In this workshop, we aim to inspire you to uncover the hidden, powerful stories that reside within your library, not on the shelves, but among your staff, patrons, and community members. Good impactful stories can motivate volunteers, engage business leaders, galvanize public officials, and inspire donors. These stories are crucial for your advocacy efforts and fundraising, now more than ever.

Presenters Janee Pelletier and Pat Brigham received a Professional Certificate in Social Impact Storytelling from Georgetown University last fall. They will share what they have learned in that course, as well as their collective decades of experience in the nonprofit sector. We will share strategies for collecting and sharing stories that extend beyond awareness of your library services to inspire community support. You will leave with the basic tools, general guidelines, and best practices to enhance your ability to tell your library's story for fundraising and advocacy purposes. 

Key Topics: 

• Why Storytelling Matters
  • What makes a good nonprofit story? 
  • Using stories in your advocacy and fundraising efforts   
• Finding Your Library's Story: What is the story you want to tell?
  • Finding the stories within your organization: clients, staff, volunteers, donors 
  • Who is your audience? Align your story with your intention and audience. 
  • Recognizing everyday moments that can become compelling narratives  
• Ethical considerations: balancing authenticity, dignity, and impact; the role of ethical storytelling in advocacy and fundraising 
  • Gathering Story Elements – When Everyone gets involved, you'll have better stories 
  • Creating a culture of storytelling in your library 
  • Conducting effective interviews 
  • Story collection methods (audio, video, written, social media)
  • Consent and permissions: legal and ethical best practices