667. Working Session: How to Tell Stories That Drive Action with Jon and Becky

Summary

Podcast Summary: We Are For Good Podcast

Episode 667: Working Session – How to Tell Stories That Drive Action with Jon and Becky
Date: December 17, 2025
Hosts: Jon McCoy & Becky Endicott

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Episode Overview

This practical working session dives deep into storytelling for nonprofit professionals and changemakers. Hosts Jon and Becky detail how storytelling serves as the “heartbeat of connection” in the social impact space, offering easy-to-adopt strategies and ethical guidelines for telling stories that truly move people to act, belong, and support missions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Critical Role of Storytelling in Nonprofits

• Story always connects: In a noisy world, story is what cuts through and builds authentic connections.
  • “We believe it's the heartbeat of connection.” [00:04] (Jon)
• Movement and action, whether it’s volunteering, donating, or advocacy, are all driven by storytelling.
  • “Every movement and every moment really is driven by story. Whether that's a volunteer...maybe it's a donor...it's always story-driven.” [01:19] (Jon)

2. Empathy → Connection → Action: The Story Chain

• Becky describes a powerful storytelling framework:
  • “The real flow of generosity looks like this. It goes from empathy to connection to action.” [02:39] (Becky)
• People don’t act until they feel something. People don’t stay until they feel they belong.
  • Lead with “stories of possibility, dignity, and hope.”

3. Laying the Foundation: Three Questions for Storytelling

• Jon recommends everyone start by answering three vital questions ([03:32]):
  • Do you know your values? “What are the values that really connect at a deeper level?”
  • Who is your audience? “It's really hard to tell a story...if you don't know who is the receiver.”
  • What action are you inviting? Pinpoint the specific action so stories lead somewhere.

4. Building a Culture of Everyday Storytelling

• Integrate stories everywhere: at the end of emails, donation forms, onboarding, board meetings, social media.
  • “Put it everywhere. At the end of every email, it should be like: what's your story?” [04:58] (Becky)
• Asking for supporter stories opens up new opportunities for connection.
• It’s about alignment, not volume: “Clarity creates confidence for both the storyteller and the supporter.” [05:54] (Becky)

5. The Ethics of Storytelling

• Ethical storytelling is not an “add-on”; it’s at the core of mission-driven work.
  • Center dignity, obtain consent, enable agency, and always offer gratitude to storytellers.
  • “You are entrusted with that treasure. So ethical storytelling is looking at it through the lens of that.” [07:09] (Jon)
• Resources:
  • EthicalStorytelling.com for checklists and gut checks.
  • Maria Bryan’s podcast “Wind Bearing Witness” for trauma-informed storytelling.

6. The “Impact Arc:” Four-Step Practical Framework

Becky walks through their story ecosystem for increasing impact ([08:32]):

1. Staging – Prepare story systems and make storytellers comfortable.
2. Storytelling – Collect and share stories with authenticity.
3. Syndicating – Re-use and re-share stories across channels and audiences (“A story doesn't have to sit in a vacuum in one medium and we don't want it to.” [10:14])
4. Stoking – Engage with supporters by responding and turning stories into belonging, engagement, and generosity.

• Becky highlights the cultivation and stewardship possibilities:
  • “You are helping your supporters co-create stories that will live on and on in your organization.” [11:30] (Becky)

7. Quick Activation – “Working Session: One Good Thing”

Jon gives listeners practical “choose-your-own-adventure” challenges ([12:29]):

• Share a true human story (even your own) – invites belonging and openness.
• Reach out to supporters to ask their “why.” Discover powerful insights and deeper connections.
• Audit your stories for ethics and dignity. Ensure alignment with stated values.
• Review your welcome series. Center stories from newcomers to foster immediate relationship.

8. The Accelerant: Community Multiplies Story

• Becky emphasizes the multiplying power of community:
  • “Storytelling isn't content creation. It's community creation. And every story should end with an invitation to belong.” [15:45] (Becky)
• Community amplifies everything: impact, joy, retention, generosity, exposure.
• “Empathy, connection, action. That is what we want you to move through with these stories.” [16:20] (Becky)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Values in Storytelling:

  • “Values that really connect at a deeper level...dignity, connection. Do you know your values? Write them out.” [03:38] (Jon)

• On Story’s Power:

  • “People don't act until they feel something. People don't stay until they feel like they belong.” [02:46] (Becky)

• On the Importance of Ethical Storytelling:

  • “You're entrusted with that treasure. So ethical storytelling is looking at it through the lens of that to say, do we have guardrails in place to center dignity?” [07:09] (Jon)

• On Community’s Multiplier Effect:

