The Beauty of a Great Appeal Story

Your appeal story is a wonderful chance to remind your audience what your organization does best. Programs that have had great recent success are a perfect place to look for a story that is meaningful, reminding your audience what’s at stake when they support your programs and inspires giving in the room.

This year’s Latino Network Noche Bella appeal story, which played at their event, is a great example of the right story creating not only a strong impression night-of but a lasting impression among the community after the event was over. The Noche Bella audience learned about the deep impact of the organization’s Escalera Program—which supports high school Juniors and Seniors in their pursuit of admission to college—from program participant Evelyn, who shared in her video that Escalera had reached its goal of 100% college or vocational-training admission within her cohort. They also learned why admission to college was so important to Evelyn and her family. Both her heartfelt journey with Latino Network and the larger impact this work is having on the Latino community comes through so well in Evelyn’s story.

Watch Evelyn’s story here

Because a successful special appeal story describes the hero’s journey of someone whose life has been profoundly impacted by your programs, having that person share important program successes amplifies those successes and makes them more authentic and emotional. We encourage nonprofits to think strategically about which program participants to highlight with an appeal story so that your story can share your organization’s successes at the same time that it connects your supporters more deeply with your mission.