Dear Mom & Mama,

There are no words to express how grateful I am to have you both in my life. You have made me who I am.

I hope, more than anything, that I am a reminder for you of the most important lesson you have taught me: Even if you have little, even when you lose much, if you keep giving, good will come.

Whatever light there is in me is only there because of you. For that, and so much more, I love you.

Happy Mother’s Day,

Stacey

Posted: May 11th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 1

Yesterday while driving I heard the song Say by John Mayer. It ended, the station went to commercial, I flipped, and on the next station the same song was starting from the beginning.

Call it overplay, perhaps, but I don’t believe in coincidence.

Actually, as I heard the song the first time, tears were welling. When I heard it again, they rolled down my face in silent splendor. The universe is a truly incredible place, and I know little of it but this: it is good.

Here’s what the song reminded me I need to say: “Thank you Sam.” Simply, without fanfare or pretense, from the core of my being: I am grateful.

So, thanks. Not from Epic Change to Jive, but from me to you. Thank you for teaching me a memorable lesson in the power of fearlessness, audacity and hope. Thanks too for bringing help. You can’t imagine how much we needed it.

That’s the other thing I need to say: “thank you.” Yes, you. If you’re here & you’re reading this, somehow you found our story compelling enough to follow along. Perhaps you’ve volunteered, donated or spread the word. Whatever your contribution to the growing energy of this project, I appreciate you. I don’t have the language to adequately convey my gratitude.

To say I’m amazed by what’s happened in the last few days is a vast understatement. Because in addition to being a total sap, I’m also total nerd at heart, I decided to do some simple analysis of the buzz that’s been generated by my guest post on Go Big Always. Besides, I thought you just might be curious too. Here’s what I found:

So far, to my knowledge, since Friday, Epic Change has appeared on eight blogs that reach literally thousands of readers. In them people I’ve never met have said that “Twitterland is rockin’” with my post on Sam Lawrence’s blog. I’ve even been referred to as a “web celebrity.” While I’m not certain that’s true, it’s flattering and the attention to our cause is much needed and welcome - so keep it coming! Here’s where you can participate in the blogosphere discussion about Epic Change:

• Instrumenting social responsibility by Dennis Howlett on ZDNet
• Social Media meets Social Responsibility by Clara Kuo on Triple Pundit
• Make an Epic Change for your Mom this Mother’s Day by Gia Lyons on Connected
• Epic Change Starts With One Person by Christine Lu on What Gives?
• A Reminder That The World Doesn’t Revolve Around China by Christine Lu on ChristineLu.com
• Stacey Monk and Epic Change “Not your ordinary dogooder.” by Ron K. Jeffries on Cloudy Thinking
• @Ndugu by Jake De Grazia on A More Perfect Market
• Stacey Monk goes Big: by yours truly on Go Big Always
  

At least two additional bloggers, TeensyGreen & SocialButterfly, will be posting soon about our efforts.

We’ve even been tweeted by @Scobleizer:

For those of you who don’t know who he is, I’ll be totally honest: until a few months ago I didn’t either. I just got my personal twitter account on April 9th. Before that, near the end of February, I’d started the @EpicChange blog autoposter that I rarely posted live. So, I’m still learning about the Twitterverse and its amazing landscape of incredibly bright contributors. Apparently, though, Scoble’s a big deal. Like, the stuff of legends when it comes to technology and the web. I’m grateful to @dahowlett, the prolific, long-time ZDNet blogger, as he’s been incredibly persuasive at pulling Scoble and several others into the cause to various degrees. If you read @dahowlett’s post, he points to serendipity as the reason he personally decided to “pimp Epic Change.” (btw: feel free to pimp us anytime.) Serendipity has surrounded this effort from the very beginning, which means to me that we’re headed in the right direction. Serendipity was even the title of the very first post on this blog.

