“Great storytelling includes a desired outcome for your audience: something you want them to know, think, feel, or do differently.”
— Karen Eber, author
It’s going to be hard as hell to gain and hold peoples’ attention this year. So, what’s the most common advice nonprofits hear on how to answer that challenge:
“Be a storyteller”
It’s good guidance as far as it goes. Indeed, storytelling is at the very heart of everything we do. But, as the Karen Eber quote above makes clear, all stories aren’t created equal.
Eber, author of The Perfect Story, is describing what I like to call purposeful storytelling.
In the challenging year ahead, it won’t be enough to just share good stories with your audience.
The stories you select and the way you choose to tell them have to capture peoples’ attention, deepen their engagement with your cause, and drive them to take action.
In today’s first On Message memo of the year, let’s look at three examples of stories that illustrate powerful, purposeful and persuasive storytelling:
#1: Grab peoples’ attention right from the start.
The first job of a storyteller is to capture your attention. And the best way to do that is to lead with emotion, not facts and figures. Here’s an example of that principle in action. It’s the opening of a letter from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine:
“Whenever I’m having a bad day, I think about Rodney.
“How this sweet, gentle dog suffered when students – who were training to work in a profession that heals – were told to break his bones and remove his organs. . .
“And I wonder who could look into those big brown eyes – see that tail wag like crazy at the slightest sign of affection – and not want to protect Rodney from harm.”
The letter could have started with facts about the number of animals abused in medical training and research. Or it could have updated the reader on the status of legislation to address the problem.
But neither approach would have been as powerful as sharing the vivid, emotionally moving portrait of a wonderful, lovable dog. You can picture Rodney’s “big brown eyes” and “see that tail wag like crazy.”
The emotion is amplified by the jarring juxtaposition of deliberate cruelty carried out by people training for “a profession that heals.” It somehow makes what happened to Rodney even more upsetting and unacceptable.
Consciously or not, the writer leans into what behavioral scientists call the identifiable victim effect. We tend to be moved more by a single story than by victim statistics.
#2: Tell stories that connect to your group’s core narrative.
One absolute imperative of purposeful storytelling is drawing a direct, engaging connection between a moving personal story and your group’s core narrative. Here’s a Red Cross rescue story that does that perfectly.
“Disaster strikes in an instant. For Traci Smith, that instant happened last week in the middle of rising floodwater in Snohomish County. One moment she was evacuating; the next, her van was stuck, and the cold water was rushing in.
“I was terrified,” Traci said.
“As the water rose past the seats and reached her lap, Traci wasn’t thinking about her belongings. She was thinking about Shiloh and Cayenne, her two dogs who were trapped in the van with her.
“When the 911 emergency responders arrived in a boat, they found a woman who refused to move until her “family” was safe. One by one, Traci carefully lifted Shiloh and Cayenne up and through the van window, handing them into the waiting arms of the rescue crew.
“Only after she saw both dogs safely aboard the boat did Traci finally climb out of her van and leave the rising water behind.
“Today, the trio is safe and warm at the Red Cross shelter at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe.”
The post sharing this story goes on to make that direct connection: “Traci’s story is a powerful reminder of why the Red Cross works so closely with local partners to ensure shelters can accommodate pets. In a disaster, the comfort of a pet can be one of the best forms of ‘disaster mental health’ for a survivor.”
#3: Use compelling details to bring your story to life.
Another powerful feature of purposeful storytelling is the use of specifics to draw the reader in. Without details, your story will be flatter, less engaging.
But your story must also avoid the pitfall of offering so many details that they overwhelm and confuse the reader. Here’s a Habitat for Humanity story that artfully navigates those lines.
“For Jessica, there has never been anything more important than providing a safe and secure home for her children, 16-year-old Amiyah and 2-year-old Noah. But the single mom struggled to find decent and affordable housing.
“The family’s rental had a leaking roof, an unstable foundation and mice. “We were living in a house that was basically uninhabitable,” Jessica says. Their street had dilapidated homes, empty lots, few neighbors and crime.
“It was after Noah was born that Jessica decided to make a change. “I think that was a pivotal moment for me, when I thought about this baby crawling in these conditions and putting things in his mouth,” Jessica says. “That was my breaking point where I said, ‘I need to make a move,’ and Habitat was that move. . . .
When she first walked through the front door of her Habitat home with Amiyah by her side, it felt like a whole new beginning. “I’m overwhelmed with joy,” Jessica says. “To see such happiness on my daughter’s face. She deserves it all.”
Conclusion
As you craft your 2026 stories, bear in mind that a story can be fascinating without being purposeful. Your stories have to be interesting and emotionally engaging in their own right. But they must also reinforce and deepen your audience’s understanding of your group’s mission and impact.
Hopefully, these examples and takeaways will help make 2026 a year of purposeful storytelling for your cause or campaign.
