The Ethical Storytelling Ecosystem.
The narrative ecosystem of the storytelling boom includes the people + organizations involved in the study, production and use of strategic narrative texts.
Communications practice has been in a state of disruption since digital media rapidly collapsed the divisions between communication and narrative, statement and story, person and public figure, narrating and living.
Today, most organizations need to incorporate storytelling as part of their communications:
Audiences prefer communication in a narrative format
It’s difficult to communicate change effectively without a story
Many media platforms prioritize stories
While most stories told by organizations are not written as persuasion, they are typically used as tools of persuasion.
Studying Narrative Texts
Narrative Theorists
Narratologists
Reporting Storytelling Practices
Development organizations
Nonprofit funders
Strategic Narrative Texts
Producing Narrative Texts
Communications professionals
Storytelling consultants
Audiences
Nonprofit funders (organizations)
Donors (individuals)
Media (News media + documentary filmmakers)
People
Narrative Texts
Institutions
Academics
Practitioners
Subjects
Impact Storytelling
Social impact film
Nonprofit funders
Development organizations
Nonprofits, NGOs + social change organizations
Social impact media companies (filmmakers)
Narrative scholar: Someone who studies narrative texts.
Narratologist: Someone who studies the use of narrative texts.
Nonprofit, NGO or social change organization communications staff, tasked with producing assets for internal teams (fundraising or marketing) or executing a strategic storytelling communications strategy such as a narrative change strategy.
People who have been impacted by the work of a nonprofit organization and agree to participate in storytelling about their life. Also referred to as “participants” (story participants) or “beneficiaries” (beneficiaries of the nonprofit organization’s work).
There is always a power disparity between the subject — as beneficiary of the organization’s work — and the narrator.
Stories about real people — narrated by an organization — that describe the human impact of the organization’s work.
Impact stories are used for fundraising, promotional or press purposes — and therefore only describe a positive impact created by the organization’s work.
Long-form media — narrated by a film director — about a social issue. These films include the stories of real people to describe the human impact of the social issue.
Organizations that produce — and narrate — stories that describe the human impact of their work (impact storytelling).
Organizations that a nonprofit or NGO would request funding (donations) from.
Fundraising norms include providing a funder with impact stories to make the nonprofit more attractive to the funder; funders may or may not explicit request impact stories during the fundraising process or for their own promotional purposes after the nonprofit has been accepted as a funding recipient.
Organizations that are interested in impact storytelling as an issue, either in the ethics of its use, or in increasing its use.
These organizations fund research into storytelling practices to promote awareness and adoption of ethical practices, fund the production of impact stories, or fund the production of educational materials for practitioners to encourage them to make greater use of impact storytelling.
Media producers who specialize in impact storytelling for social impact.
These producers are hired by nonprofits, NGOs + social change organizations to produce impact stories, or sometimes receive funding to produce a documentary film about a social issue.