Here’s a few other statistics about the explosive buzz generated from just one random chance taken in the middle of the night less than a week ago:

Most notably, check out the explosive growth in the number of followers we now have on Twitter (89%)! Perhaps more importantly, since Friday, there’s been a 355% uptick in the number of you that are reaching out to me via tweet each day, and a 54% increase in the number of daily emails I receive, including direct messages from Twitter. This is a really cool indicator, because it means that I’m not hunting for supporters…you’re looking to get involved. And that totally rocks. It means whether you’re a social benefit organization or someone interested in creating social change, you should be using social media tools, and especially Twitter. The tools are powerful. That said, as I mentioned to @LordLeopard today, social media tools will not change the world. But we can more easily by using them effectively. As an aside, note that the indicators marked with a double asterisk (**) are potentially skewed because we simultaneously were running a direct email campaign to our 500+ d-list subscribers last week for National Volunteer Week.

Of course, now’s the hard part: transforming this word-of-mouth momentum into a community of meaningful, engaged collaborators in the creation of Epic Change. Are you in?

In the next few days, I’ll post an update about my three birthday wishes: in short, we’ve made some amazing progress, but we definitely need your help, so donate, volunteer & make a video sharing the reason why the stories of children in Tanzania matters to you. In my next post, I’ll include my own version. To preserve your own creativity & unique perspective, I hope you won’t immediately watch it, but will instead first create & upload one of your own.

For now, I really need to go to bed. It’s 4am here in Florida, and I really need my beauty sleep.

G’night.

Wait, am I already sleeping?

Pinch me, this could be a dream. Yes, it’s that good.

Posted: May 7th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 5

Today, a miracle happened. And, no, I’m not talking about the miracle of my birth, though today is my 34th birthday :)

The other night, I was playing on twitter and stumbled across a really popular blogger who was mentioning that he didn’t feel like writing his post for the day. So I offered to write it for him. He, jokingly, wrote back “Go for it :)” and, not one to miss an opportunity to share Epic Change, I did.

Today, in celebration of the last day of National Volunteer Week, and my birthday, I’m hoping you’ll check out my blog post on GoBigAlways.com. Near the bottom of it, you’ll find a list of three very important bullet points - they are my birthday wishes. I’m really hoping you’ll grant them. :)

And special thanks to Sam Lawrence, CMO of Jive Software, who was recently named on a list of “seven leading corporate social media evangelists today” & the man who passed my wishes along to his audience of thousands.

With your help, this will be the best birthday ever. Celebrate with me by granting some wishes.

P.S. Dennis Howlett, a long-time blogger for ZDNet who has been providing comment and analysis on enterprise software since 1991, just blogged about us in a post titled Instrumenting social responsibility. How cool is that!?

Posted: May 2nd, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 2

It’s my turn to tell you about today’s volunteer opportunity! Being that I spend so much time in the video editing room, today’s opportunity is particularly fitting. ;)

I’ve made my personal selection for Day 4 of National Volunteer Week, and have dubbed it Epic Change YouTube Day! All I want you to do is go to our Epic Change channel on YouTube and check out a few of our videos. I hope you’ll rate, favorite & comment as well, because not only does this help us spread the word via YouTube, but it also helps us create better videos. So don’t be shy and let us know what you think, whether positive or negative; we can take it.

I also want to encourage you to subscribe to our channel so you’ll automatically know when we’ve added a new video. All you have to do is click on the yellow “Subscribe” button on our channel, pretty simple. Of course, if you don’t already have a login for YouTube, you’ll need to get one, but that’s pretty painless. Call me at 415.748.2152 and I’ll personally walk you through it.

To get started, these are my personal faves:

1. This video is about Gideon, a 4th-grader at Shepherds Junior school. You really have to hear him describe his future career & his gratitude; he’s awesome.
2. This video is a compelling conversation we had with Gideon’s father, Mr. Gidori. He talks about the school, his son and his hopes for the future of his continent; it’s probably one of the most interesting conversations I have ever heard.
3. This video explains our mission & the results you’ve made possible so far. This is great if you want to get a better understanding of our organization and what we’re up to in Tanzania.

We’ve also got an Epic Change Kids Group where you can see some of the incredibly interesting videos that some of the kids in America are sharing with their Tanzanian friends.

I hope you enjoy the videos, and will pass at least one along to a friend or colleague. We’ll be back again tomorrow with Friday’s volunteer opportunity.

