Group Created with Sketch.
Article

Nonprofit Storytelling Strategies for Long-Form Content Engagement

Digital communications and social media have had a tremendous impact on our ability to maintain focus and attention (or lack thereof!). For nonprofit think tanks and policy/advocacy nonprofit who produce lots of research reports and policy papers, this digital distraction is a real threat to getting people to engage with ideas. We are awash in content that’s fragmented and comes at us fast. Creating awareness and deepening engagement with complex issues can feel like an uphill battle. Turns out, the best new ideas to help nonprofits engage audiences with complex ideas and long-form content are time-tested communications strategies that we’ve used to activate our imaginations since, well, the dawn of recorded history. Strategies for nonprofit storytelling are essential tools in the social impact communications toolbox—and with good reason. Because storytelling is essential to how we understand our world.

The old thinking goes that people online don’t read. Turns out, that simple truth isn’t the truth at all. Studies show that when it comes to audience engagement, long-form content performs better than shorter content. So, while we may live in a world dominated by tweets and short bursts of commentary, design strategies for long-form content engagement are more important than ever—especially for nonprofits. Because when your mission revolves around a complicated issue, is connected to a problem in a far-away place or the distant future, or is just removed from the concerns of people’s everyday lives, maintaining audience engagement is inherently more difficult. This challenge is even more significant for think tanks and research-driven nonprofits who often publish jargon-filled content.

So, how can nonprofits apply the fundamental principles of storytelling to deepen audience engagement, even with the most complex content? Just follow some basic principles that storytellers have used for years.

Leveraging Narrative Structure in Nonprofit Storytelling Strategies

Whatever the topic, every good story has a structure. And, whether your nonprofit’s communications are driven by a traditional narrative or is academic research (which tells stories in its own way), all long-form content can benefit from applying the three-act structure of exposition, confrontation, and resolution that’s similiar to professional storytellers. In general, it works like this:

Invite your audience in.

Whenever you are asking an audience to engage with a longer narrative, it’s important to invite them into the narrative by quickly stating what you have in common. Establishing a shared understanding and creating common ground with your audience — and appealing to their “better angels” — makes it that much easier to pivot to the more complex ideas you need them to engage with and to share new perspectives they are likely to value.

Establish your “characters.”

Establishing common ground with audience members also earns you their interest and attention — equity you can use to deepen their engagement with your issue or cause. One of the best practices in nonprofit storytelling, is to use this equity to establish their “characters” and the underlying relationships that bring them to life. Keep in mind, characters don’t need to be actual people — they can be a commonly held belief or systems that affect your mission. So, whether you’re sharing a traditional narrative or specialized academic content, it’s important to establish this framework sooner rather than later, and to supply important details that will deepen your audience’s commitment to, and understanding of, the issue at hand.

Introduce a catalyst.

By this point, your audience should both be familiar with your issue and inclined to commit themselves to learning more about it. It’s time to elevate their interest by revealing the catalyst! For social change organizations, a catalyst could be a new way of addressing systemic inequity or research that offers insights into how to think about social change in a new way. Whatever the case, your goal is to provide a compelling reason for your readers to step up their investment in your work. And the more complex the issue, the more important it is to clearly lay out the related activities and/or outcomes that are part of the catalyst. Done well, you’ll create a connection with your audience that boosts their willingness to engage with and support your mission.

Create a resolution.

For many social change organizations, impact is something that happens in the future. The delay in being able to demonstrate results is a challenge to engaging audiences in deep-rooted problems such as poverty, structural racism, or climate change. What’s important to remember is that with most stories—and particularly in nonprofit storytelling—it’s critical to offer them a resolution. Depending on the nature of your nonprofit’s work, that resolution can take a number of forms: a satisfying conclusion to an impact story, a roundup of resources they can use to further their own change-related efforts, and/or a list of things they can do to strengthen their engagement with your organization.

Again, whether your content falls into the emotional narrative category or is fact-based research, the key to deepening audience engagement is maintaining an equal focus on both its structure and substance. And the same best practices that work online can be applied to any medium or format.

