Storytelling Builds Empathy
But How Do You Tell the Story?
The New York Times is running a feature profiling “The 30 Greatest Living Songwriters.”
Some of these 30 songwriters are well-known superstars (Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift); others (Diane Warren, Lucinda Williams) have a famous catalog of instantly-recognizable songs performed by others.
Each has their own writing process, their unique inspiration and experience. But every one of them are trying to craft a compelling story through music and lyrics. They want us to feel pain, joy, courage, love. I recommend these fascinating profiles to you.
Fundraising takes many forms and uses various media, but storytelling is the common thread. Development professionals strive to build empathy through stories. We’ve learned that explaining the need only gets you so far; a brochure with numbers never makes it from their head to their heart. But the right story can move people from knowledge, to feeling, to action.
It’s not always obvious whose story to tell. When I started raising funds for seminary scholarships, I told donors about incoming students who were the direct recipients of scholarship dollars. But I soon found that such stories really didn’t resonate.
As I listened more closely to donors share their “why,” my storytelling ability sharpened. I began to tell the stories of enthusiastic young pastors, out there making a difference. Those were the stories that brightened the donors’ eyes! Their empathy wasn’t for needy students; it was for congregations that need new leaders with new energy — congregations like theirs.
Stories build empathy in at least two ways:
Stories of suffering and need produce an immediate response in people to lessen suffering (and to deal with the revulsion they feel when they see images of starving children.)
Positive stories of desired outcomes (happy mothers who can feed their smiling children) evoke a different empathetic response, one which can go beyond small spontaneous giving.
I learned this from Lisa Baumgartner Bonds, a development marketing professional who years ago implemented exactly these changes at Lutheran World Relief. She replaced pictures of emaciated babies with success stories — and the fundraising results couldn’t be ignored. Lisa did the same for the Animal Humane Society: No more pictures of suffering litters, many more stories of healthy pets and happy families.
Positive stories of change lead to larger and more frequent gifts.
Fundraisers need more than a heart-tugging story. We need to ask:
· What type of response do we hope to evoke?
· What type of story is called for?
We ask the same questions of the delivery method. By what means should this story be delivered?
You have probably said or at least thought, “This meeting could have been an email!” The medium matters.
Jim Croce sang, “I have to say I love you in a song.” No better way.
“Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.” – Malorie Blackman.
The storytelling medium matters as much as the story.
Juliet Cutler is a storyteller who lives in Atlanta, GA. In her work as a museum developer, Juliet creates displays in museums, state parks and other sites that interpret history, culture and place. Her work brings facts and data into context through story, creating experiences people remember and that often lead them to act.
Juliet is also a book author and a volunteer fundraiser. Her most recent book is “Lessons In Hope: A New Era for Maasai Women in Tanzania” (2025). (Find it here.) When she was in her twenties, Juliet worked as a volunteer at the MaaSAE Girls Lutheran Secondary School in East Africa. Since that time, she has been active as a volunteer leader with Operation Bootstrap Africa (OBA); the MaaSAE Girls School is one of the organization’s flagship projects. “Lessons In Hope” was published in partnership with OBA. All proceeds from the sale of this book support the school.
Juliet frequently speaks in person to groups, sharing the stories in the book and helping people care about the women featured therein, and about the school that has shaped their lives.
What pathway should you choose for your story?
As we talked about her storytelling career, Juliet shared that she does her work by “old school” methods: museum displays, written books, person-to-person testimony. She has not used the internet or social media much, preferring approaches that allow for greater depth and reflection rather than content designed for quick scrolling.
We wondered together if that choice leaves opportunities untapped, or if traditional methods are deeply aligned with the project and the people who support it.
What I mean is this: The MaaSAE Girls Lutheran Secondary School has a strategy of building up the people in northern Tanzania. The best way to lift an entire people group is to focus on outcomes for girls. This is slow change, deep transformation. The stories in the book tell of positive, long-term impact, not of relief or rescue. This is not the kind of tragic story you might see on late-night cable TV, pleading for an emergency gift.
The needs are urgent, but the strategy is generational.
Next week, Juliet will tell her story of the school and of her personal commitment to generating support for it. She knows about storytelling and will discuss her thoughtful choices about which media she uses and which she doesn’t.
Juliet asked me if I know someone who is comfortable using social media and the internet to tell fundraising stories. I said, “I know just the person!” Samantha Roose-Christy is a positive force for good, sharing her knowledge to enthusiastically help fundraisers and consultants tell their stories in new ways. After Juliet, Samantha will share her experience and perspective on “old school” vs. “high speed” storytelling and fundraising.
Songwriters might plunk out a melody on the piano or scribble it down while walking the dog, but they all work in a digital world. Their music is produced, sold and played using the most recent technology and marketing pathways.
Even so, nothing is more traditional than the power of song. Regardless of the means by which you hear a song…whether on Spotify, a live performance in a bar, or a psalm chanted graveside…great music tells a story that connects to your heart, changes your mind, and moves you to action.
The same is true of great storytelling. And great storytellers. I hope our conversations help you grow your greatness.
Juliet Cutler is an author and exhibit designer whose work explores how storytelling can deepen understanding and inspire support. In “Lessons in Hope: A New Era for Maasai Women in Tanzania,” she shares the voices of Maasai women whose lives have been transformed by education made possible through donor support, while her work with museums and parks uses immersive storytelling to connect audiences to issues that matter. Across both, she examines how stories can move people from awareness to meaningful action.
Purchase the book here!
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