The Story That Changed How I Think About Nonprofit Storytelling

“When you’re asking donors to support something big, you have to bring them along. Show them what’s at stake. Help them see it.”

That’s what Lynn Lozier told me the first time we spoke. She’s the Monitoring and Oversight Program Director at The Nature Conservancy. I was doing background research for a nonprofit storytelling workshop, and she was generous enough to walk me through some of the organization’s past work.

I thought I was collecting a quick example or two. I didn’t realize that conversation would shape how I think about nonprofit storytelling.

Years earlier, I had read Made to Stick, one of the books that shaped how I think about marketing. One example in particular stayed with me. It described a massive land conservation project near Silicon Valley. The area was enormous. The stakes were high. But donors struggled to grasp the urgency. The project was too abstract.

To make it real, The Nature Conservancy invited donors to fly over the land. They chose a specific moment in the season, right before the leaves came in. From the air, the area looked like an oriental rug. The colors, the texture, the scale—it all clicked into place. What once felt abstract became vivid and unforgettable.

Google Earth aerial view of Mount Hamilton in 1995—the year of the donor flyovers. The area goes from the very end of the Santa Clara Valley all the way to the checkerboard of agriculture in the Central Valley at far right.

As it turns out, Lynn had worked on that very project. When she started describing it, the details came back with perfect clarity. Even after more than thirty years, she recalled it like it had happened last week. That kind of intentionality leaves a mark.

And that’s what good storytelling does.

It brings people along.

It doesn’t just say what happened. It shows why it matters.

Most nonprofits don’t need more content. They need more intention. They need to think like Lynn did. What does our audience need to see, feel, or understand to believe in this work?

The mistake I see most often is assuming that storytelling means making something emotional. But that’s not enough. Storytelling is about orientation. It helps people locate themselves inside the mission. It makes something big feel possible. It makes something complex feel human.

The good news is, you don’t need a flyover. But you do need to be intentional. About the moment you show. About the lens you use. About the story you tell and why it matters to the people you want to reach.

Every campaign, every photo, every conversation is a chance to help someone see more clearly. Not just what your organization does, but what they’re helping make possible.

That’s what Lynn reminded me. And I’ve carried that lesson into every project since.

“In land conservation, it is very much about getting people out on the ground. For Mt. Hamilton, I think the audacity of the scale was hard to grasp,” she added.

So ask yourself: What’s your version of the flyover?

And are you showing it at the right time?

By Shawn Graham