We love to hear success stories about the nonprofits we work with. Elexa Liu works with Hope Worldwide in Hong Kong and has participated in many of our training events both online and in person (Yes, she flew all the way to Seattle to take part in the Total Focus Marketing Plan Workshop I teach with Nancy Schwartz). She recently sent me this email on what happened after she started focusing on telling a good story instead of inundating her supporters with boring statistics.   ~Kivi

Dear Kivi,

Hope you are doing well. Again, thank you for sharing/teaching/passing on your knowledge and experience and resources about nonprofit marketing and communication.

I have been trying to implement all that I am absorbing from you and others (notably Tom Ahern) in my communications pieces – tell stories, “report” back what good has been done with the donations, lay forth visions, and thank, thank, and thank. In essence, going for the heart and the head. For the past 2 years, unsolicited donations from existing supporters has been increasing.

A private individual recently asked us to submit a proposal to apply for a donation of approximately HK$400,000 (about US$51,600). She came to our centre for a visit and told us that our newsletter was what caught her attention as she researched about different NGOs to support. She said most of what she read were boring facts and program details. Instead, we had a story that touched her heart but we also laid out the vision of what we do to help the kids.

So thank you! I still have much to learn (sometimes I feel like my head would explode!) but this was indeed very encouraging to me.

Best regards,
Elexa

Have you made a shift in your communications that’s working? We’d love to hear your story too, so please feel free to share in the comments.

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