Posted: May 1st, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 1

In celebration of Day 3 of National Volunteer Week, I’m hoping you’ll find in the list of ten below, an opportunity that’s perfect for you. Just click on the title of a particular opportunity that interests you, and you’ll be able to view the detailed role description from Idealist.org:

#1 Creative Project Manager: For artists & creative types like Amanda

Amanda May is our newest creative project manager. She has a background in photography and graphic design, and currently works as a fashion photo retoucher in New York City. While searching for info about Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth, she found Oprah’s site which links to VolunteerMatch, where she just happened to find us. Coincidence? I think not. Right now, she’s working on several amazingly creative ideas to transform the stories of children in Tanzania into interesting products that you’re going to crave.

#2 Accountant/Auditor: For human calculators

#3 Social Media Strategist, #4 Social Networkers & Web 2.0 Fiends or #5 Web 2.0 Designer: For web 2.0 junkies

#6 Local Chapter Heads: For social fireflies like Emily

Emily Morrow-Fick is one of our chapter heads in Canada. She is currently a student and previously volunteered with Sanjay and Stacey in Tanzania in 2007. In her own words, “I had the pleasure of working with Sanjay and Stacey in Tanzania. [Gee, thanks, Emily!] Their enthusiasm has been contagious and now I am so excited to be working with Epic Change here in Canada. As a student, there are so many opportunities open to me to make change happen. Epic Change is doing great things in Africa right now, and I’m proud to be a part of that. I can’t wait to go back to Tanzania and see all the amazing changes that Epic Change has been able to fund at Shepherd’s Junior.” Emily’s currently working on planning a huge sale of consignment clothes, a poker tournament and a band performance at a local club. Like them, she rocks!

#7 Kids to Create Epic Change: For kids like Zoe

Zoe’s a third grader who’s leading the kid-powered revolution at Epic Change. Already, she’s personally raised hundreds of dollars with her lemonade stand and at her birthday party, which she threw in honor of her new friends in Tanzania. She’s also You can read more about her efforts and, if you’re a kid, learn more about how you can get involved at http://www.EpicChange.org/kids.

#8 International Volunteers: For adventurers like Eoin

Eoin’s a photographer and graphic designer who traveled to Tanzania last year and, during his trip, taught a photography class to some of the children at Shepherds Junior. He also donated two digital cameras and a solar charger that the children are now using to take photos that will be used for greeting cards and postcards. Later this year, Eoin plans to publish a book of his photos from his trip to Arusha and a portion of the proceeds will be dedicated to Epic Change.

#9 PR & Marketing God(dess): For spin doctors

#10 10-Minute Volunteers: For those with more passion than time

Even if you’ve only got 10 minutes a week, I’m hoping you’ll commit to volunteer them with Epic Change. Just leave a comment below, email me at stacey@epicchange.org or call my cell (415.630.0631) with the role in which you’re interested - or pass this post to a friend who might be looking for a way to make a difference. Of course, if you’re the type who prefers to color outside the lines (aren’t we all, really?), and you’ve got a great idea for how to use your unique talents in support of Epic Change, let us know; we love new ideas!

Just yesterday, a musician named Lauren Hayworth reached out to me with an offer to write music for our YouTube videos, a need which we had, but certainly hadn’t conceptualized. Her effervescent song of hope & optimism, Look Up, is already featured on our video of Gideon. You can check out the video here, and, if you’re in the mood to feel totally inspired, listen to Lauren’s song:

In short, we need YOU, in whatever brilliant capacity you’re able, to contribute the most valuable thing you have to offer - your time - to this effort. I so look forward to working with you!

---

PS: For those of you who may have missed it, this week Epic Change is participating in National Volunteer Week by asking each of our supporters to volunteer 5-10 minutes each day this week to Epic Change. If you’re just starting, you all you need to do is read and comment on this blog entry or this Youtube video and answer a couple of these 20 questions to catch up!

Posted: April 30th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 3

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, this week is National Volunteer Week. At Epic Change, we believe that anyone can make a difference in just a few minutes a day, so every day this week, we’re posting a 5-10 minute volunteer opportunity in which we hope you’ll participate.

