Storytelling opportunities can be a boon for nonprofit organizations to engage donors by explaining their impact. At the same time, attempting to tell eye-catching stories can lead nonprofits down a slippery slope of sensationalism and stereotypes. This session offers a set of ethical principles and practices to help guide nonprofit organizations toward stronger storytelling.

Principles include (1) substance over shortcuts, (2) "nothing about us without us," (3) constructive paths forward. We will look at past examples of storytelling in the social sector (as well as its pitfalls) to consider how nonprofit organizations can center the lived experiences of communities served. Finally, we will walk through a five-step framework for assessing story and campaign ideas using an ethical lens. This session synthesizes material available in the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics' Social Sector ethical storytelling guide, authored by presenter Dr. Anita Varma.

This event is co-hosted by the Center for Nonprofit Leadership at Cal Lutheran University. AFP and CNL members may attend this event for no additional fee. If you are not yet an AFP member but are a CNL member, please register on the CNL registration site to waive your event fee.

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Dr. Anita Varma leads the Ethical Storytelling Initiative at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, where she is the assistant director of Social Sector Ethics as well as Journalism Ethics. Her research, training, and public engagement all focus on how marginalized communities are represented in public discourse, and how these representations can improve. Her doctoral research on ethically representing diverse communities received the inaugural Penn State Davis Ethics Award in 2019 and was featured on CNN in 2020. Anita received her PhD from the Department of Communication at Stanford University in 2018. She believes storytelling can help change the world.