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WE’RE GLAD YOU’RE HERE!

In the chat, please share:

Your name + position

What org are you representing?

💬

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PUT PEOPLE FIRST:

HOW TO TELL YOUR STORY

October 29, 2025

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THANK

YOU TO OUR

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AFH CAMPAIGN UPDATES WITH KEN

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💬

Do you relate to this when it comes to telling your organization’s story?

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HOUSEKEEPING! WE ARE GLAD YOU ARE HERE.

Cameras ON 📸
Mics OFF 🎤
Chat ALIVE 💬
Resources SHARED 🔨
Feedback REQUESTED 🗣️

🏠

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Training #2 Feedback Coaching Session Winners

North: Palouse Habitat for Humanity
Southwest: NeighborWorks Boise
Southeast: Habitat for Humanity of the Magic Valley

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GROWTH MINDSET

Invite people to partner

Activate early

Amplify overall YE efforts

Put people you serve FIRST

Spend time on major gifts

LIMITING MINDSET

Just asking for money

Wait to activate

Entire/Complicator of YE effort

Put org or yourself first

Broad outreach only

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We connect to humanness of stories.

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YOUR TURN

What is a story from your work that has inspired you?

💬

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WHY

HOW

PRACTICAL TIPS

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Why are stories important?

There’s a lot of research on why stories matter! But what it typically boils down to is this:

Stories are what our brain uses to make sense of the world around us and our experiences in it. Stories are our meaning-making frameworks.

Stories help us step into other’s shoes and develop empathy and connection, they can inspire perspective shifts because they expose people to different lived experiences.

Stories inspire ACTION

There has been a lot of research on narrative in recent years, and the findings across the board are that a good story that leaves an impact features a central character who is faced with a barrier and taps the community/resources around them to overcome their barrier and accomplish a goal. Good stories that stick have a narrative arch, and that’s what we’re talking about today. Recently, research has been looking more into what makes narrative so powerful.

Stories are the tools our brain uses to make sense of the world around us. They’re meaning making frameworks.

Researcher Kendall Haven says the neural network in our brains process information through a “make sense mandate” and that stories are the tools by which we do that. That is important for our work because stories are how you communicate your impact to your audience. You have to first allow your audience to make sense or understand the information they’re receiving and then allow them to make meaning from it.

There has been a lot of research on narrative in recent years, and the findings across the board are that a good story that leaves an impact features a central character who is faced with a barrier and taps the community/resources around them to overcome their barrier and accomplish a goal. Good stories that stick have a narrative arch, and that’s what we’re talking about today. Recently, research has been looking more into what makes narrative so powerful. What they’ve found over and over again is that we relate to the resilience of the human spirit, to stories that present a barrier that is successfully overcome by a main character.

RESOURCE: https://books.librariesunlimited.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Haven_Story.pdf

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Housing insecurity is complex. People are trying to make it

make sense.

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The language you use to tell your story carries great power.

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Use people-first language that puts the person before their experience.

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PEOPLE-FIRST LANGUAGE

Person/people experiencing homelessness. Person without housing.

Person with a mental health condition.

Person with substance use disorder (SUD). Person who uses drugs.

Person experiencing poverty.

NON-PEOPLE-FIRST LANGUAGE

The homeless

Homeless person

Mentally ill

Drug addict

The poor

People first language centers the person. Unless specifically requested otherwise by the person you are telling the story of, always default to person-first language. This allows you to not reduce the person down to their status or disability, and allows you to better center the voices/perspectives of the people you serve

To be abundantly clear, we don’t think that harmful language is always used on purpose, we think it’s chosen because that’s what has become culturally familiar to us. But we want to embrace the resilience of the people we work with. These are some of the greatest stories of resilience we could learn!

If you leave here with NOTHING else today please please please STOP saying “the homeless” or “homeless person”

Your language carries power. How you talk about the people you serve informs how other people think about the people you serve. You have a responsibility to choose your language with care.

�We see a lot of really incredible, really well-meaning organizations use language that just does not spotlight the resilience and the humanness of the people they serve. Once you know better, you can do better.

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YOUR TURN

What is a people-first language switch that your organization could make today?

💬

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Your Storytelling Blueprint (so far)

People connect to the humanness of stories

Stories are meaning-making tools

Stories have a hero

Good stories put the person first

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WHY

HOW

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Laying the foundation: What we know about stories, is that stories that stick (make sense of things, change perspectives, and lead to action) have a main character who is presented with barriers that they are able to successfully navigate and come out on the other side. Those stories stick with people!

Now, when we talk about how to tell your story during AFH, we’re talking about how to communicate this hero’s journey to demonstrate your impact and what you’ve made possible in your community. And most importantly, to invite people to partner with you in your continued impact.

Like this photo, the people you serve are on their own resilient journeys, and you play a key part in supporting them in a critical period of their lives. What is the story you are telling to demonstrate the life-changing work you are doing every single day? What is the problem your community/the people you serve are facing and what is your organization’s unique solution to it?

Stories are less about what happens and more about to whom they happen. Who do you serve? What is the barrier or problem? What is the unique solution?

RESOURCE: https://books.librariesunlimited.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Haven_Story.pdf

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HOW TO TELL YOUR STORY

Capture your Impact (Put people first!)

2. Invite people to partner in your impact

3. Determine the messenger(s)

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STEP ONE:

Capture your impact

(Put people first!)

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For whom are you making it possible?

