How to Tell Better Stories in Your Cultivation Communications

Picture this:

You're reading an article about a big, new initiative that a college is fundraising for. The initiative is a novel integration of many different programs and services to support students' academic, emotional, and physical health. You read comments from administrators, faculty leaders, and a couple of lead donors about their visions for the initiative. But when you get to the end, you realize you didn't hear from a particular voice: the student.

Why is that important here? Because the student is the proof point.

Think about how entrepreneurs pitch an idea to venture capitalists. Sure, they need to explain what the product or service is. But the VC doesn't just say, "That's cool, here's $10 million." They want to see evidence that the entrepreneur can actually do what they say they can. They want to know why it's worth investing in this entrepreneur versus that one.

Now, apply this logic to nonprofit or higher ed fundraising. The organization is the entrepreneur, the initiative is the product, and the donor is the VC. Yes, the organization's voice is important to define the initiative's parameters. But where's the evidence that they can actually pull off the initiative? Where is the proof that this organization is worth investing in for this purpose?

Yes, I can already hear the pushback: If the initiative hasn't been funded yet, how can you talk about evidence? How can you provide proof points for something that doesn't exist yet?

I have some suggestions.

Find proxy beneficiaries and share their stories.

The hypothetical article above could have featured one or two current students to demonstrate why the initiative matters. Sure, these students will probably graduate before they can directly benefit from the proposed initiative. But their stories could shed light on the gaps that currently exist in campus support systems and services and how this initiative will fill them. Their words could provide "proof" that filling these gaps could pave a smoother path to graduation for future students.

Here's another example: I wrote an article a few years ago to help build support for faculty research in Johns Hopkins Medicine's Department of Dermatology. The story focused on a professor who had developed a method for using stem cells to strengthen the skin at amputation stump sites. It explained how grants from the U.S. military helped him bring the therapy to wounded veterans, which allowed them to wear their prosthetics longer and more comfortably. Finally, it mentioned that additional funding was needed to bring the therapy to civilian patients and outlined how readers could get involved.

The unspoken narrative thread through the story was: "With grant funding, this professor has already made a big difference in people's lives. If you support faculty research with your gift, you can help him—and other faculty—make a difference for even more people."

When you're thinking about crafting communications around your next big fundraising initiative, consider:

• Who are the people your initiative is designed to benefit?
• Who are the people whose stories can speak to or demonstrate why those benefits are important?

Yes, the organization's voice is important to define the initiative's parameters. But where's the evidence that they can actually pull off the initiative? Where is the proof that this organization is worth investing in for this purpose?

Focus on the resources, infrastructure, and assets your organization has that make a fundraising priority likely to succeed.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington launched a recent comprehensive campaign in the winter of 2022, while COVID restrictions were still in place. The "launch" was a centerpiece spread in the alumni magazine: We had 14 pages to inspire support for four priorities: scholarships, professorships, facilities, and programs. Instead of simply providing an overview of the campaign particulars, a la a case statement, we told stories about:

• Two students receiving financial aid whose research was focused on protecting North Carolina's delicate coastline (scholarships).
• An endowed professor whose connections and expertise helped finance students run their own real-life investment fund (professorships).
• A School of Education-led effort that supported local teachers struggling to adjust to virtual instruction during the pandemic (programs).
• A building designed to provide more hands-on opportunities for students planning to enter the Cape Fear health care workforce (facilities).

The unspoken narrative thread through the stories was: "UNCW has shown it's already making an impact on the people and places you care about. With your gift, that impact will continue to grow."

When you're thinking about crafting communications around your next big fundraising initiative, consider:

• What examples do we have that are similar to our initiative and can demonstrate to a donor that we're a "sure bet"?
• What people or programs do work that's related to our priorities that can demonstrate to donors, "your money will take this good thing and make it great"?

If you must center an institutional/organizational leadership voice, make it personal.

Let's say you have a president, a program director, or a board chair who R E A L L Y wants to be the headliner for your campaign launch. Explore the reason why they're adamant about this. If you find a there there, you may also find the seeds for a thought leadership piece or compelling personal story to feature.

Instead of approaching the piece like a reported article, work with the individual(s) to create first-person content. Here are two hypothetical examples:

• A hospital system is fundraising for a new cancer immunotherapy research center. The spouse of the system's president recently completed cancer treatment. The president could share his personal story and how it undergirds his confidence in the doctors and researchers who will lead this new center.
• A university is fundraising for a new center on the future of American democracy. A renowned American politics scholar who's on your faculty could write an op-ed that highlights the school's history of convening top minds in the field as evidence that this center has a great chance to be successful.

The unspoken narrative thread through these kinds of content is: "These are people who have first-hand knowledge of and passion for what this initiative is trying to do. You can trust their judgment if you're interested in supporting this cause."

When you're thinking about crafting communications around your next big fundraising initiative, consider:

• Are the goals of the initiative connected to research or work our president/director/chair has focused on in the past?
• Is the initiative focused on a disease or other health challenge that they or a loved one have struggled with?
• Is the initiative connected to a universally relevant cause that they are known to advocate for (e.g., climate change)?

Who are the people your initiative is designed to benefit?
Who are the people whose stories can speak to or demonstrate why those benefits are important?

Why isn't this kind of storytelling common in cultivation communications?

Typically? Two reasons: Time and money.

Development communicators aren't often brought into discussions about campaign strategy early. Sometimes they're added to the conversation just a few weeks before a launch—which is usually not enough time to do the legwork required to find, tell, and develop a strategy around these kinds of stories.

And in many organizations and institutions, development communicators are a team of one, two, or three. They have an avalanche of day-to-day tasks to keep up with, so working on content that requires significant interviewing, researching, writing, fact-checking, and polishing just isn't feasible.

Under pressure to produce something to promote fundraising priorities, development comms teams are forced to create content that blends institutional talking points with leaders who are easy to get a comment from (or to draft a quote and get it approved from). That gets something up on the website, but there's a downside: That's generally not the kind of content that resonates with broad audiences.

It's not difficult to tell better cultivation stories—but it does require planning and, sometimes, an additional hand to help source and create them. Give one of the angles shared in this post a try the next time you're asked to promote a new fundraising priority, and let me know how it goes!

If you're in the market for an extra hand to enhance your development communications, give me a ring—I'd love to help!