I'm looking at more and more grant guidelines asking for 2 or 3 bullet points describing impact expected from their grant. I just read and article on the PhilaTopic blog that discuses the struggle foundations have to describe impact. Numbers or stories. Or both.
What do you think?
I come from an advertising background. Tell the story in a compelling way, with reach (more people) and frequency (more often). That's what I try to do.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
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2 comments:
Daniel, excellent question; and thanks for the article lead.
While I've never seen a panhandler try to make his living by sharing statistics, I've yet to know anyone prepping to tell a good story to the Almighty.
So in the final analysis, surely each of us strives for substance over form.
Communicating it though, may look like a binder full of research, with a cover letter telling the optimal illustrative anecdote.
I saw an article in today's paper about Dr. Martin Luther King's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail". This is not as well known as his "I have a Dream" speech, but it is just as powerful.
It's addressed to "My Dear Fellow Clergymen" He was using scripture to mobilize faith leader to action. He said "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
As faith communities gather this weekend to honor Dr. King, I'd like to encourage them to develop year round strategies that mobilize members of faith communities in affluent and non poverty areas to become partners of tutor/mentor programs in high poverty areas of Chicago and other major cities.
I'll be working tomorrow, trying to make this a reality.
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