  • “Community multiplies everything...storytelling isn't content creation. It's community creation.” [15:33] (Becky)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:02 – Introduction & the centrality of storytelling
• 01:50 – Empathy to connection to action: the generosity flow
• 03:32 – Kickoff: Laying the groundwork with your values, audience, action
• 04:52 – Building everyday storytelling practices in your org
• 06:37 – Ethical storytelling & essential principles
• 08:32 – The “Impact Arc” storytelling framework
• 12:08 – Jon’s “One Good Thing” action steps
• 15:30 – Community as story accelerant and final reminders

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Tone & Style

Jon and Becky are warm, upbeat, and practical—balancing inspiration and actionable advice. Their language is accessible and full of encouragement, always centering real connection, dignity, and community.

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Summary Takeaway

Storytelling in nonprofits is not just a communications tool; it is fundamental to mission advancement, community-building, and social impact. By leading with empathy, adhering to ethical practices, and fostering a culture where stories flow through every part of your organization, you can turn single stories into shared movements. Every story is an invitation—to belong, to act, and to amplify change together.

Transcript

[A]

Okay, friends, you don't need me to tell you the world is a noisy place, but the one thing that always connects is story. It always cuts through. We believe it's the heartbeat of connection. And so today's working session is all about being a better storyteller. These are some quick hacks that you can put to work right away and be a better storyteller today. Welcome to working sessions on the We Are for Good podcast. In every session, we're tackling one essential topic and give you practical steps to take meaningful action within your mission. Today, we're bringing you the experts and playbooks to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. Let's get to work. Okay. Welcome back, friends. Becky. We get to be together on a working session. I'm so excited that we both are here.

[B]

Yeah, it's good to be back with you, my friend.

[A]

Well, I mean, I felt like we had to put our flag on the ground because we love story. And we were sitting here just a week or so ago when Julia Campbell's episode dropped about creating the content calendar. That episode was fire. So if you missed that working session, definitely go back to it, because she talks about really having these cornerstone stories that you build off of. And today we wanted to, like, double click and some of the power of storytelling. How do we actually craft really compelling narratives? And I feel like, Bea, you gave me the ability to love story at a deeper level because I never saw myself as a storyteller, but now I do because of just, like, simple ways to see people, to share emotion, to share hook. Because we believe every movement and every moment really is driven by story. Whether that's a volunteer coming into our organization, maybe it's a donor that makes a decision to join our cause. Maybe it's an advocacy campaign. It's always story driven if you really peel back the layers. And so we want to unlock that for you, and we feel like there's some quick hacks that can really get us all off high center and start talking.

[B]

Yeah. Story is like, our favorite thing. And, John, I will only feel like a successful storyteller when you read my favorite book all the way through, A Man Called Uwe.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Check back.

[A]

You always bring this up. I feel so guilty.

[B]

You have to read this book. It's magical. But really, it's because it is such a magical story. You fall in love with the characters. You root for them. You want to be a part of making this dream come true. And that is really about what we're trying to unlock, because story isn't Marketing y' all story is meaning making your supporters and your rabid fans. They are not responding to your tactics, but they are responding to identity, to connection and to shared humanity. And so the real flow of generosity looks like this. It goes from empathy to connection to action. It's literally those three steps that is what story unlocks. Empathy to connection to action. And what this means is that people don't act until they feel something. People don't stay until they feel like they belong. And so when we lead with stories of possibility and dignity and hope, we invite people into all of those qualities. And that is what fuels long term movements.

[A]

Yeah, I love that little three part framework because action is the goal. Because you can kind of drop in whatever it is you're actually trying to do in that word action. Because our organizations are different, our goals are different. And so this next section of the working session, it's probably time to like get out of paper. And I notoriously can never find a pen. So Becky buys me like you buy me like 20 packs of pens and I.

[B]

You don't know. I've already bought you some for Christmas, but they're coming soon.

[A]

Sweet. I need one. Now here's the thing, because before we really talk about like storytelling outputs, we feel like it's so critical to get our house in order. And so this is something I'm going to ask you a couple of questions and you can, if you're driving, maybe don't do this activity. You can mentally do this if you're at your desk. Like open up a tab and like, let's type this out. Here's where we want to start. Number one, do we know our values? Not just the values that are maybe in placards on the walls, but like what are the values? The things that really connect at a deeper level? I think of things like dignity. I think of things like connection. Do you know your values? Write them out. Number two is do you know who you're talking to? And of course we don't have just one audience. None of us do. Who are those key audiences? Because it's really hard to tell a story and dial in that story if you don't know who is the receiver. Understanding our audience is going to give us so much more clarity. So number three, you're going to write down what action are you inviting someone to take? So just like the little framework, Becky, you just said with empathy, connection to action. What's that action. Are you looking for donations today? Do you need someone to sign up for maybe a volunteer event this weekend. Plug in there and then you've got your values, you got your audience, and you know what the call to action needs to be. You are literally ready to start.