Today, we present a game of 20 questions. Epic Change is your organization, and your ideas and collaboration are the keys to its success. Here we’ve posted 20 questions on which we’d like your input. While we certainly don’t expect you to answer all of them, we hope you’ll take a few minutes to scan the list and choose one or a few that are particularly relevant or interesting to you. All you need to do is post your responses as a comment to this post, and refer to the number of the question you’re answering.

Here’s our questions:

About You

1. What about you makes you the type of person that supports an effort like Epic Change? Where would we look to find more people like you?
2. If you could ask one question of the children, teachers or parents in Tanzania (or of us!) what would you ask?
3. What are the top 3 reasons that you personally support and/or are interested in Epic Change?
4. What other causes do you support? Why & how?
5. Have you asked anyone to get involved with Epic Change or donate funds? If so, share your experience. If not, why not?

Your Great Ideas

6. If you could offer one piece of advice or feedback to Epic Change, what would it be?
7. Do you have a great idea for a product - that you would personally buy - that could be designed based on the stories and/or artwork of children in Tanzania?
8. What ideas do you have for spreading the word about Epic Change?
9. Do you have an interesting idea for a fundraiser?
10. What could we do to make you feel even more connected to the school you’re supporting in Tanzania? What could you do?
11. We’ve currently got 18 great computers waiting for shipment to Tanzania. Do you know of any inexpensive (or free!) alternatives for shipping, or do you know someone in the cargo/shipping business that might be able to help?

Our Online Presence

12. Which blog posts have you found most/least interesting? Why?
13. Which Youtube video has been most/least interesting to you personally? Why? (You can check out all of our YouTube videos here.)
14. What improvements would you suggest to our website or blog?
15. Do you have a question or topic that you’d like us to cover in a future blog post?
16. If we set up a “twitter” account for the children in Tanzania, would you follow their conversation? Why or why not?

For the Nerds

17. I’ve read about a tweeter recently who had problems setting up twitter on his cell phone in Delhi. What will be the challenges of setting up twitter on cell phones in Tanzania? How can I avoid complications?
18. I’d like to get several cell phones that would work in Tanzania for the children to use for tweeting. Do you know of anywhere I could get free or cheap cell phones that would work (or could be easily adapted to work) in Tanzania?

For Everyone

19. Do you have a question that you’d like to ask fellow supporters and followers of Epic Change?
20. If you’ve suggested an idea for Epic Change to implement, would you personally be willing to participate in its implementation? Alternatively, has anyone else contributed a great idea with which you’d like to help?

Don’t forget, too, If you missed Monday’s 5-minute opportunity, it’s simple to catch up: just check out one of our recent blog entries about Gideon, a fourth grader at Shepherds Junior, and his dad Gidori, post your personal response as a comment, and, if you haven’t already, subscribe to our blog via email or RSS.

I look forward to hearing from you - and am excited to hear all your great ideas. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow for another quick opportunity to create Epic Change!

Posted: April 29th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 7

You are amazing.

You can’t imagine how many people told me it would be impossible to build a school in Africa in three months. Apparently, they didn’t know about you. They said I needed to get someone rich or famous involved, that they’re the ones with the power to make a real difference. Apparently, they didn’t realize just how much power you have when you’re passionate about something. Maybe you’re not Angelina Jolie, perhaps you’re not Bono or Bill Gates. But you have power beyond measure; just look at what you’ve accomplished.

Admittedly, we’ve only just begun - but what a beginning: 6 months. 350 people mobilized. Nearly $40,000 raised. $1000 grant awarded. 4 classrooms constructed & open. 200 smiling faces.

Now, though, we face the challenges of the road ahead. Over the next 3-4 years, we’ll need to raise over $200,000 to complete the school with more classrooms, its first library, cafeteria, solar power, flushable toilets, a playground and a school bus. Concurrently, we’ll be developing products based on the stories of the children at the school in an effort to successfully prototype our unique approach to story-based pay-it-forward social innovation. These will be no small feats. Having seen what you’ve accomplished already, though, I’m not worried a bit, just excited to see where this journey will lead.

