Steven Screen is at it again. Steven is an amazing direct mail and fundraising expert.
And he has a way of making me feel uncomfortable. He says the best story for raising money is the “incomplete story.”
You see, when I write fundraising letters, my first reaction is to tell the prospect what a good job my nonprofit is doing. We really have things under control. Giving to us is a good thing. I don’t want to make prospects feel uncomfortable. Or to put them on the spot.
Unfortunately, what most prospects hear is “We’ve got this” so they find something else to give too.
Don’t believe me? How effective was your last fundraising appeal?
The #1 Story for Raising the Most Money
According to Steven, the #1 story that raises the most money is the incomplete story.
Incomplete stories tell people on the periphery of your nonprofit that there is a need. A need that requires donors. And incomplete stories give them as donors a powerful role to play.
Fortunately, Steven went into the studio with Nonprofit Storytelling Conference’s Chris Davenport. The recording is only about 11 minutes long. But these could be the most important 11 minutes you watch this week.
If you can’t see it by clicking on the image above, you should be able to by going to: https://nonprofitstorytellingconference.com/number-1-story-that-raises-money/
This is a really interesting post! I can see why the incomplete story is the most effective, as this is likely to inspire people to get involved in that particular story. It would definitely strike a chord with me so I see why his method works.
I agree that you have the donor story and the organization story with the beginning and the middle but I’m not sure I agree that it shouldn’t have an end. I think it depends on the situation. I can agree that sometimes it shouldn’t have an end depending on what you want to be explored. One of my favorite stories is when an animal welfare group shows an animal that has been mistreated, and is in bad health. Then they show the steps that lead to a huge improvement, better health, and finally a happy home.
Thanks for sharing. There is so much talk about storytelling, but very little mention is made about what stories to share. The idea of incomplete stories is a great insight.