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Storytelling can be one of your nonprofit's best methods of connecting with supporters – but only if it's used to its full potential. InvisiblePeople.tv, for example, has done a great job of articulating their story:

I once heard a story about a homeless man on Hollywood Blvd who really thought he was invisible. But one day a kid handed the man a Christian pamphlet. The homeless guy was shocked and amazed, “What! You can see me? How can you see me? I’m invisible!”

It isn’t hard to comprehend this man’s slow spiral into invisibility. Once on the street, people started to walk past him, ignoring him as if he didn’t exist… much like they do a piece of trash on the sidewalk. It’s not that people are bad, but if we make eye contact, or engage in conversation, then we have to admit they exist and that we might have a basic human need to care. But it’s so much easier to simply close our eyes and shield our hearts to their existence.

I not only feel their pain, I truly know their pain. I lived their pain. You’d never know it now but I was a homeless person. (Read more of Mark Horvath’s story here.)

So, how does your nonprofit tell its story? 

Join us for October's Ask the Expert, where you’ll have the opportunity to ask YOUR storytelling questions of Andy Goodman, an amazing storyteller and communications trainer. Andy has helped many nonprofits take their storytelling to the next level, teaching them how to use their stories in creative ways in online spaces.

> Register now - FREE for NTEN Members!

Andy Goodman

After founding and running the American Comedy Network, an international radio syndication company, Andy grew weary of constantly hearing from friends in Los Angeles how radio is a "weak sister" to television. So, in 1991 he moved his family to California and launched a successful career as a television writer. He spent three seasons writing and co-producing the ABC-TV show "Dinosaurs" (plus co-writing the pilot episode of "The Nanny"), but ultimately learned that TV writers were considered weak sisters by screenwriters. Without hesitation, he made the inevitable next move and went to work for an environmental group.

As president of the Environmental Media Association (EMA) from 1993 to 1998, Andy worked with members of the film and television industries, encouraging them to incorporate environmental messages into their work. EMA also partnered with other environmental groups, helping them develop and communicate their messages more effectively. Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and many other national and local groups turned to EMA during Andy's tenure to coordinate their media campaigns. Now a communications consultant and trainer based in Los Angeles, Andy specializes in helping nonprofits, foundations, government agencies and educational institutions communicate more effectively through print, broadcast media, and the Internet. For a list of current clients and sample projects completed, click here.

As a nationally-recognized public speaker, Andy regularly delivers presentations including, "The Four Connecting Points," "Storytelling as Best Practice," "Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes," "Dramatically Better Meetings," and "Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes." He publishes a monthly newsletter, free-range thinking, that profiles best practices in public interest communications; and is author of the books Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes and Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes. Andy also serves on the advisory board of VolunteerMatch, as a senior fellow for Civic Ventures, and was selected by Al Gore to train 1,000 volunteers who will deliver presentations about global warming around the US in 2007.

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