Serendipitously, this week is National Volunteer Week. Since you’ve demonstrated so clearly what you can accomplish when you work together, I’m asking you, this week, to expand your collaboration. Each day this week, I’ll be posting to the blog a 5-10 minute volunteer opportunity. I believe that if we each continue to do a little, together, we have the power to create truly EPIC Change in Tanzania and, after this project is complete, in many other hopeful communities across the globe.

Today’s activity is simple: Immerse yourself in the story. Not only is today the beginning of National Volunteer Week, it’s also “Reading & Commenting Day” in the blogosphere, so today’s effort is about participating in the story that’s unfolding on our blog. Here’s all you need to do:

• Check out our blog. Learn more about this incredible story in which you’re participating by reading a few blog posts. Most recently, we’ve posted this story about Gideon, a student at the school, and this truly compelling video interview with his Dad. Get to know their story, so you can pass it on.
• Post a comment. We’d love your ideas, input, feedback & suggestions, and since our friends in Tanzania keep track of the blog too, they’d love to hear from you. Make yourself heard.
• Subscribe to the blog. If you haven’t already, you can have each blog entry come straight to your email by entering your email here or, if you prefer an RSS feed, subscribe to ours here. This will enable you to easily provide input on an ongoing basis, communicate with those you’re helping in Tanzania and follow the story you’re helping to write.

If you’re not a techie & this doesn’t make sense, or is confusing, please don’t opt out. We can’t do this without you. Just call my cell at 415.630.0631 or call Sanjay at 415.748.2152. We’d be more than glad to walk you through the process personally.

In the spirit of National Volunteer Week, we’ll of course be publishing some great opportunities this week to get even more involved in Epic Change, if you’re interested and able to make the time.

For now, though, I’m asking for ten minutes every day this week, less than one hour.

Are you in?

---

PS: If you’ve got extra time today (or are in a long, boring meeting), here’s some extra credit:

• Stumble us. Register for StumbleUpon, and stumble the posts you read; a link appears at the bottom of each post. You only need to register once, and then each time you find an interesting story on our blog, stumble it. By doing so, you publicize our blog, and get more people interested in our story.
• Share our blog. If you’ve got a blog, post a link to our blog (http://www.EpicChange.org/blog). If you don’t have a blog of your own, find a post you really like on the Epic Change blog and forward it to your friends. Let them know that you’re participating - and why.

If you do the extra credit, and you let me know by posting a response on our blog, I shall find some sort of prize for you. It will be good.

Again, don’t hesitate to call with questions!!! 415.630.0631 or 415.748.2152.

Posted: April 28th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 2

Perhaps one of the most interesting people we met during our last visit to Tanzania was Gideon’s Dad, Gidori. The video below captures our conversation which begins with him pondering the color of God’s skin and ends with his hopes for his son, his country and his continent.

If your feed doesn’t show the video, click here to go directly to YouTube. You can also hear from & about Gidori’s 10-year-old son Gideon here.

Posted: April 27th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 3

Close your eyes and picture an African child.

What do you see? Likely a child hungry, impoverished, orphaned, weak, dirty, sad, diseased, in need.

Before I went to Africa the first time, I had an image in my mind of the people, and especially the children, I would meet. I’d seen them on the news and late-night infomercials for my entire life. Growing up in Catholic school, I remember their images from the milk cartons in which we collected change for them during Lenten appeals. I’d seen their huts, their sickness, their war-torn villages. I’d stood with Hands Across America, and my little brother even sang We are the World in our school talent show. I knew, and had a deeply felt sympathy for, African children. Empathy was impossible, though, because their situation was simply too foreign for me to truly grasp.

But somehow, in all that I’d seen over a lifetime of learning, and multiple degrees, I’d never, ever seen Gideon. Not on the news, not in a book, not on a commercial. Never. Not once. Believe me, I’d have remembered, because he would have so profoundly stood apart from the stereotypes and categories I’d formulated in which he should fit as a child of Africa.

