How to Effectively Connect the Dots: A 3-Step Guide for Nonprofits to Engage Donors and Stakeholders

“Connecting the dots” can be one of the biggest challenges for nonprofits and their external stakeholders. Without a clear connection between the organization’s work and the donors’ interests it’s highly unlikely that a of donation treasure or talent will be made. So why is this struggle so real?

I recently read “The Art of Asking” by Amanda Palmer where she spoke about this idea of “collecting, connecting and sharing the dots.” I often talk about connecting the dots, but hadn’t considered that it’s actually a three step process that I’ve been cramming into one. Let’s consider this three step concept as it relates to creating more meaningful connections between an organization’s mission and the greater community.

Collecting the Dots

Oftentimes, organizations complicate this process. They are so deep into their work that they are unable to look at it from a bird’s eye view and see the biggest “dots” and the ones that aren’t so big. They’re all just so darn important. But are they?

When organizations try to cram ALL the oh-so-important information about their organization into a pitch their audience experiences information overload. The connection is lost.

So when you’re thinking through your “dots,” I’d recommend mapping out every single one – enormous and minute, quantitative and qualitative. Then work with a team of people who ARE NOT a part of the daily grind of it to see which three to five resonate with them the deepest.

CULTURE TIP: Be sure you are working with a diverse group of folks during the paring down conversation. Otherwise you may unintentionally be segmenting your message to just one group of people you want to connect with.

Connecting the Dots

Okay, now you’ve got your 3 – 5 dots that you have vetted from the community. You know these are the wowers. These “dots” are the ones that you want to focus on when hosting an event, giving a speech about your mission or even talking to someone one-on-one. But how do you make them come to life?

Giving a statistical dot like, how much crime has been reduced because of your work can be powerful. But how does that connect the audience personally? Here’s where you start to involve the human side of your dot. Who was involved in making that possible? Is there a story you can share that humanizes the statistic?

Warning: Do not use all 3-5 dots in one sitting.  One or MAYBE two are the very most you should expose someone to right off the bat. They need to have digestible nuggets combined with a humanized story to make the message stick and not overwhelm. This connection piece may change each time you give the message depending on your audience and how they personally relate to it. 

Sharing the Dots

At this stage you have your message down. You have both the qualitative and quantitative aspects, you’ve humanized it, and you’re ready to weave it into your external messaging. But how do you share it in a way that makes the impact you’re looking for?

This is the step that I refer to as “creating the breadcrumb trail.” To me, the breadcrumb trail is the idea that people will follow you if you create a path that’s easy to track and nourishes them along the way.

So when you’re ready to share your dots, think about this path. Where is the easiest place to start? What organically builds from that starting point? How can you get someone who knows nothing about your work to pick up that first breadcrumb and then want to follow your journey?

For a real-life example of a way I’ve used this process check out the post “3 Steps to Develop a Following: Create a Breadcrumb Trail“.