Story writing for nonprofit organizations
Does your nonprofit organization need more stories – and a better approach to storytelling — to support your marketing communications? Are any of the following obstacles holding you back?
- You don’t have time to dedicate to story planning or narrowing down story ideas.
- Your in-house team doesn’t have experience in story interviews or writing.
- Your team members with the relevant skills are maxed out on other activities and projects.
I offer a story writing service for nonprofit organizations to help you move past these obstacles and stay on top of storytelling.
Story writing service for nonprofit organizations
Here’s how my story writing service works:
1. Create your story mini-strategy and implementation plan
First, I’ll work with you to create a simple storytelling mini-strategy that builds upon and complements your editorial calendars and plan. Together, we’ll clarify which stories you’ll be telling, why you’ll be telling them, and how you’ll use them to boost the effectiveness of your communications.
During this stage, we’ll explore your storytelling goals and the story ideas that will align with your communications priorities and key messages. I’ll lead you through the process of creating a story mini-strategy and implementation plan.
2. Build your initial story library
With our plan in place, I’ll start developing your strategically aligned stories. Guided by our work and decisions in stage one, I’ll begin building your story library. While you work on other priorities, I’ll take over responsibility for subject interviews, developing creative story approaches, writing, and coordinating reviews and revisions with you and your story subjects.
3. Ongoing story writing and project management
As you establish and grow your story library, I will help you stay on top of ongoing story development. You can think of me as your external story studio, taking care of story development and project management according to the frequency that we established in the planning stage — with regular check-ins to ensure your storytelling stays on strategy and on schedule.
By working with me as your story writer, you’ll ensure that you:
- Are equipped to continuously incorporate stories into your communications mix
- Stay on top of story development opportunities
- Feel confident about which stories to share and when
“The process is seamless, and Marlene has the utmost concern for quality, character and business acumen that translates into stunning stories. I have found her thoughtfulness and genuine care about the subjects translate into compelling and meaningful stories that will engage our audience; helping our organization profile great people for great causes.”
Why work with me?
I’ve been helping nonprofit organizations to tell their stories since 2001 – as a writer, trainer and advisor. I can identify valuable story leads, align story ideas to strategic priorities and conduct interviews that unearth the right messages and angles. My clients trust me to connect directly with their most valued supporters and stakeholders and tell their stories in a meaningful and respectful way.
Package price starts at $11,500
The base cost for one year of storytelling support includes your story mini-strategy and implementation plan, plus the development of four stories (one per quarter), and regular check-ins. We can expand and customize this package to include additional story development and implementation support.
Let’s talk about developing your nonprofit’s stories together
If you would like to talk about developing your nonprofit’s stories together, here are our next steps:
- Set up a consultation: Let’s schedule a time to meet.
- Explore your needs: We’ll have a conversation so I can learn more about your needs, and you can learn more about my approach.
- Develop your plan — and your stories! If we agree to work together, I’ll walk you through the steps and work plan for story development.