When Stories in Appeals Kill Your Fundraising Results

With all the articles, blog posts and white papers about storytelling in fundraising, it's easy to think that all you have to do is drop a story into an appeal and there you go—success.

Not necessarily so. Network for Good research showed 44 percent of nonprofits polled said that stories had no impact on results or were unsure of their impact, while 32 percent said stories somewhat improved results. Only a quarter said that stories definitely improved results.

There could be lots of reasons for this, but one might be the way the stories themselves are told. Here are some things to watch for that could be making your stories less effective.