Giving Compass' Take:

• Exponent Philanthropy's Henry Berman discusses the importance of a powerful narrative for nonprofits — and how to craft your own.

• For anyone involved in communications, this is essential reading. How is your organization crafting its story?

• Here's how to accelerate the social impact of visual storytelling.

My first life — the one before nonprofits and philanthropy — was in film, video, multimedia, and communications. I also studied education, and my success was found at their intersection — fusing the disciplines of communications and learning to change audiences’ behaviors.

As I moved into the world of nonprofits as a board member, fundraiser, and, in one instance, a museum founder, I’ve brought a film director’s perspective of considering the entire script first, before pushing in for the details and intimacy of the close-up.

When I was given the gift allowing me to add foundation trustee to my resume, the same skills I honed as a storyteller became infused in my work, as I hope they are in yours. Perhaps more than anything, a good story has the power to make us think and act.

As you work with funders, volunteers, board members, and colleagues, you want your story to shine. Which means that you need to tell it the way you want, lest someone else tells it for you.

How then do you do this?

If you read up on storytelling, you’ll find many techniques and lots of “how to” advice for crafting a good story. I encourage you to find and study those resources, keeping in mind that not all of them will work for you every time. Find those that resonate and build on them.

In my case, I keep returning to two basic mantras that for decades have served as my guide and kept me grounded: (1) take the audience from the familiar to the unfamiliar, and (2) always make sure they can see themselves in the story.

Read the full article about how nonprofits can tell better stories by Henry Berman at Exponent Philanthropy.