Tell A Story Your Mission Deserves
People rest on their laurels; nonprofits rest on their missions. Whether it was etched in stone decades ago or hashed out at
a leadership retreat a few years back, putting your mission statement on paper does not mean your communications
and storytelling work is done.
Your mission might be fixed, but the world around it is not. Culture, politics, teams, leaders change. Change is the only thing you can count on. Politicians understand this better than anyone, which is why they spend more time talking about and recontextuali-
zing their work than actually doing it. They get something fundamental: that stories don’t just automatically rise out of a set of facts and actions.
Stories are not born, they are built. They are authored. A discerning hand needs to choose which facts matter, connect them into a larger narrative, and explain why anyone should care.
For this reason, you need to keep your mission relevant by animating it through stories. What’s not working in the world right now? What could a better future look like? What role do you (and your mission) play in achieving that?
Storytelling keeps your mission alive, relevant, and even urgent.
Instead, nonprofits often take the position that their work speaks for itself. It comes from humility and the belief that when the work is good, the story tells itself. But in reality, by refusing to author your own story, you’re allowing others to do it for you.
Yes, in some rare cases, a compelling advocate may spin your facts and data into a moving sermon for your cause. But more often than not, your self-appointed storytellers will be, at best, imperfect communicators who fail to do your work justice or, at worst, bad actors who co-opt, distort, or malign your mission.
The best insurance against others taking control of your narrative is to take control of it yourself.
Tell the world why you exist.
Why your work is indispensable.
Who would feel its gaping absence if you were to disappear tomorrow.
Tell the world why you’re f*cking good at what you do.
And why no one else even comes close.
Tell the world what’s broken.
But also tell them that there is a reason and evidence for hope.
That there are bright spots everywhere you turn.
That in all this noise, you see promising signals.
And then tell them how you are turning those signals into a new reality.
Whether humble or assertive, candid or hopeful, whatever your style, there is a story you could be telling. So get out there and tell it. Your mission deserves it.
Curious about developing your own positioning? I help mission-driven organizations define their unique value and develop their narrative IP. Reach out to me here.