Finding and Following Your Story for Fundraising

Mar 11, 2018

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Episode Summary

You can create an authentic fundraising experience that is as interesting as it is strategic. All you need to do is to know your story and find leverage in what distinguishes you from the rest. Marketing trends are great to watch because they give you a sense of what’s out there and what people are responding to. However, just because a trend works for one organization doesn’t mean it will work for yours. Each organization has its own purpose, views, and mission. Your organization’s mission will become the backbone of your story. Staying true to your mission and being creative in the process will help you find your story and share it with passionate people who can intimately relate with your story. Find your tribe and share your story. Package your story into your marketing campaign and see how storytelling can easily help others understand your mission. All brands and organizations (whether they’re nonprofits or not) have stories that ensure that they both gain new supporters and retain loyal supporters. Your story and your brand go hand-in-hand. Although design is very important, establishing your brand goes far beyond creating a logo and a style guide. Branding is the combination of your story, personality, and values. What words, feelings, and visuals come to mind when you think about your organization? What about when others think about your organization? Branding even goes beyond showing your audience who you are and what you’re like. It’s also a matter of creating real estate in your audience’s minds. Your audience may know you, like you, and trust you - but will they remember you? Branding is an exploration in trust. A chapter in our book, “Brick By Brick”, delves deeply into the importance of having a great backstory. A prime example wherein this concept is so properly and commonly executed is in the way that superheroes are so successfully marketed. Superheroes and brands have more things in common than what you might think. You can read our book to find out what these commonalities are and how they can greatly affect your fundraising campaign. In this episode, Drew Neisser, of Renegade, shares some moments of storytelling in action. Listen in as he explains why it’s important to think for yourself and to reflect on how to market effectively with a genuine story.

About Drew Neisser

Drew Neisser, founder and CEO of Renegade, is a recognized authority on cutting-edge marketing techniques having won enumerable awards for creativity and campaign effectiveness. Part strategist, part ideator and part therapist, Drew is well known to numerous CMO’s as their secret weapon. Recognized among “50 Thought Leaders over 50” in 2014 & 2015 by Brand Quarterly, Drew is a prolific blogger for a long list of online publications including Forbes, FastCompany, SocialMediaToday, MediaPost, TheCMOclub, CMO.com and SmartBrief. A frequent speaker at a wide range of events, Drew’s been a featured expert on ABC’s Nightline and CNBC as well as The New York Times, Adweek and Digiday, among others. Through a long-time partnership with The CMO Club, Drew has met and interviewed well over 100 CMOs in the last five years for his articles and for his first book, The CMO’s Periodic Table: A Renegade’s Guide to Marketing. Drew is a trusted advisor to many of these CMOs and authors the highly praised CMO of the Week column for Social Media Today and TheCut, his coveted monthly newsletter. He regularly consults on digital and social media trends via the GLG network and currently sits on the boards of the Urban Green Council and Duke NY. [av_button_big label='Join the Grow Your Non-Profit Facebook Group!' description_pos='above' link='manually,https://www.facebook.com/groups/growyournonprofit/' link_target='' icon_select='yes-left-icon' icon='ue8f5' font='entypo-fontello' custom_font='#ffffff' color='theme-color' custom_bg='#444444' color_hover='theme-color-subtle' custom_bg_hover='#444444' custom_font_hover='#421c52!important' custom_class='' admin_preview_bg=''] Click here to join a community of non-profit professionals leveraging digital marketing and technology to grow their communities and improve their fundraising systems.  [/av_button_big]