What is an Ethical Storytelling Program?
Every storytelling program differs according to the type of organization, the nature of the work and the relationship between the organization and program recipients. But building an ethical storytelling program is a process — not a prescription.
Use this guide to help you navigate each step of the process and design a program specifically for your organization.
Step-by-Step Guide to
Building An Ethical Storytelling Program for your Organization
1. Define your goals.
1. Define your goals.
2. Output
3. Describe the specifics.
5. Resources
4. Risks
6. Policies
7. Test
8. Review. Refine. Repeat.
How will you know if your program is successful?
Clearly define the goals of your storytelling program, includin ghow the program supports the organziation’s mission and values.
Define what success and failure look like: if you don’t, it will be defined for you.
What do you need to produce?
Define the products, their practical use and how they are expected to contribute to the organization’s strategic plan.
Clearly state the stakes: what is at stake if the program doesn’t produce?
What are the constraints and complexities specific to your organization’s work?
Are program beneficiaries located domestically or internationally?
Do you have a direct relationship with program beneficiaries or is there a mediating organization?
Are program beneficiaries familiar with the type of media you would use to tell their story?
Are there language and cultural barriers?
Are program recipients adults or children?
Do the stories include illegal activities (in either country)?
Does the organization have ongoing relationships with program participants? Or are they one-time interactions only?
What is your budget?
Is there any financial budget available?
Time budget (staff)
Do you have access to legal counsel?
Do you have In-house video/photography or will you need to outsource?
What could negative outcomes look like?
Start with the worst case scenario, and work your way back towards the most probable risk. Include risks to the interviewee, PR risk to the organization and legal risk.
How are you making it easy to communicate and practice across the organization?
Draft policies that address ethical concerns. Clearly indicate the risk each policy is intended to mitigate.
Do you have the resources you need? Can you get additional resources to support the policies you need or do you need to limit the program output?
Does it work?
Soft launch your program before announcing an organization-wide rollout.
It won’t be perfect — so it’s really important that all stakeholders know that you rely on them to tell you what’s not working for them.
Is it still working?
Periodically invite stakeholder feedback and review your program.
Expect that the needs of the program will change over time, and your policies may need to adjust in response.