For nonprofits and charities
Tell your nonprofit’s story in the words of the people it serves
A story from someone your organisation helped can move a donor more than any report. It can also harm the person telling it if consent is rushed. Use the checklist before you ask, the prompts while you ask, and StoryProof to collect and approve each story.
- Consent that does not depend on receiving help
- Separate prompts for people served, volunteers and donors
- A plan for withdrawing a story later
The problem, solved
Why nonprofit stories are hard to gather, and how StoryProof makes room for them
Situation 1 of 4
The people we help will not film themselves
For someone who has been through a hard time, a camera feels like exposure. Insisting on video leaves you with stories only from the most confident few.
How StoryProof solves it
The same link takes an audio note or a few written lines as readily as a video, so a person can share what changed without showing their face.
Situation 2 of 4
Our English form shuts out half our community
Services often reach people who are more at home in another language. A form they struggle to read cannot carry consent they truly understand.
How StoryProof solves it
Forms can be set to any of 6 languages on every plan, so the request and the questions read in a language the person is comfortable in.
Situation 3 of 4
Many people we serve have no reliable inbox
A shelter resident or a volunteer at a food bank may not check email, or share one address with family. An emailed request simply never arrives.
How StoryProof solves it
Staff can hand the link over in person or print it as a QR code for a drop-in session, with no email address needed.
Situation 4 of 4
A story drifts into uses nobody agreed to
Someone agrees to the website, and months later their words turn up in a printed appeal. That breaks the trust the story was built on.
How StoryProof solves it
Nothing appears anywhere until it is approved, tags record the permitted use, and every widget holds only the stories you place in it.
Checklist
Before you ask anyone for their story
Most of this list matters most for the people you serve, but read it for volunteers and donors too.
Runs in your browser only. Nothing is saved or sent.
Prompts
Prompts for each group
Three groups, three relationships to your work. Give each its own form.
People you have served
- What was different after you started working with us?
- What would you want someone in your position to know?
- Who on our team made a difference, and how?
Leave out
- Asking them to relive the hardest moment
- Details that identify their family or address
Volunteers
- What made you start volunteering with us?
- What is a moment that stayed with you?
- What would you tell someone thinking of joining?
Donors
- Why did you first decide to give to us?
- What keeps you giving?
- What do you tell friends about our work?
Leave out
- Gift amounts, unless the donor wants to share them
In StoryProof
Collect and approve stories in StoryProof
- You will need
- Your consent checklist completed
- A StoryProof workspace
- 1
Create one form per group
Use the prompts above. Each person can answer by video, an audio note or in writing, and forms come in several languages.
- 2
Share the link the way each group prefers
Email it, hand it over in person, or print the QR code for a volunteer evening or donor event.
- 3
Read every story before it is used
Stories wait in a queue until someone approves them. Check each against the dignity list before it goes anywhere.
- 4
Tag by group, programme and permitted use
Tags such as “donor”, “youth programme” or “website only” show your fundraising team what each story may be used for.
- 5
Publish on your website
Add approved stories to a widget on your programme pages or collect them on a Wall of Love you can link from appeals.
What happens next: When someone withdraws, remove their story from every widget and the Wall of Love, and tell your fundraising team not to reuse earlier copies.
Before you start
Honest limits
What this does not cover, and what to check on your side. Better to know now than after launch.
- 01
Not a case management system
Do not use the form to collect case notes, health information or anything you would keep in your client records.
- 02
Printed appeals are your responsibility
Once a story is in a printed letter it cannot be withdrawn from people’s homes. Explain that before someone agrees to print use.
- 03
Local rules may apply
Data protection and safeguarding rules differ by country and by the people you serve. Check your own obligations.
- 04
Grant funders may set their own terms
Some funders have rules about how the people a grant supports are shown in reports and publicity. Check the grant agreement before a story goes into a funder report.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Short answers to what usually comes up next.
How do we get consent from people we serve without pressure?
Ask separately from the support itself, say in writing that saying no changes nothing, and give them time and a way to change their mind later.
Can a story be anonymous?
Yes. Let the person choose a first name only or no name, and make sure the story itself does not identify them.
Can we pay or thank someone for sharing their story?
A small thank-you is common, but think about how it looks to someone who depends on your services. Offer it after they have agreed, so it never becomes the reason they said yes.
How long should we keep using a story?
Set a review date when you publish it and check in with the person before reusing it after that. Circumstances change, and a story that felt fine to share two years ago may not now.
Should staff write the story for someone who finds it hard?
A staff member can sit with them and ask the prompts, but the words should stay theirs. If you tidy the wording, show them the final version before it is used.
Still have a question? Ask the StoryProof team or book a demo.
Start with one story, told well
Set up a form for one group and collect your first story with consent in place.
Last updated 2026-11-04.