Are you a Story Gardener?

You might be asking, "what does that even mean, Rachel"?

Gardens come in all shapes and sizes, right? But every healthy, flourishing garden takes time, hard work, and even LOVE, in order to grow.

This is true when it comes to growing a well cultivated story bank, or story library, within a nonprofit organization. I like to call it a Story Garden for this reason.

If you want a flourishing source of stories you can pull from for appeals, newsletters, gratitude reports, social media posts, and more... you need to put in the time and effort to grow your Story Garden.

First, you need to cultivate the soil in your organization to make sure it's ready for you to plant the seeds of story-gathering.

Then you have to sow the right kinds of seeds - so you can grow the stories that best showcase your organization's impact.

You need to nurture and care for your stories to make sure they are strong and healthy. One of the best ways to do this is by having empathetic interviews that help you delve into emotional story details.

You will probably have to weed and even cull some potential stories so that others can grow.

At some point, you'll be ready to harvest your stories and turn them into content for direct response appeals or stewardship pieces, social media posts, videos and major giving asks.

And if you want your garden to grow bountifully throughout the years, you'll need a system to maintain it. You'll also periodically need to plant new seeds, and repeat the cycle all over again.

So now do you see what I mean when I ask, are you a Story Gardener? Is this something you're doing in your organization already? Or perhaps this is something you could use a bit of help with.

I’m working on a blog series to expand on this concept a bit more, which I’ll be posting over the next few weeks.

I'm also working on an offering where I will walk you through a full StoryGardening process. If you want a chance to be one of the first to go through this new program at a reduced rate - you can sign up for the advanced notice list now!

I'd love to know if you currently have a story library or story bank? How does the process work for you? Feel free to email me and let me know!