If we want to make a difference in our community or in our world we are bombarded with so many messages. Sponsor a child, plant a tree, run to find a cure, or sign on to make poverty history; there is a sea of choices out there. Organizations working toward progressive social change often do a really great job reporting to funders, but so often don’t do a great job communicating to the public.

In a sea of choice, a clear and compelling story can “feel like a life preserver” according to Story Factor author Annette Simmons. It is not that organizations are unaware of the impact of their work; quite the contrary. NGOs deeply understand how important their work is in our communities. In fact, for most it is this awareness that sustains their commitment and fuels their passion for change. But there is a disconnect between their knowledge and passion and our understanding of why their missions and mandates really matter to us, the general public.

So often many of us think that if we change one thing we really aren’t changing anything. In other words, don’t we have to change everything to change anything? The world seems too complex and we feel unsure about whether our efforts matter at all. NGOs need to take up this challenge head on and be far more effective and creative at connecting with civil society. Stories absolutely do matter in how we see the world, frame issues, and more importantly, identify our place in addressing those issues.

I have worked as a communicator in the social sector for more than two decades, and time and time again I argue that it is not how much you know, but how much you care. People don’t care about how much you know; they want to know how much you care. When you make that connection with people, they are open to receive what you know, begin to shift their context, and place your facts into a new frame of what is possible. You have created this by communicating an engaging and meaningful story.

The time has come to start changing the way we change the world. If we constantly show poor, starving children in our public service ads, or if we persist in pointing the finger at corporations as the enemy of our environment as we work toward addressing climate change, we are reinforcing a story that is too limited in its scope to effect change.

Fear holds together ingrained patterns, and it is fear that keeps us from reaching out to build new bridges, explore our interdependencies, and unearth the solutions that can occur when we actively participate in a complex system of change.

So what does all this mean for communicators in the social sector? If we assume that we are working to effect progressive change in a complex world, then here are some ideas to consider. Ask yourself some of these questions when you review your communications materials or your public speaking presentations:

• Do you paint the picture of the world you wish to create or do you focus only on the problem?
• Do you show people the possibility of change and why they are important in that change?
• Do you communicate why you are passionate about your work or do you focus just on the facts of the issues you deal with?
• Do you send out contradictory messages in your fundraising materials, your annual report, your speaking engagements or on your website?
• Do you let people know regularly what their participation has accomplished?

Most importantly, does the story you are telling mean anything to your audience at all? Here you will want to check your language, your tone, if you are making connections that mean something, and if you are showing how much you care. I very much acknowledge that we can believe that if we just keep asking people to sponsor a child or a tree we will raise the funds we need to do our work. I also acknowledge the real pressure there is that makes it difficult to break out of this predictable pattern. But I am challenging us all as communicators to look at the untapped well of possibility of engaging civil society in effecting change not just as donors, but as voters, educators, activists, parents, corporate leaders, health care workers, and so on. It is time we start changing the way we change the world. What better place to start than with how we frame the story!

Pattie LaCroix has provided strategic leadership in crafting integrated communications and fundraising strategies to nonprofits for more than a decade. As CEO of Catapult Media she is passionate about the power of storytelling in engaging your audience and building support for your work. You can reach Pattie at www.catapultmedia.ca.