How Do You Connect to Something You've Never Experienced?
Lessons from the Passover Seder for powerful nonprofit storytelling
Nonprofit leader, how can your people feel connected to your mission if they've never personally experienced the problem you solve?
For those who celebrate Passover, this is exactly what we are tasked with, year after year:
"In every generation, each person must see themselves as if they personally came out of Egypt," we read during the Passover Seder.
To do this, we tell a story that connects our senses to emotions:
We see elements of the Passover story represented on a Seder plate, a centerpiece that evokes the bitterness of slavery and so much more.
We taste matzah, a bread-alternative that bakes too fast to rise, evoking the haste with which our ancestors left Egypt.
We hear songs of freedom, to express the joy and gratitude our ancestors felt upon their liberation.
I could go on...
In nonprofit storytelling, we're often tasked with the same challenge: how do we connect people to our work if they've never experienced the problem we solve?
We do it by linking the senses to emotions, which brings the story to life.
When I partner with an organization to tell their stories, I often use this exercise:
Your people may not ________, but they know what it feels like to _________.
They may not be survivors of domestic abuse, but they know what it feels like to be scared.
They may not have a child with a developmental disability, but they know what it feels like to love their kid.
They may not know what it's like to be hungry, but they know what it feels like to need help.
When you can identify the emotion in the story, you can layer it with sensory details to bring it to life.
What does fear smell like?
What does love sound like?
What does helplessness taste like?
How do these emotions make you feel physically?
The clearer a picture you can paint, the better your people will understand the emotions powering your story.
And the better they can understand the emotions, the more they'll connect to your cause—even if they've never experienced it themselves.
Because clarity creates connection.
After a decade as an in-house nonprofit marketer, Jordana Merkin founded Voice for Good to bring her insider knowledge and outsider perspective to help growing nonprofits like yours clarify their messaging to raise awareness and funds for their missions.
Her work with nonprofits includes messaging guides, communication strategy, and copywriting. (Learn more here!)
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