Stories have captivated humans since we first stepped foot on earth. In fact, the oldest recorded examples of storytelling come from cave drawings dating back approximately 30,000 years ago in France.
While the idea of storytelling still conjures images of groups sitting around a roaring campfire at night under the stars, today we have a much clearer picture of why stories are so important. Research shows that storytelling engages specific parts of our brains and releases chemicals that help build trust, empathy, and immerse our audience in the experience, even increasing the retention rate of information by up to 70%.
This relevance extends to all areas of social impact work. For corporate communications professionals aiming to amplify their company’s CSR and ESG efforts, stories shared in social media posts can boost engagement by 1000%. For development and fundraising professionals, stories inspire more giving – 36% of donors in a recent survey stating that stories and photos increase their likelihood to give.
As social impact professionals, increasing awareness, understanding, and action around our target issues is essential. One of the greatest challenges for impact storytellers is reaching new or expanded audiences to socialize the issue along with your company’s impact. The most efficient and effective way to do this, regardless of industry, is by engaging stakeholders as ambassadors and messengers for the work.
Here are a few tips to help you equip and empower the voices of your network:
1) Engage Your Employees as Ambassadors:
Employees are trusted sources of information and their authentic stories can significantly enhance your organization’s credibility and reach. Encourage them to share their personal experiences and involvement with your signature social impact program and other initiatives on social media and within their communities. When engaging employees in social impact initiatives, provide them templates and visual assets to allow them to easily share key messages, utilizing tools like LinkedIn’s “My Company” feature.
Additionally, consider incentivizing programs like your company match to connect employee giving more closely to your core issue areas, thereby strengthening the bond between your employees and your social impact goals. By empowering employees to be ambassadors and direct supporters of your work, you leverage their networks and personal connections to spread your message more effectively.
2) Develop Resources to Make Message Sharing a No-Brainer:
We’d all love to think that our content and social impact initiatives should be top-of-mind for everyone. However, the reality is that people are being bombarded with information and awareness of our ideas and messages is often limited. Even writing a LinkedIn post to share an impact report or a call-to-action for Giving Tuesday, which takes lots of time and energy, often gets lost in the mass of communications.
Providing your stakeholders with easy-to-use resources can simplify the process of sharing and amplifying your work and increase the likelihood of stakeholder advocacy. Create toolkits that include key messages, social media and email templates, and graphics that they can easily share within their networks, while also providing space for them to personalize these templates with their own story or connection to the cause. Furthermore, equipping advocates and ambassadors with knowledge and tools not only boosts their effectiveness but also strengthens their connection to your mission. By investing up front in your stakeholders’ ability to advocate on your behalf, you create a network of passionate supporters who can amplify your impact far beyond your immediate reach.
3) Collaborate with Partners to Advance Shared Thought Leadership:
By co-authoring articles and research, hosting joint webinars, or presenting at industry conferences together, you can leverage each other’s expertise and networks to reach a significantly broader audience. This not only enhances the credibility of your message and increases the number of people exposed to your work but also demonstrates a unified commitment to the cause. These collaborations can also foster a sense of community and shared purpose among stakeholders, which is crucial for long-term engagement and support. As with any social impact communications, authenticity is essential for engaging and inspiring others, and being open about successes and failures related to your combined efforts is an example of strong storytelling in and of itself.
Incorporating these strategies into your social impact programs can significantly enhance your storytelling efforts and broaden your reach. By emphasizing shared thought leadership, developing user-friendly advocacy resources, and engaging employees as ambassadors, you can create a powerful network of stakeholders who are knowledgeable about your work and can amplify your story of impact.