Magnetic Storytelling – a Guide for Charities

There’s a quote attributed to Steve Jobs that I love opening with, because it always provokes a reaction: “The storyteller is the most powerful person in the world.”

It’s a bold claim. But when you think about it, it starts to make a lot of sense. Stories shape perception. They pull on emotions. They make people move. And if your charity needs people to move – to donate, to volunteer, to campaign alongside you – then storytelling is one of the most important tools you have.

We run regular webinars for charity professionals on this topic, and the response is always the same: people arrive a little sceptical, or at least uncertain about how storytelling applies to their specific situation, and they leave with a framework they can actually use. This article covers the core of what we explore together.

What Is Storytelling?

Before we talk about how to tell a great story, it’s worth pausing on what storytelling actually means – because it’s broader than most people think.

Stories are ideas. They’re communicated through words, images, and sounds, yes – but also through subtler things. Colours. Facial expressions. The way a photograph is framed. All of these things merge with a viewer’s own experience and create a narrative in their mind. Show ten people the same image and you’ll get ten slightly different interpretations – each one shaped by who they are and what they’ve lived through.

That’s the power and the beauty of storytelling. It meets people where they are; at their point of lived experience.

This is why storytelling works so differently from, say, a list of facts about your organisation, or a detailed breakdown of your impact metrics. Those things have their place. But they engage the analytical brain. Stories engage something deeper – the part of us that feels before it thinks. And when it works, it generates an emotional response: intrigue, sadness, anger, pride, joy, fear. These aren’t accidental side effects – they’re the point.

As a charity communicator, your job is to generate those emotions intentionally – and then do something with them.

Closing The Loop

Here’s where a lot of charities miss a trick. They tell a powerful story – something genuinely moving – and then leave the audience with nowhere to go. The emotion just hangs there, unresolved.

Think about a great film, or a painting, or a piece of music. The artist has no obligation to give you closure. You’re left to feel whatever you feel. But you’re not an artist in that sense. You’re a communicator with a mission. And that changes things.

Your job is to close the loop.

A brilliant example of this is the collaboration between Norwich City Football Club and the Samaritans for World Mental Health Day. The video they created together is genuinely affecting – even on a second or third watch. But crucially, it doesn’t leave viewers stranded. It gives them something to do with what they’re feeling: look up the hashtag, check in on someone you love, call the Samaritans, make a donation. The campaign name itself – “Check In On Those Around You” – is an action. A simple, human, immediately achievable action.

That’s the model. Create an emotional response. Then give people a way to resolve it.

Works of art leave an open loop. Works of impact close it.

That distinction is worth writing on a Post-it note and sticking to your monitor.

“But Our Cause Isn’t Sympathetic Enough”

I hear this a lot. Often from very capable, well-intentioned people who’ve quietly convinced themselves that their cause doesn’t lend itself to storytelling. Prisoners. Ex-offenders. Sex workers. “Ugly” animals nobody wants to save. “Boring” research that feels too abstract to move anyone. Causes that are politically contentious, or so far removed from everyday life that they struggle to connect.

I understand the instinct. But I don’t buy the conclusion.

The Howard League for Penal Reform is a great example of why. In 2013, the Ministry of Justice banned loved ones from sending books to prisoners – framed as a crackdown on “perks and privileges.” The Howard League pushed back, launching a campaign called Books for Prisoners. They asked people to share “shelfies” – photos of their bookshelves – on social media.

Here’s what’s interesting: the campaign didn’t centre on prisoners or their welfare. It appealed to readers. To people who believe in the transformative power of books and self-education. It found a different angle on the same cause – one that resonated far beyond the usual audience for prison reform.

The result? A prisoner took her case to the High Court, supported by the Howard League’s legal team, and won. The prison rules were changed. The charity’s membership grew by 38%, their social following grew by 50%, and they won a national award.

The cause wasn’t the problem – the story just needed to find its angle.

This is something worth sitting with if you work for an organisation that struggles to generate public sympathy. The story doesn’t have to centre on your beneficiaries. It doesn’t have to do what you’d expect. It just has to connect – with the right people, at the right emotional frequency.

