Kathleen Donovan: Using Storytelling to Find Balance in Fundraising Communications

By Kathleen Donovan
Olean Food Pantry Board Vice President

(Editor’s note: This is the last in a four-part series by the Olean Food Pantry for the Olean Times Herald about solving food insecurity in our communities. Read the original article here.)

If you’ve had your eyes open, you’re likely well aware of Olean Food Pantry’s supercharged communications efforts around our $1 Million Fundraising Campaign. Op-ed series like these. Press releases. TV interviews. Social media is blowing up with posts and articles we’ve produced illustrating the dire reality of local hunger.

And there’s more to come. 

It’s an investment the OFP Board of Directors is making in our communities, which have seen food insecurity numbers double in the last four years. To turn the slow gears of change, we must communicate the issue and gather support. Gathering support for an ambitious fundraiser requires appealing to grant funders, philanthropists and average citizens alike.

We must nurture a community dialog not only in Olean, but also across Western New York and even the nation. Feeding people in need is a BandAid. Addressing food insecurity will take a complete overhaul of systemic problems via grassroots efforts – community by community.

So we ask: Why not begin with ours?

Some of you may know me professionally as the Senior Social Media and Public Relations Coordinator for Cutco. Marketing and public relations are tough to master. In general, no one actually wants to be marketed to – to feel as if they’re being “sold to.” 

International brands like Cutco have a leg up in the communications game. People already like our knives and other products. Their superiority in the marketplace has been well-established for decades.

Nonprofit marketing is a different game. Essentially, OFP is selling a community vision for a world without hunger, which requires sacrifice from one person to benefit another. That’s a tough sell, to get people to act, even when they completely understand and support the mission.

There are two key obstacles in play. 

First, there’s a strong perception that nonprofits are “asking for money … again?” Well, yes, we are. But in the public mind, solicitations for donations come across like a neighbor who always asks to borrow $10 without ever paying it back. 

In the world of charity, that’s because it’s being paid forward. That $10 is feeding someone else. So our communications and public relations strive for transparency – to tell powerful stories of impact from social media to the news media.   

Secondly, the poverty stigma affects even well-meaning people. The second op-ed in this series painted a picture of hunger that many in our communities don’t get to see: the faces of food insecurity. The purpose? To counter the common narrative that people experiencing hunger are simply poor and lazy, as if by choice. 

But they could be a single parent/guardian trying to make ends meet, someone who just lost a job or a senior on a fixed income.

Taking a walk in their shoes – coupled with the sobering reality that 40% of Americans are one missed paycheck away from food insecurity themselves – is a powerful narrative. Many would view the hunger issue differently knowing that they, too, could experience an abrupt reversal of fortune to join nearly 2,000 people coming to OFP each month.

These misperceptions in communication aren’t just minor inconveniences, but rather barriers to engagement.

So Olean Food Pantry is striking a balance between fundraising outreach and storytelling for education.

We strive to share stories that highlight the real people behind the statistics — our family, friends and neighbors facing food insecurity. These stories of resilience and hope are compelling and help to illustrate why our work is so critical. These narratives do more than ask for donations. They humanize the cause, inviting empathy and understanding.

By diversifying our communication strategies, emphasizing transparency and sharing compelling stories, we can gradually shift the narrative. That’s where lasting change begins.

Olean Food Pantry’s $1 Million Fundraising Campaign works toward that future in so many ways. We appreciate your tax-deductible donation today: www.oleanfoodpantry.org/donate. 

Other articles in our op-ed series:
– David Potter: Olean Food Pantry’s Plan for a World Without Hunger
– Rich Esposito: Defining Hunger in Our Communities
– Fred Welch: Food Insecurity & Poor Health Consequences

(Kathleen Donovan is Vice President of the Olean Food Pantry Board of Directors. She can be reached at oleanfoodpantry@yahoo.com.)