How do you use storytelling and testimonials to showcase your impact and culture?

1 Why storytelling and testimonials matter

Storytelling and testimonials can be powerful forms of communication, conveying your mission, goals, challenges, and achievements in an authentic way while highlighting the benefits of volunteering. They can capture attention and interest more effectively than facts and figures, demonstrating impact and value by showing how volunteers have contributed to your cause and how your organization has supported them. Furthermore, stories and testimonials can create trust and credibility by demonstrating transparency, honesty, and accountability. They can also foster engagement and loyalty by creating a sense of belonging among your volunteers and encouraging feedback, recognition, and referrals.

2 How to collect stories and testimonials

To collect stories and testimonials, you need to have a clear purpose, a target audience, and a strategy. It is also important to follow some best practices. You should define your objective and identify your audience, as this will guide your choice of topics, formats, and channels. Additionally, plan your approach for collecting stories and testimonials; will you interview volunteers or ask them to write or record their own? How will you select and edit your stories and testimonials? Lastly, be ethical and respectful when collecting stories and testimonials. Respect the dignity, rights, and wishes of volunteers. Follow relevant laws, policies, and guidelines while avoiding any misrepresentation, manipulation, or exploitation.

4 How to share stories and testimonials

To effectively share stories and testimonials, you need to select a channel, set a frequency, and choose a format. Channels can be online or offline, such as websites, social media, newsletters, blogs, podcasts, videos, flyers, posters, or events. Frequency can be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or occasionally. Formats can be text, audio, video, image, or a combination of these. Additionally, testing and measuring the performance and impact of your stories and testimonials is essential in order to optimize your content and reach your objectives.

5 How to improve your storytelling and testimonials

To improve your storytelling and testimonials, you need to have a continuous learning mindset, a feedback culture, and a collaborative approach. Learning from others means observing and studying how other organizations or individuals use storytelling and testimonials in their work. Seeking feedback can help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, to improve your quality and relevance, and to increase your satisfaction and loyalty. Collaborating with others can help you to expand your reach and impact, to diversify your content and perspective, and to create synergies and partnerships. By following these best practices, you can benchmark yourself against best practices or standards.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?