It Belongs To Him Who Tells It ‘Best’
Tom Suddes | May 24, 2010
No question about it. Ireland and the Irish culture IS all about STORIES!!!
The Chair of the Board of the Abbey Theatre is an amazing Champion. (BTW. Harvard Law, great connections in the States, but a truly brilliant Irishman!)
We’re working on the STORY of the Abbey Theatre. It goes back to the first Manifesto in 1899, a guy named Yeats! Teamed up with a woman, Annie, from England and Lady Gregory to put on the first performance of the Abbey Theatre in 1904!!! What a STORY!
The Abbey’s ‘problem’ is much like all of our great organizations in the States. Their STORY is multiple-themed, multiple-strands… and difficult to summarize and frame.
I think we’ve done that through a really powerful TIMELINE that basically shows YESTERDAY… TODAY… TOMORROW.
The big action item here: No matter how strong or long (or convoluted your STORY…) it still needs to be SIMPLIFIED… FRAMED… and TOLD!
Stealing one of Churchill’s opening lines:
“NEVER, NEVER, NEVER FORGET:”
SHARE THE STORY — PRESENT THE OPPORTUNITY.
P.S. Saw Macbeth performed on the Abbey stage in Dublin. What an experience! Talk about a STORY!!! That Shakespeare guy has some potential. I wonder if he’s written anything else?
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Mazarine - May 26th, 2010 11:51 pm
The story is important. But what makes a good story? In a word: Conflict.
Shakespeare does write some incredible stories.
So does Terry Pratchett.
Anytime I need inspiration for a fundraising story, I go to these authors. Can you put conflict in your first sentence? In each paragraph of your appeal letter?
Then you’ve made your own page-turner.
Mazarine
Http://wildwomanfundraising.com
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