[B]

Okay. And so we really want to map this into what you're already doing. And there's a couple ways we think you can do this. One, you just got to build simpler ways to collect stories. We talk about building a culture of storytelling within organizations. Where do you put it? Put it everywhere. At the end of every email, it should be like, what's your story? Let us know why you love us. At the end of your donation form, after they've hit submit for an online donation, you should have an optional text box there that says, tell us why you gave today any. I mean, are you doing regular routines on social, asking for stories, asking people to hit you up in your DMs. It is such an easy way to find connection with someone. And so we really want to create a clear path for how stories are move through your organizations. Because once you have those stories, how are you using them? And I wouldn't say all of them have to be external for your audience. We had mission moments and board meetings when our CEO would go or executive director would go do a speech. There are so many ways that we want story integrated into everything that we do so people can see others and themselves within these stories. And I want you to know this isn't about volume. It's about alignment. Because clarity creates confidence for both the storyteller and the supporter. And so if we are all speaking with one voice, John, I love that you brought it back to values at the beginning. It's like you're already. They're already there because they believe in the same things you do. If you can lift that out of the story, guess what? More people are going to see that you have a dignified approach, give that power back to your supporters. That's the big unlock there.

[A]

And we'd be remiss not to like just carve out time to talk about ethical storytelling principles.

[B]

Yes, thank you.

[A]

You know, you could probably hear that term and it maybe feels like really heavy and weighty. But y', all, this is like the work. This is like what we get to do in this work. That why we say marketing is mission around here is because we believe the way that we storytell is actually getting to live out our mission in words, in videos, in photographs. And so it's non negotiable. It not only is protecting trust with your brand, your community, it mostly protects the storyteller. The human that opened up was vulnerable enough, kind enough to share their story with you. You're entrusted with that treasure. So ethical storytelling is looking at it through the lens of that to say, do we have guardrails in place to center dignity? Are we centering consent? And that's not a forever decision either. That's like something that we gotta keep open and have the relationship there. Third is agency. Like, does everyone feel agency and empowered to own the narrative that they want to own and own how far they want to go? And then following up with gratitude, how can we reflect back with immense gratitude that someone's willing to share their story in that way? It builds such deep relationships and trust with your organization when you have these moments to hear someone's story. So don't miss the moment to reflect back at gratitude, y'.

[B]

All.

[A]

We talk about this a lot, but we are not the experts either. And I just have to point a couple of really incredible resources. Ethicalstorytelling.com has a really great, like checklist that you can look at to just have some gut check moments of does this pass the test of being ethical storytelling? And our friend Maria Bryan, love her so much. Her podcast Wind Bearing Witness dives into like that is a great podcast. How do we storytell ethically even when dealing with the hardest of topics? And so trauma informed narrative is like kind of an everyday conversation over there. So definitely go check out her podcast and work as well.

[B]

Okay, let's get into the quick work here. And if you're new to We Are For Good, we employ something in a little framework called the impact arc that we do to just about everything. And it's what it's going to do is really create a healthy story ecosystem for you that is building up to the story and all the way into the stoking of the story at the end. So I'm going to walk through these really, really quickly. And there are four of them. If you still have your PA paper out from where John asked you to pull it out, if you're driving, please keep driving and just listen. Number one is staging, and this is prepare your story systems. Before you ever ask, get everything ready. Is your back of house ready to accept all of these stories? Are you holding space? Does someone know that you're coming? If you're coming, like, give them a little bit of time, maybe a script, think about what they're actually going to say there. Staging is such a beautiful way to start at step zero and make people feel comfortable. Comfortable to get into step one, which is really sorry. Number two here, which is storytelling. And you want to get the story, you want to share it consistently, you want to share it authentically because it's going to lead to number three, which is we want you to syndicate this. And by syndicate I mean I want you to take that story, we want you to break it apart and put it in many different places. Maybe you put in an email, maybe you put a quote on social, maybe you text all of your, your top 20 supporters quote and give them a really short something there. But the reality is, is that a story doesn't have to sit in a vacuum in one medium and we don't want it to. We want the story of one to become the story of many. And that is what syndication is going to unlock for you. But it is not enough just to post and ghost and walk away because you got to do step number four, which is stoking. John is literally stoking and poking the fire, because that's what we call it. And stoking is when you get in and you respond to someone's comments, to their emotions that their emojis that are getting put up there, you are responding and saying, hey, we're going to turn the story into belonging, into engagement and into generosity. And guess what? When you see those people, when you put a laughing emoji on their funny comment, when they, when you say to their comment of oh, this really made me feel good, you can say thank you for the ways that you pour into our community and help make these stories a reality. And the reality is the story becomes more than a story. It just lives on and on and on. And you had one piece of content that did so much leg work for you and that is just one story. And so I want to leave you with this. As you think about the impact arc and you're thinking about stories as we start to wind down, you can tell the story of a rabid fan or a donor in your mission and you can tell it once, but think about the evolution that you could bring to that person. Their first story could be how they found you. Their second story could be the impact of their first gift. The third story, do you see what I'm saying, is you are helping your supporters co create stories that will live on and on in your organization. And this is not only a powerful cultivation tool, it's a powerful stewardship tool. It is a powerful tool for humanity and for deep, deep community connection.

