Reframing Nonprofit Language & Storytelling

Jan 30

In the last few decades, it's become commonplace for nonprofits to use storytelling to grow funding and increase brand awareness. We agree that narrative is an extremely powerful tool to connect new donors and increase memorability. However, it’s important to consider how stories are crafted—particularly the words used. Too often we see storytelling tropes that we believe to be damaging for communities, individuals, and the work of nonprofits as a whole. It’s time to change the narrative.

Here’s what we urge nonprofits to do in their messaging:

Go beyond the victimization narrative to emphasize strengths, resilience, and positive transformations.

Often, when nonprofits try to highlight programs and people they have served, they use terms that create a victim narrative and an us-vs-them mindset for readers and onlookers. These terms tend to lean negative, insinuating neediness and vulnerability. In recent years, it has become a “trend” for nonprofits to parade trauma to make their work seem memorable and fundable. For example, this has been seen in the form of photos of young children who are dirty, crying, or malnourished; or adults in compromising scenarios, shown as fearful or scared.

This can prove to be damaging for the communities organizations serve as it perpetuates a cycle of poverty and a less-than mindset. It can cause a nonprofit (and consequently their donors) to assume a “savior” mentality towards the work they do.

When we victimize individuals and communities this way, we’re taking advantage of them and their situations. Rather than looking to empower, uplift, and support through encouragement and forward thinking, it can keep the issues at a standstill.

Charles M. Johnston, psychiatrist, writer, and futurist writes:

“Victim narratives are ultimately disempowering—and in a particularly insidious way. When we place all responsibility outside ourselves, we also, in the end, put authority outside ourselves.” (via Psychology Today)

So, we urge nonprofits: instead of talking about poverty, needs, vulnerability, and lack-of… focus on future goals, community growth, restoration, financial freedom, and empowerment.

We have to change how nonprofits tell stories. They have to go beyond victimization narratives. They need to emphasize strengths, resilience, and the positive transformations brought about by the work that is done.

Which leads us into the following…

Be deliberate about the words you use.

Often nonprofits use blanket terms like “neglected”, “deprived” or “underserved” to describe communities as a whole. However, these terms can create more issues than they solve. These terms have been used to define large communities, but neglect to take into consideration nuance. There’s much more intricacy in each community, making blanket terms usage unclear and uninformative.

In addition, when we use terms like “underprivileged” or “disadvantaged”, we’re then saying there is an opposite: “privileged” or “advantaged”. This furthers an us-them mentality, causing further division. As nonprofits, the goal is to empower and enrich the communities served, not put them in a box. These terms equally victimize and hold us back.

When choosing words to describe the programs and work you do, using messaging that conveys dignity and empowerment, is culturally relevant, and does not victimize will be most powerful to building a better future.

“In an experiment conducted in Kenya, the researchers find that language that conveys dignity and empowerment, in culturally relevant ways, diminishes shame, increases confidence and motivates recipients. Words suggesting neediness had the opposite effect.” - Krysten Crawford (via Stanford News)

Here are some ways to do this…

Be specific about different types of inequalities.

When talking about different types of inequalities, and speaking to communities, it’s important to use clear terms. Define the inequalities, whether they are: income inequality, gender inequality, age inequality, racial inequality, class inequality, ethnic inequality, religious inequality, opportunity inequality, or other.

Being specific about terms related to inequalities is key in fostering a nuanced understanding and effective communication. Precision in language enables you (and your reader) to pinpoint the root causes of disparities, allowing for targeted interventions and policies. Specificity empowers advocacy efforts, facilitates data-driven discussions, and promotes a more accurate assessment of the impact of the work and initiatives you champion.

You can look to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to dive even deeper into various types of inequalities: hunger, education, health, sanitation, economy, energy, infrastructure, sustainability, and more.

In the pursuit of a fair and inclusive society, the importance of using precise terms cannot be overstated.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Think about the words you use.

Think about how to get crystal clear so it’s undeniable what you stand for, what you want to say, how it affects not just you but the communities you serve. Support and uplift those you serve by building them up, not tearing them down. Use storytelling to your advantage to tell the powerful impact of work being done and the futures that are changed because of it.

Let us help you.

We know every nonprofit has a different mission, programs, and initiatives. Because of that, each organization will face different types of storytelling and messaging challenges. If you’re finding yourself at a standstill and a lack of clarity of where to go next, let us help guide your messaging. We can help you analyze where you’re at, where you want to be, and what needs to change to get you there.

Cultivator