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QUANTS

QUALS

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QUANTS

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STORYTELLING FRAMEWORKS FOR QUALS

Before, During,

After / Hero’s Journey

Problem,

Solution,

Invitation

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Problem, Solution, Invitation

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Before, During, After

Before, during, after: we call this the BDA framework and it tells the story from the eyes of the person you are serving, by showcasing what their life was like before they were supported by your organization, what transformational journey they went on in partnership with your org, and what has become possible since. The goal here is to spotlight the resilience of your guest or your client (we do recommend, where possible, to be as trauma-informed and responsible with your marketing, to showcase someone who is not a current guest of yours, like a recent graduate, or someone who graduated five years ago and showcase what’s been made possible since.

Example: Leonard – lLeonard came to Interfaith Sanctuary after being discharged from the hospital and joining our Medically Fragile program. While he worked to regain his physical strength, he continued to face the challenges of addiction. A few months into his stay, Leonard discovered Project Recovery—our comprehensive, seven-day-a-week program that provides group and one-on-one counseling, peer support, fitness and nutrition resources, and a 24/7 safe space to help participants stay on their recovery journey.

During his nearly two-year stay with Interfaith, Leonard became a leader within the program. He often facilitated groups and offered guidance and support to fellow participants, embodying the spirit of recovery and resilience.

Today, Leonard lives in housing of his own and works part-time at Interfaith, contributing to Project Recovery. He is also starting AA and NA groups at his new housing complex and is currently studying to become a peer support specialist, using his experiences to inspire and assist others on their recovery journeys.

Leonard’s transformation—from a struggling guest to a leader and advocate—demonstrates how Nights of Shelter provide more than a bed. They offer a pathway to healing, growth, and stability.

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Before, During, After

The Heros journey focuses on what has been made possible for your guests/clients. It’s similar to BDA and sometimes cna be the same thing, but it’s about highlighting the journey of the person.

Example: Leonard – Leonard came to Interfaith Sanctuary after being discharged from the hospital and joining our Medically Fragile program. While he worked to regain his physical strength, he continued to face the challenges of addiction. A few months into his stay, Leonard discovered Project Recovery—our comprehensive, seven-day-a-week program that provides group and one-on-one counseling, peer support, fitness and nutrition resources, and a 24/7 safe space to help participants stay on their recovery journey.

During his nearly two-year stay with Interfaith, Leonard became a leader within the program. He often facilitated groups and offered guidance and support to fellow participants, embodying the spirit of recovery and resilience.

Today, Leonard lives in housing of his own and works part-time at Interfaith, contributing to Project Recovery. He is also starting AA and NA groups at his new housing complex and is currently studying to become a peer support specialist, using his experiences to inspire and assist others on their recovery journeys.

Leonard’s transformation—from a struggling guest to a leader and advocate—demonstrates how Nights of Shelter provide more than a bed. They offer a pathway to healing, growth, and stability.

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PARTNERS IN TELLING THE STORY

YOUR ORG

THE PEOPLE YOU SERVE

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YOUR TURN

Which storytelling framework feels most impactful for your AFH campaign?

💬

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STEP TWO:

Invite people to partner in your impact

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What will your community’s support make possible?

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Prevention First: $1,000 can keep one family housed

AFH Goal: $50K can keep 50 families from being evicted in the new year

CTA during AFH: Together we will prevent homelessness for 50 families.

PRODUCTIZE YOUR AFH GOAL

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YOUR TURN

What is your productized AFH goal? What are you inviting your supporters to make possible?

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STEP THREE:

Determine the messenger(s)

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Who is communicating your invitation to partner?

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WHO IS THE MESSENGER?

YOUR TURN

Staff
Volunteers
Board Members
Community Members

💬

Your task: Empower the messenger with the right message at the right time.

Every story has a message and a messenger. Since we’ve talked about the power of your language, we want you to think about who will be responsible for sharing your story. Who is responsible for sharing your impact in your community? It could be staff, volunteers, board members, who else can you think of that is a messenger of your story? What is the messenger’s connection to cause?

We hear all the time that board members don’t like asking for monetary support from their network, but what about sharing the stories of the people they are passionate about serving.

Now we’re going to talk about how to empower the right messenger with the right story at the right time. As Garrett shared in our last training, it’s all about making the right ask to the right person at the right time. By nailing down your story, you can create massive lasting impact during your AFH campaign and beyond.

What is the messenger’s connection to cause?

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HOW TO TELL YOUR STORY

Capture your Impact (Put people first!)

2. Invite people to partner in your impact

3. Determine the messenger(s)

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WHY

HOW

PRACTICAL TIPS

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COLLECTING CONTENT

🔍 Review your data collecting system

🛠️ Make improvements to your collection system (e.g. Integrate options in onboarding/ offboarding, Google Forms, Consistent Feedback mechanisms)

💬 Use Testimonial Forms

🤝 Integrate content collection into existing events/campaigns

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YOUR TURN

How will you collect data for this year’s AFH campaign?

💬

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SHARING CONTENT

🤝 CONSENT!

💵 Compensation Policy

👀 Eyes Principle

💬 Quotes

💯 Authenticity

😵‍💫 Attention Economy

♻️ Repurpose Content

3️⃣ Stories, 3 Weeks

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YOUR TURN

Any other content sharing tips to share?

💬

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WHY

HOW

PRACTICAL TIPS

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TRAININGS BLUEPRINT

9/10: Mastering your mindset ✅

9/24: Embracing major gifts for major impact — a worked example ✅

10/29: How to put people first — telling your story for max. engagement ✅

11/5: How to build your AFH donor base (our tested strategies)

11/19: All systems go! A checklist before you launch

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RESOURCES + SLIDES

Complete the training survey for a chance to win a coaching session with People First

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THANK YOU

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Q & A