[A]

Yes. I don't think you're overselling this either, my friend. These are things that we have seen in motion and it applies to literally anything. Like I really think if you take this framework and apply it, you can see tremendous momentum. So this is a working session. We're actually watching the clock, which we don't do all the time at we are for good, but we wanted to keep it tight. So I want to bring you home with some working sessions. One good thing, it's a little bit of a choose your own adventure because we want to get you activated in the next hour. So what's something you could do in an hour today? Here's a couple of ideas and pick the one that resonates with you. Number one, what if you shared one true human story today? And spoiler, this could totally be yours. And in fact I should be yours. We love inviting you to tell your stories, but just modeling it invites belonging, sharing what you feel, you know, comfortable sharing. It's amazing how that opens a portal, opens a door to others that feel the permission or feel seen enough that they want to share theirs back. So that's an option for you. It could be wherever you want to do that. Number two, here's your second option. Reach out to a handful of supporters to share and ask why they care. It's very simple ask inviting someone to tell you their kind of origin story. Why did they get involved with the work? What did this gift mean to them? Putting that kind of onus on there, just getting in the muscle a memory of just asking for story like you have no idea what's going to come back to you. So that's an option. Number two. Number three, this is a little heavier but audit a couple of your stories for ethics and dignity. I mean you wrote down your values at the beginning of this. Is the way that you're storytelling reflective of the values that you uphold? The values that you put on highest regard at your organization Is that coming through with how you storytell? And so I would look in your social post, I would look in your newsletter, I look at any kind of your copy on your website doing a quick audit for this and just simple word changes. The way that we model how we speak, the words that we use, how we talk about people is everything you know. And a simple shift can really change the meaning and change how people connect and resonate with your mission. And number four, if you're one a little bit of heavier working session, go look at your welcome series. So when someone is onboarding at your organization, they're getting the series of emails are you centering asking for their story? I know there's been a few orgs that we've highlighted over the years on the podcast that that's like the first immediate thing that comes.

[B]

Literally the first thing.

[A]

Fascinating. Especially if it's open ended. Like, hey, reply to this email and tell me why you're here or tell me what your story is. I know, Becky, you've gotten to meet amazing people in just doing that.

[B]

Oh my gosh, it's amazing. I did that when I joined the 19th news.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I was trying to say, just reply to the CEO and tell her why you're here. And we had a lovely conversation about women in the news, you know, and empowerment. It was fantastic.

[A]

It's like, would you have done that just as a random bystander? No. But the simple nudge, the invitation, it changed everything and really did. Just wonder what this could unleash as we all all kind of take action and invite more story for our organization.

[B]

Okay, so I hoped. We've really hyped you up for story today, but I gotta. I have one question at the very end. What is the accelerant for story? What is the one thing that can help you amplify it to the nth degree?

[A]

Is it multiple choice? Are you gonna give me options?

[B]

Community. It is literally. Community multiplies everything. It multiplies impact, joy, retention, generosity, exposure, network, literally everything. We can find other stories if community can amplify the one and the one story becomes the many. And just kind of remind yourself, friends, storytelling isn't content creation. It's community creation. And every story should end with an invitation to belong. This is your action. Empathy, connection, action. That is what we want you to move through with these stories. And I can assure you, you will uncover some rabid fans within your midst who are just waiting for the day when you ask them to come in with their portion of the story into yours.

[A]

I got chills. I know it's true because we've seen it. We've seen it over and over again. The power of just inviting in. You have no idea what connections are waiting to emerge. Friends, thanks for being here today. So good to see you.

[B]

Rooting for you in all things.