Storytelling: The Secret Sauce of Fundraising Success - Softcover

Ierardi, Lynn Malzone

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1938077083 ISBN 13: 9781938077081

Publisher: CharityChannel Press, 2019

Synopsis

Stories have been written, printed, blogged, shared, discussed, debated, and passed down through the generations. Why? Because people have an incredible appetite for stories. Stories trigger a physical response in the same way a delicious meal satisfies.

Nonprofit organizations have amazing stories to share — stories of perseverance, fortitude, and generosity. 

Stories give nonprofits a way to stand out in a world that gets noisier every day, where people are looking for ways to find meaning and connection.

Great stories engage donors and raise more money. Scientific evidence confirms good storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to engage stakeholders and influence behavior. Stories raise awareness, change behavior, and trigger generosity. Facts and logic are not nearly as persuasive as a good story. Stories penetrate our natural defense systems and become more compelling and memorable. As a result, great stories can be very powerful.

But what makes a great story? What ingredients engage the audience and have an impact? What flavors will spark the appetite and make the mouth water? There are some ingredients that are essential. You just can’t make a good sauce (or gravy as my grandfather called it) without tomatoes.

Like a good meal, storytelling can be delicious if it is executed with a bit of strategy. It requires planning the meal, choosing and collecting the right ingredients, and then sharing the meal with the right people, in the right setting, and at the right time.

With the right recipes, you will use stories to engage stakeholders and increase gifts to your organization. In the chapters of Storytelling: The Secret Sauce of Fundraising Success, you will find the recipes to become a storytelling gourmet!

 

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter One
The Menu: Introduction to Delicious Stories

Chapter Two
The Recipe for the Secret Sauce: Key Ingredients for a Good Story

Chapter Three
Shopping for the Perfect Ingredients: Finding Your Stories

Chapter Four
Serving up the Entrée: Sharing Your Stories

Chapter Five
Variations on the Recipe: Adding Spice to Your Stories

Chapter Six
The Side Dishes: The Many Ways Stories Can Be Served

Chapter Seven
The Kitchen Mishap: Navigating Change with Storytelling

Chapter Eight
The Dessert: Sweet Success Stories

Conclusion
Check Please! Summary and Additional Resources

Appendix A
Story Collection Form

Appendix B
Sample Consent Form

Appendix C
Storytelling Culture Assessment Form

Appendix D
Resources

About this title

Review:

People want to help, and want to give. A good story can move them from wanting to doing, and Lynn Malzone Ierardi’s wonderful book blends the latest science with her extensive experience to show readers how stories facilitate fundraising.

Paul J. Zak, Professor, Claremont Graduate University and CEO, Immersion Neuroscience

 

Lynn’s book will satisfy your hunger for the importance of storytelling and provide a recipe for success. Throughout each chapter you will discover ingredients that enable you to whip up the special sauce that is your charity’s mission. Then you can go out and share it with the world. Bon appetit!

Alexandra Pia Brovey, Author of Zen and the Art of Fundraising: 8 Pillars of Success, Zen and the Art of Fundraising: 8 MORE Pillars of Success, and Zen and the Art of Fundraising: The Pillars In Practice

 

Lynn’s book is an excellent guide to navigating the unique world of philanthropic storytelling. Through a number of vivid examples and amusing anecdotes, she shares powerful advice for anyone interested in becoming a better fundraiser. I’ve already begun to integrate a number of her recommendations into my own work as a digital communicator.

Johanna Humphrey, Director of Digital Communications, University of Pennsylvania Development and Alumni Relations

 

Storytelling is such a powerful way we can connect with our donors. Sharing stories is one of the most effective fundraising tools we have at The Nature Conservancy to create passion for our mission and saving the planet. Lynn’s book is filled with practical tips, techniques, and best practices for embedding storytelling into the fabric of our organizations.

Jackie W. Franey, Director of Gift Planning Fundraising, The Nature Conservancy

 

Storytelling: The Secret Sauce of Fundraising Success is an amazing read! Every fundraiser should spend time reading and digesting its insightful content. It will help them achieve greater success.

Eddie Thompson, CEO and Founder, Thompson & Associates

 

The point of instructional writing is to provide high utility, but that doesn’t mean it has to be dry and boring. Lynn Malzone Ierardi has demonstrated that quite skillfully in her book on how to better use stories to succeed at charitable fundraising and, big surprise, she does it by providing about a dozen compelling stories. This is a must-read for anyone engaged in the field, but it’s also a pleasurable read.

Jason Huffman, Heavily seasoned (pun intended) food journalist, and currently senior fish reporter for Undercurrent News

 

This book turns theory into reality. It converts complexity into practical tactics. Making this a reality requires a special person. It requires an in-the-trenches fundraising superstar. It requires someone who actually knows what it takes to capture multi-million-dollar gifts. It requires someone who understands the deep transactional complexity of complex mega gifts. And, more importantly, it requires someone who understands how to keep that complexity from killing the giving motivation. It requires someone like Lynn.

Russell James III, JD, PhD., CFP® —Professor, Director of Graduate Studies in Charitable Financial Planning, The CH Foundation Chair in Personal Financial Planning, Texas Tech University

About the Author:

Lynn Malzone Ierardi, JD has been in the gift and estate planning field for more than thirty years. She is a leader in the charitable planning community. Lynn was elected Chair of the Board of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (CGP) after serving terms as Treasurer and Chair-elect. She has been a member of CGP since 1993 and is a member of the CGP Leadership Institute. She is a past board member, conference chair, and past President of the New Jersey Council of Charitable Gift Planners, a current board member of the Planned Giving Council of Greater Philadelphia, and a regular faculty member for the Planned Giving Course. As the Director of Gift Planning for the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) since 2005, Lynn has worked with several schools and centers and handled gifts of real estate university wide. She has also served as an independent gift planning consultant to a variety of nonprofit organizations since 2002. Prior to joining Penn, she held gift planning positions in health and higher education, served as Vice President with the Merrill Lynch Center for Philanthropy, and practiced estate planning, tax, and real estate law. After graduating from Lycoming College with a BA in English, Spanish, and Literature, she received her Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law. A dynamic and highly rated speaker, Lynn has presented at conferences, meetings, and webinars throughout the country on a variety of gift planning topics. She has also been a contributor to several gift planning publications, including Planned Giving Today. She is the Proud Penn Parent of two adult daughters, Katie and Kristen, and lives with her favorite storyteller and husband, Mark, in the suburbs of Philadelphia. When not wearing a gift planning hat, Lynn enjoys wearing sunglasses on the beach, dancing the night away, or watching some of the most magnificent sunsets in the world at Lake Naomi. She has served as a member of the Lake Naomi Finance Committee and the Lake Naomi Board of Governors.

About this edition

• Publisher: CharityChannel Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1938077083
• ISBN 13: 9781938077081
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112