your internal communication, the stronger your external advocacy will be.

Story Telling Lessons For Non-Profit Leaders

1. Know Your Audience

Good communicators obsess over their audience. What do they care about? What pressures are they under? What language do they speak—emotionally and professionally?

Before you craft your combination of story and data, consider:

• Are they already aligned with your mission, or skeptical, or unaware?

• Do they already have an understanding of the data behind your story? If yes, why haven’t they acted on it before?

• Are they under time pressure, scrutiny, or budget constraints?

• What do they want and how does your message address that?

2. Choose the Right Messenger

The messenger is as important as the message.

Who will deliver a story that resonates? Consider the differences in how a story will land depending upon whether it is delivered by:

• an expert

• an authority figure

• a board member with close ties to the community

• someone with a fresh perspective in addressing a similar issue in another community

• a front-line worker

• a program participant

Match the messenger to the audience, not just the message.

3. Be Transparent

Storytelling must be honest about limitations and context. Avoid cherry-picking data or overly idealized stories. Instead, show growth, challenge, and learning. Storytelling should clarify and enhance what you do, not obscure it.

Stories work because they generate trust and human connection. They connect evidence and emotion, and require honesty and context to be a powerful communication tool.

If your audience finds out that a story was used to distract, manipulate or mislead them, the breach of trust will be difficult to overcome.

4. Use Data to Support the Story, Not Compete With It

Those new to organizational storytelling often start with a good narrative, but follow up with overwhelming data slides. A few key numbers can support the emotional aspect of a story, but too much immediately following a story will erase its impact.

Ground your story in reality, illustrate with a few key points and let your audience know that all the data are available.

Context and audience always matter, but here’s an outline that works well in many speaking situations:

• Start with a brief story that will resonate with the audience and is supported by data.

• Connect just few relevant data points to that story.

• Address any risks or alternatives that need to be considered.

• Confirm that all the relevant data is available and repeat the key concept from the story.

• Ask for a specific action.

5. Learn and Practice the Skill of Storytelling

Learn storytelling and data-translation skills so that you can use this skill fluently throughout your leadership role. The two resources listed earlier in this article are a good start, and you can find many other books and videos on the topic.

With some practice, you can be as comfortable with narrative as you are with numbers.

Your Mission Is Human

Your mission is not just a chart of outputs and outcomes. Non-profits work on the belief that change is possible. That people matter. Whether the community you serve is small and local, or worldwide and connected by technology, they are all humans who understand story.

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