Gideon is a 10-year-old boy, a fourth grader at Shepherds Junior. First and foremost, he’s a child. He’s got an infectious giggle and an imagination that is ignited by my incessant questioning. When I asked him to draw a picture of what makes him happy, he drew himself playing in the rain, and on Thanksgiving, when I asked what he was thankful for, he cheerfully exclaimed that he was grateful “because Christmas is coming and I’m going to eat!” He’s just a kid, not at all unlike those you’d find on any playground in your own neighborhood.

He’s got an innate curiosity. Recently, one evening after dark shortly before the new school was opened, Gideon snuck off to investigate the new classrooms, while his worried parents wondered where he’d wandered. He came home, excited and out of breath, with the good news. “Daddy, the school is so wonderful!…The classrooms are big enough, there is enough light and air because the windows are big.” Gideon’s father, a welder who donated his own time to fashion those windows in his own workshop, quickly forgot his worry and celebrated with his son.

His dad also told me he has to watch carefully to make sure Gideon does his math homework at night, like I watched my niece do her long division before dinner last night. Gideon’s a little boy, like some you may know, who dreams of becoming a rocket ship pilot when he grows up, though he’s never even stepped foot on an airplane. His Dad wants him to be an engineer. He recently played one of the lead roles in the school’s play about the woman’s role in Tanzanian society. He’s a budding photographer and loves elephants.

If you asked me to describe Gideon, his poverty wouldn’t rank anywhere in the top 10 adjectives I’d use. Admittedly, he lives in one of the most impoverished countries on Earth. Admittedly, on more than one occasion I witnessed him lovingly wrap leftover fruit, chicken or potatoes to bring home to his family for whom these items are likely expensive luxuries. He is, by our standards, undeniably poor. But he is not defined by his poverty.

All too often, our portrayals of African children focus on their lack, and implicitly convey that their poverty is somehow their core attribute, their essence. Not only is our portrait radically incomplete, it is, perhaps worst of all, self-perpetuating. After all, as Gideon’s father so eloquently told me, “if you tell a man he is weak, he will be weak; if you tell a man he is poor, he will be poor.” Like many children of Africa, Gideon is not the fragile child of our uninformed stereotypes. It’s not that simple.

He’s just a kid. A bright, strong, playful, funny, hopeful, sometimes mischievous, 10-year-old boy.

While his poverty has absorbed our attention, it’s actually his potential that’s far more interesting, and in which we’re investing at Epic Change.

We’re not supporting Shepherds Junior because it is a school that serves poor children. We’re partnering with this school because it’s a place that empowers all its students, regardless of their economic status, with the education they need to become leaders in their country, and to overcome their poverty. We’re supporting it because it provides these children with role models, in Mama Lucy, the teachers and the parents’ committee, of strong local leaders who are intent on improving their own lives and their own community. We’ve chosen Shepherds Junior not because it has so little, but because they do so much with the little they have.

We are investing in Shepherds Junior not out of pity, but out of incredible respect, awe at their potential and a shared hope for the future of children like Gideon and the beautiful country they call home.

Posted: April 26th, 2008 under The Foundry, Story Spot.
Comments: 8

I’m a twitter addict. Just two days with my new personal account and I’m a total fiend for the twitterverse where free-wheeling idea brokers convene to brainstorm, share epiphanies and connect. If you’re not on yet, what are you waiting for? You can follow me at @StaceyMonk, Sanjay at @SanjayPatel and get Epic updates at @EpicChange. Even better, after joining us, search for other people with your interests on TweetScan or Summize, and leap into the twitter idea pool, like a child at the park fearlessly playing with other fun, interesting kids you meet. Tweet, email or call me on my cell (415.630.0631) and I’d be glad to show you the ropes.

Anyway, I started there because I’m grateful to ubiquitous blogger Chris Brogan for snapping me out of my Twitter trance with his tweet that simply said “Facilitating conversations and seeking opinions fosters engagement. Don’t you think?” I certainly do, and the question reminded me that I still needed to synthesize all the input I’ve received on the topic of engaging storytelling. So here goes . . .

