How to Capture Your Story in a Crisis

2020 has been the year of elevated crises. In the nonprofit sector, organizations designed to fill the gaps in our societies are seeing those gaps widen below their feet; the need is more urgent and growing every day. Some days it can even be hard to prioritize the to-do list in front of you, knowing it’s all so critical.

If you do one thing today that will help strengthen the foundation of your organization, capture the stories of your work right now.

In the midst of crisis, your story is still happening. New, powerful stories are emerging every day, and in order to bring your donors along to show them how you’re keeping moving your mission forward, you have to capture these stories now.

Whether you’re applying for grants, creating videos for a virtual fundraising event, running social media donation campaigns or sending direct mail appeals, you need stories to share the impact of your work right now. The most effective way to capture these stories is to document them as they’re happening. And in this digital, socially-distant time, that requires getting creative.

What does that look like? Here are some ideas:

Screenshots of virtual meetings
Ask your coworkers or fellow board members to pose for a “group photo” in their individual squares and take a screen shot. Get creative with having people create signs or do hand gestures and capture lots of different meetings.
Photos of the work
If you have any staff or volunteers working out in the community (delivering food boxes, supplies, checking in with the folks you serve, etc.), ask them to snap photos along the way. Make sure everyone in the photos is following safety guidelines and has given permission to be photographed. Don’t be afraid to include selfies! Anything that shows your mission in action right now is critical to capture.
Recordings of online content
If you have switched over all of your programming to online, hit the record button! Online workshops, presentations, lessons, events or videos can all be really great content to share with folks interested in seeing what your work looks like right now. You can even host a virtual “filming” to record interviews with program participants or host community discussions that all make for great storytelling assets in this time.
Crowdsource photos + videos
Ask your community to send you photos and videos of themselves right now sharing their support for your mission. Create a call-to-action and have folks send you selfies with a sign that spells out your call-to-action. Ask your board, staff and volunteers to record videos of themselves talking about why they support this work and why it’s so important right now.

These are just a few ideas to help you keep this to-do top of mind. If you make it part of your regular check-ins and weekly to-dos, the easier it will be to document this historic time and SHOW your donors what they’re investing in.

Below are a few video examples of powerful stories captured during the COVID-19 crisis.