A Framework For Writing Your Story

So how do you actually do this? A really useful starting point is the StoryBrand framework, developed by Donald Miller. We’ve adapted it into five steps for the charity context, but the essential logic is the same.

The key insight is that the main character in your story shouldn’t be your charity. It should be your donor, your volunteer, or whoever you’re trying to reach. Your charity is the guide. The trusted companion. The organisation that helps the character get what they want.

Most charities instinctively position themselves as the hero of their own story – talking about their work, their history, their impact. And while there’s a place for all of that, it’s not where the emotional power lives. The emotional power lives in the character who wants something, faces an obstacle, and is transformed by the experience of working with you.

Here are the five steps:

1. A character with a desire. Who is your ideal donor or supporter? What do they want – not just what you want them to do, but what they genuinely care about? What change do they want to see in the world? The more specific and human this feels, the better.

2. A villain standing in the way. What’s blocking them from achieving that? It might be a feeling of overwhelm (“I can’t change this alone”), a lack of knowledge, a sense of helplessness, or a feeling that their individual contribution won’t make a difference. The villain doesn’t have to be a person – it’s a metaphor for whatever obstacle exists between your character and their desire. Name it clearly, because when your donor recognises themselves in that obstacle, you have their attention.

3. The character meets a guide. That’s you. But here’s the important part – what makes you the right guide for them? What credibility, experience, or track record do you bring? This is where your case studies, testimonials, and proof points earn their place. Not as a credentials exercise, but as reassurance: you’ve been here before, you know the terrain, and you can help.

4. A plan. What can this person actually do? Donate monthly. Volunteer once a month. Attend an event. Share a campaign. Whatever it is, make it clear, make it specific, and make it feel genuinely achievable. The plan is how your donor steps into the story rather than watching from the sidelines.

5. A transformation. What does success look like for this person? Not just for the people you serve – but for them, emotionally. What does it feel like to go from worried and inactive, to contributing and hopeful? That emotional arc is what makes the story land. It’s the difference between a supporter who gives once and forgets, and one who feels genuinely connected to your mission.

To give you a personal example: I donate to the King’s Trust. I grew up in a small coastal town in the north of England with limited opportunities, and I want to see a society where every young person can thrive. My “villain” is the feeling that I can’t create systemic change alone – I can’t fix the education system or reshape political will by myself, and frankly, I’m not always sure what needs fixing or how. The King’s Trust is my guide: they have the track record, the programmes, and the credibility to make that change happen at scale. My plan is a monthly donation – manageable, regular, and meaningful. And the transformation? Going from anxious about the future of young people, feeling like I’m not doing enough, to feeling like I’m genuinely contributing to something better.

It’s not a grand story. But it’s a true one. And that’s what makes it work.

Putting It All Together

Once you have your story, the next step is using it to prompt action – consistently, across your channels, over time.

The King’s Trust’s “Change a Girl’s Life” campaign is a nice illustration of this done well. A simple social post leads to a landing page that weaves together research, service user stories, and a clear impact statement, before presenting three distinct ways to get involved: host a fundraising breakfast, shop via their retail partners, or donate directly. Each element reinforces the others. The emotional case and the practical ask sit side by side, so there’s no gap between feeling something and doing something.

It’s not flashy. But when you connect all the dots, it creates a genuinely compelling journey for a prospective supporter – and that journey is replicable across different audiences and different channels.

The good news is that you don’t have to build all of this overnight. Start with one story. Work through the five steps. Try it with your team – you might be surprised how useful it is as a group exercise, not just a comms tool. It’s harder than it looks, but the best stories take effort, because they require you to really understand the people you’re trying to reach, not just the people you’re trying to help.

And once you’ve taken someone on that journey be sure to capture it. Document it. Their story becomes your next story, and the one after that. That’s how you build a storytelling culture that compounds over time – one that keeps finding new ways to connect with new people, without ever losing sight of the mission at its heart.