After I finish up my taxes, I’ll be working to launch our monthly series of stories about a a few of the children in Tanzania, and I want to be careful to do so with respect, tenderness and authenticity. So, as I mentioned here a few weeks ago, I’ve been assembling a list of guiding principles for sharing their stories in ways that are worthy of their characters and content. I asked Linkedin users to expand the list, and was amazed to find compelling answers from journalists, screenwriters and nonprofit leaders, which you can read in their entirety on LinkedIn. I’ve summarized my thinking and their invaluable advice into the list of storytellers’ “rules of engagement” below:

1. Get out of the way. Avoid mediation and, as writer and editor Joan Trossman Bien suggested, “Just let them talk and reveal themselves.”
2. Write about your audience. Great stories are about their readers, and great storytellers don’t allow us to be idle bystanders. We see ourselves somewhere in the story. They make us think about ourselves perhaps even more than the characters. As creative director David Wilson wrote, “Invite the reader to imagine themselves.”
3. Make people think for themselves. Many stories are told to elicit a very particular reaction like sadness, fear, guilt or happiness. They proscribe to the audience exactly what to feel like a Sally Struthers video carefully concocted to manufacture pity. Reality, though, is rarely summarized in a single predictable emotion; it is more nuanced. The best stories require our independent consideration and inspire a myriad of subtle responses that are influenced not only by the story but by our unique personal experiences.
4. Imperative + Optimism = Action. Financial planner Richard Krasney and others suggested a useful 3-step approach that includes explaining the need, inspiring hope, and requesting impactful action. To establish an imperative, Keyvan Gilbert from Union Gospel Mission suggests “don’t be afraid to emphasize the problems that exist,” but he emphasized, “make sure the stories can also be seen as motivating and hopeful.” I couldn’t agree more. Personally, I think far too many non-profits use messages of fear, pity and guilt rather than hope and inspiration.
5. Don’t miss the humor. “Humor allows us to face the worst possible scenario without aversion, and experience a true, deeply felt emotional response in a positive and memorable way,” wrote David Wilson.
6. Narrow the frame. Magazine writer and editor Elaine Appleton Grant passed along this advice she received from “Tom French, an award-winning narrative journalist for The St. Petersburg Times. He says: “Narrow the frame.” The longer the story, the MORE focused on a single character it should be. As others have written here, people have a hard time relating to the 30,000-foot view, but we all love characters.” I agree, amalgamation & summarization feel contrived. People can identify with an individual, but not with an entire population. As Paul Slovic, a psychology professor at the University of Oregon pointed out in a 2007 article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, “We cannot wrap our minds around two people as well as around one.” Research from Wharton Professor Deborah Small also suggests that “statistics can actually blunt [our] emotional response,” which can “suppress giving” and decrease our likelihood of taking action.
7. Be concise. In the best stories, every word is essential. I’ll leave it at that. (Yes, I do catch the irony of including this rule in a blog post this long.)
8. Invite participation. As Chris Brogan tweeted, “facilitating conversations & seeking opinions fosters engagement.” I need your participation, questions, feedback, suggestions to make sure that the stories we’re sharing are compelling to you, our audience. I look forward to providing opportunities, like our Flickr and YouTube groups for kids, for everyone to get involved - not only in hearing the story, but in sharing it, which brings me to my final rule . . .
9. Let others speak for you. Leyla, a commenter at the Nonprofit Marketing Guide, made perhaps my favorite suggestion: “another great way to tell great stories is to let your supporters tell them for you.”

This is my fondest hope. I hope you’ll share the stories of children like Glory, so my next blog post will be the first in a regular series of stories about a few of the children at Shepherds Junior. I promise, they’re some of the most interesting people you’ll ever meet, and, by sharing videos and art, I’ll try to let them share as much of their own stories as possible, without me getting in the way.

Stay tuned. And let me know when I’m breaking my own rules, or if you have others. After all, this list of 9 just begs for a #10. Perhaps it should be “Don’t finish: Write stories that beg for your audience to write their own ending.”

P.S. For those of you who may be looking, here are a few other great links for storytellers:

• Andy Goodman, nonprofit storyteller extraordinaire
• The Nieman Narrative Digest at Harvard, which runs an annual conference on narrative journalism
• A great story from Heifer International
• The Story Handbook by The Trust for Public Land
• A list of other nonprofit storytelling links from the Nonprofit Marketing Guide

Posted: April 14th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 2