Harnessing the power of visual storytelling for non-profits

If you were to pick a few images to represent your non-profit, what images would you pick? How would you link the images together to form a compelling visual story?

If you’re not sure, you’re not alone. There’s a lot to consider in visual storytelling for non-profits.

Plus, the stakes are high. The effectiveness of your storytelling could determine:

• Whether or not you raise enough money to fund your services
• Whether or not you recruit appropriate participants for your programs
• Whether or not you attract new supporters to your cause

At iilo Creative Alliance, we’re immersed in communication design projects every day, helping non-profit clients tell visual and narrative stories that resonate with their target audiences and drive action, both online and offline. In this blog, we’re revealing steps that will take you to new heights in visual storytelling!

Step 1: Align your visual storytelling with your non-profit’s identity

Your non-profit is unique because of what you do and how you do it. Understanding these core elements provides important context for your visual storytelling and ensures all design decisions align with your non-profit’s identity.

The foundational aspects of who you are as an organization are your vision, mission, values, and brand promise. Together, they form your non-profit’s brand platform.

It’s not unusual for non-profit brands to evolve as community needs, audiences, and services shift over time. So if it’s been a while since you reviewed your vision and mission, grab our easy-to-use worksheet to brush up on your brand platform now!

Along with foundational content about your organization, you most likely have some basic visual tools in place already, like your logo and graphic standards (i.e. the rules to use your logo and brand elements), which reflect your organization’s unique personality through fonts, colours, and graphic elements. These visual components form the building blocks for your visual storytelling and brand story.

With your brand platform and basic visual tools in place and aligned, you can then start evolving your non-profit’s identity into visual branding components such as images and custom graphics, depending on your needs.

Step 2: Engage your non-profit’s storytellers (a.k.a. your team!)

Once you’ve documented your non-profit’s brand, make sure to share the information across the organization, because every team member plays a role in storytelling. This is especially important for small teams where individual staff members may take on cross-functional duties such as creating flyers, posting to social media, preparing reports, and presenting to stakeholders — all of which benefit from cohesive visual storytelling.

Better yet, make templates so team members can easily apply your visual branding! See how we helped North Vancouver City Library leverage branded templates to create consistent promotional materials for their events and workshops.

Step 3: Clarify a project’s purpose to select the most appropriate visual storytelling tools

Working at a non-profit means juggling everything from program delivery and stakeholder engagement to fundraising, reporting, and special projects. Before diving into a communication design project, it’s important to clarify the purpose. Who’s your audience and what do you want them to think, feel, or do?
Your answers will point you towards the most appropriate visual storytelling tools to create or source for your project. Here are some examples:

• Infographics: organize complex information into easy-to-understand points
• Images: capture and share unique moments or activities
• Videos: bring stories to life through action
• Data visualization: reveal the meaning of numbers through graphs and charts
• Interactive components: engage the audience in an experience
• Commissioned artwork: create a unique visual perspective

Step 4: Seize all opportunities to embrace visual storytelling

By now, you’re crafting visual stories that stem from a clear brand and a clear purpose. Next, amplify the impact of your stories by diversifying your outreach channels!
Here are some ideas for boosting your brand story:

• Your website is your digital front door. That’s why it’s so important to ensure that the look and feel of your website, how it’s organized, and how users navigate through it, tell a confident visual story about your non-profit. See how a refreshed website can better connect your clients with resources.
• Social media is a great channel for connecting with new and current supporters. See how bite-sized storytelling can increase your reach.
• Reports are a chance to dive deep into your non-profit’s subject matter expertise. However, there’s a risk for readers to get lost in the statistics or content. See how we created a reader-friendly report series for Watersheds BC.
• Newsletters are ideal for keeping stakeholders informed about your work. Whether you choose to send them via email or snail mail, a thoughtful compilation of stories with compelling visuals will ensure recipients pay attention.
• Functional assets like presentation decks, letterhead, and business cards are a part of your daily work life. Given their high usage, they create an excellent opportunity to reinforce your brand story.
• Event materials offer diverse design opportunities. See how we designed everything from signage and program guides to t-shirts and tote bags for an Indigenous language conference.
• Promotional materials do more than get the word out about your programs and services. They also represent your non-profit’s brand and reinforce your reputation. Print materials such as flyers, posters, one-pagers, and rack cards can be designed in a way that supports your mission and values. See how we designed a bus wrap that promoted shopping local.

Step 5: Stay mindful of both intended and unintended impact

With the steps above, you’re well on your journey to visual storytelling. Before finalizing your designs, we encourage you to reflect on the impacts of your visual storytelling, making sure you stay true to your values. For example:

• Do the designs authentically reflect the communities and people you currently serve and aim to serve?
• Are there harmful stereotypes or narratives that are unintentionally being perpetuated?
• Have diverse stakeholders been given a chance to participate in the design process and share feedback?

We know your small-yet-mighty non-profit team may have limited time and resources for visual storytelling. We recommend starting small, and always aiming to produce the highest quality visual pieces possible. One well-designed, thoughtful, and beautiful piece will do more for your organization strategically than several so-so materials.

We hope these five steps make you feel more empowered to craft visual stories that elevate your fundraising and marketing efforts! If you’d like some support, connect with us and let’s discuss how iilo’s visual storytelling expertise can help you.