Storytelling is our job. No seriously - everything we do revolves around stories. We tell the stories of community organizations that are doing great work but remain a well-kept secret, the economic developments that highlight a year’s worth of success in an annual report, or customer and employee narratives that build trust and reflect their brand’s values.
For nonprofits, this means being intentional about how we craft narratives, making sure that every story told is done with respect, compassion, and reason. We hear it often in boardrooms and meetings: How do we show our impact so that we can continue helping people? The answer almost always points back to storytelling. But in our urgency to tell these stories, we need to remember the people telling them.
As storytellers, we ask a lot from the people we interview. We ask them to share personal experiences with strangers, to condense life-changing moments into brief narratives that fit into a report, a social media post, or a presentation.
Why Ethical Storytelling Matters Now More Than Ever
Our digital age is filled with distraction and misinformation; stories cut through the static and resonate. Ethical storytelling ensures that stories are not exaggerated or manipulated and are told with care, respect, dignity, and agency. More importantly, they help shine a light on issues that we need to focus on and fix.
Stories are memorable. Let’s make sure we are highlighting the right things.
As a junior in high school, I went on a mission trip to Mexico. I can still remember sitting in the sun-baked field, listening to a man share stories about his experiences as a missionary. The details of the stories are a bit fuzzy but what still sticks out to me today was his sense of accomplishment in all he had done for these “unfortunate poor people” he was “called to serve.” The underlying emphasis was on his good deeds, not the dignity or strengths of that community.
Nonprofits need to share stories of their impact—but in doing so, we need to make sure we aren’t unintentionally casting those being served as one-dimensional victims in need of help. Language of coming alongside people rather than coming in as a savior is important. Framing our impact as offering tools to empower people rather than casting ourselves as the heroes makes a difference.
Especially in today’s divisive world, there’s a dangerous amount of “us versus them” language. Dehumanizing can creep in in subtle ways, even in organizations with good intentions to help those in need. The stories we tell about people who are different from us (in how they look, their social status, or even how they vote) impact how we treat them. As communicators and marketers, we see an increasing need to tell stories that infuse dignity, empowerment, and compassion into our world.
Rethinking How We Tell Stories
Stories center around a main character. Many organizations make the understandable mistake of making themselves the hero, when in fact, the people you serve should be the focus of your marketing story. Taking the time to really get to know your audience and what resonates with them is an essential first step.
At the start of any project, one of the first tasks we do as a marketing agency is to create a marketing strategy, based in research. Rather than solely relying on demographics and quantitative data, we often spend time interviewing the people our clients are trying to reach. By choosing to listen deeply and center the voices of those we aim to uplift, we create stories that reflect not only the successes of our organizations but the strength, resilience, and dignity of the people we serve.
Ethical storytelling isn’t just about delivering a message; it’s about creating a mirror that lets audiences see the humanity in others—and maybe even themselves. In doing so, we foster a culture of empathy and understanding, one story at a time. So let’s continue to tell stories that honor the people in them and bring our shared values to life, building a future where every story told not only informs but also heals, empowers, and connects us all.
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