Make your non-profit UNFORGETTABLE to funders.
IMPACTALE™
Turn your story into a fundraising superpower that attracts donors and keeps them coming back.
The first step in nonprofit fundraising readiness is almost always storytelling. Before grant writing or donor pipelines, people need to understand what you do and why it matters.
But that's exactly where most organizations get stuck. You're doing incredible work, but it's hard to stand out when your message isn't clear. Your staff is already stretched thin and juggling multiple responsibilities. Focusing on your story is the last thing on your mind, but you know it's the key to connecting with the donors who need to hear it.
Changing Lives but Struggling to Increase Funding?
Maybe you’ve caught yourself thinking:
“Great at our mission, terrible at explaining why it matters.”
You’re navigating a rapidly evolving funding landscape where everyone talks about mastering marketing trends, but you don’t have time for that while you’re trying to make payroll.
“Program deadlines or donor stories? Can’t do both.”
Your team excels at delivering life-changing services, but when funders ask what makes you different from similar organizations, the words just don’t come, and you’re constantly forced to react rather than lead the conversation.
“Need new revenue, but who has 3 months to figure out social media trends?”
Between managing volunteers, reporting requirements, and delivering services, storytelling keeps falling to the bottom of your priority list yet your gut knows stories are crucial for survival.
Our Impactale™ method helps non-profits define an authentic story that resonates with funders’ hearts. You’ll come away with the strategy and tools you need to create your own compelling stories and immediately spread your message to the donors you want to reach.
Get immediate results.
Story Session with Shawn
In a single 60-minute session, I will guide you through the critical first step in the Impactale framework that unlocks your entire story by writing your Empathy Thread statement — that critical emotional connection between funders and your life-changing work.
Use it immediately to help make donors feel like active participants instead of passive observers.
Once you’ve discovered your Empathy Thread — the first essential step in our full Impactale framework — then you’ll be ready to build the complete storytelling system that turns this connection into consistent funding.
How we’ll work together:
We’ll guide you every step of the way, focusing on the mission-critical elements which you can use to maximize the impact of all of your funder-facing communications (fundraising, website, email, digital).
Ultimately, you’ll be positioned for continuous innovation and deeper community impact by making your mission crystal clear to the donors you want to attract.
Connect Your Empathy Thread
Identify the strongest emotional connection current and potential funders can make to your mission-driven work.
Secure Your Engagement Anchors
Make your audience feel like active participants in your story by crystalizing what’s truly at stake.
Capture Your Impact Imagery
Create a compelling photo story that brings your mission to life and ultimately sways donors.
Spread Your Story
Maximize the impact of your reach with a cohesive communications strategy.
From board member to brand builder.
Having served as a Habitat for Humanity and American Marketing Association Pittsburgh board member and one of the strategic minds behind SAE Foundation’s rebrand, I’m now proud to bring my own unique blend of storytelling and nonprofit insider knowledge to you through Impactale.
Advance your mission by orders of magnitude with one simple change you can start using immediately.
By the end, you’ll finally have:
a nonprofit brand with a clear emotional connection to funders
a bank of stories centered around your constituents
storytelling systems to consistently attract & retain donors
Here’s how Impactale™ has helped non-profits like SAE Foundation:
36%
increase in first-time donors
112%
increase in social media engagement
58%
increase in organic web traffic
“Shawn Graham of Deep Varnish spoke to my Marketing and Audience Engagement class for the Master of Arts Management Program at Heinz College in Carnegie Mellon University. He presented on visual storytelling within our storytelling module. His talk left a lasting impression on my students. Shawn's framework for visual storytelling — anchored in the core goals of brand communications — gave students a clear, actionable lens for evaluating and crafting compelling narratives. What set his session apart was his masterful use of examples: drawing from both performing and visual arts, he illustrated what great storytelling looks like in practice, and just as importantly, when it doesn't. That contrast made the frameworks click in a way that reading or a YouTube tutorial never could.
Shawn has a rare ability to make complex communication concepts both accessible and exciting. My students left the room energized and equipped with tools they can apply immediately to their assignments. I would enthusiastically recommend Shawn Graham and Deep Varnish to any academic program, corporate team, or organization looking to sharpen their storytelling and brand communications skills.”
Dr. Brett Crawford
Teaching Professor
Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College