This “Ask Dalya” series covers 17 of your grantwriting questions. Get lots more Q & A, individual feedback, materials, etc. in the Grantwriter’s FastTrack Coaching Program.

Q: What can you tell me about the key role of storytelling in proposals?

A: By sharing stories with funders, you will render your messages personalized, catchy, and relevant. Feature your various constituents: clients, volunteers, members, donors, staff, board, and strategic partners. Slice-of-life word snapshots will help put a face and voice to your work in a way that goes far beyond mind-numbing statistics. Telling a brief account of someone’s story can crystallize your message in just a few words.

Ask yourself: How can you show that are you playing an important role in a community of particular concern to the grantmaker?

Think about some stories that might illustrate your answers. Every day, your organization improves people’s lives. And every time that happens, a potential story is born.

Often called “case studies,” these before-and-after stories illustrate how people have found the benefits or results they were seeking by working with you.

The last great novel you read or movie or television show you watched no doubt centered around its characters. Your organization also centers around its “characters”: your clients. Show how your characters’ lives improve as they work with you.

Perhaps they learn some new information or a skill that they then use to rise out of despair. Or they could uncover a new resource (internal or external) that becomes crucial to their lives. Maybe they adopt a new attitude or forge a new relationship that allows them to find what they have long been seeking.

Whatever major change occurs in your characters, tell funders about how your organization played a part.

Example:

After William Green completed his 10-year prison term for bank robbery, he was determined to turn his life around. A friend told him about the ABC Career Center, where he soon explored his options, learned to write a resume and cover letter, and practiced how to answer difficult interview questions about his past. In his new job as a prep cook for a catering company, William has become a model employee! “ABC accepted me. They were warm and friendly and took the time to help,” he said.

Q: How can I collect stories from the people involved with my organization?

A: Break out your video camera or tape recorder (if you have permission). Offer your clients disposable cameras to take pictures of their lives. Or cull through your program applications and evaluations.

Listen to the voices of your clients. They want to be heard and taken seriously, and funders want to hear what they have to say. Using people’s actual words will infuse your proposal with a real-world genuineness. Quotation marks are also pretty darned eye-catching!

Include quotes that illustrate how people felt or what they experienced before, while, and after working with you. Be sure to ask your interviewees the 2 big questions:

1)     How did you benefit from the experience?

2)     What do those benefits mean to you?

What if you can’t get an exact quote, or the ones you have don’t sound so great? No problem. Just paraphrase the source, and clarify that you are not directly quoting but are maintaining the spirit of the spoken words.

(Bonus tip: If you receive some less-than-flattering comments, don’t discount them. If they are legitimate criticisms that you are working to address, they may come in handy when you are ready to tell funders about improvements you have made.)

Staff meetings are also great places to dig up stories. Conversations with co-workers around the water cooler, at lunch, or after work can be goldmines for raw material that you can then follow up on. Always keep an eye and ear out for stories that others in your organization are telling.

Build a stockpile of those little gems that you can use when the time comes.

(Note: Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article on February 3, 2014).

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PS: You will have the opportunity to ask many more questions in the Grantwriter’s FastTrack Coaching Program, Feb. 11- March 13.