Tips for Nonprofit Content Creators

Now that you have a better understanding of the principles of effective narrative, here are some recommendations for crafting compelling long-form content that will deepen audience engagement and spur potential supporters to action:

Be consistently thoughtful.

The bar for high-quality long-form content is, well, high. And with so much content so readily available, ensuring that your content is respected, remembered, and returned to means making sure it always speaks to and reinforces your organization’s credibility, delivers meaningful value, and provides a great reading experience.

Editorial creativity is paramount.

To spark and sustain engagement, long-form content needs to be focused and well-structured. To keep your audience’s attention, try alternating between simplicity and complexity. Punctuate deeper dives into an issue with simple summaries and key insights. Doing so will not only underscore and amplify what’s at stake, it will make it easier to move on to the next idea you need to communicate.

Empathy is important, but…

Successful communications is about more than just making sure your ideas are clear, concise, and well-stated. It’s about meeting your audience wherever they are (i.e., creating common ground). That said, conveying empathy isn’t about purple prose or being gratuitously emotional. Instead, it requires establishing a genuine, meaningful connection with the people you are hoping to engage on terms that resonate with them, and building trust.

Make sure your audience doesn’t get lost.

Consistency and clear expectations are critical to building trust — especially in long-form content that requires a greater commitment from your audience (and even more so online). Both in the language you use and the actual vehicles you create for your content, cues designed to orient audience members within the reading experience can reduce cognitive load, improve content accessibility, and create a sense of anticipation that keeps audience members reading.

Provide a place to rest.

Design strategies for long-form content are really important. Giving your audience members conceptual places to take a break is a great way to reduce the fatigue often associated with reading long-form content. Analogy, metaphor, and digression are tried-and-true techniques that, when executed well, can reinforce context, add needed perspective, and reinforce reader understanding. From a design perspective, creating visually (and conceptually) separate material such as sidebars is also an excellent way to introduce a change of pace into complex material.

Don’t be afraid to pick a fight!

As our name suggests, Constructive believes in the power of positive dialogue. But that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate the importance of taking clear positions and standing up for what we believe is right—especially when it comes to issues of social and environmental equity. “Picking a fight” doesn’t have to be about calling out individual actors. Often it’s with old ways of thinking and doing. So, if the issue your organization is working to address requires you to take a stand, you can strengthen your case by contrasting your position with the position of those who see the issue differently and explaining in clear terms what’s at stake.

Leave your audiences wanting more.

Every piece of content you share with your target audiences should leave them better informed and feeling energized. But the next steps are crucial. You need to give them a rationale for wanting to help you advance your cause, including a range of actions and an explanation of why their actions will create more impact when combined with the actions of like-minded people (as always, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts!).

Wrapping up Storytelling Strategies for Nonprofits

We create content in hopes that people will engage with our ideas. Storytelling has long been one of humanity’s most powerful ways to translate our ideas into action. While sharing ideas through digital communications may be different than telling stories around a campfire, the fundamental principles are the same. To engage an audience, content must be meaningful and must resonate—which means that online, we must design and deliver experiences with content that connects audiences to our ideas.

About the Author

Matthew Schwartz

Matthew Schwartz

Matt partners with Constructive’s clients and teams to make sure that we stay focused on what matters, and that both our partnerships and the work we produce meets our shared expectations and the highest standards. With 27 years of experience as a designer, brand strategist, and writer for the social impact sector, Matt helps Constructive’s teams create processes and practices that create brand value for nonprofits and social impact businesses—elevating how mission and purpose are translated into brand-aligned strategy, messaging, and designed experiences.

 

Matt contributes to the field of nonprofit design, serving on the Leadership Team for the NY chapter of The Communications Network, writing, speaking, mentoring, and conducting workshops. His work has been recognized for excellence by numerous organizations such as The Webbys, Communication Arts, Print Magazine, The Case Awards, Graphic Design USA, The W3 Awards, The Communicator Awards, and others. Matt earned his BA from Sarah Lawrence College in Writing & Visual Studies, and then conducted post-graduate design studies at the School of Visual Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, and Parsons.

More about Matthew Schwartz
Check
Copied to clipboard http://...