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Storytelling
The one question to answer before you plan a year of storytelling
Most organisations plan which stories to tell before deciding what they need people to feel and do. Start with the Emotional Destination and the rest gets easier.
Most organisations plan their storytelling by listing what they’ll produce. A spring campaign, an impact report, some case studies for the website.
That’s the wrong place to start. The organisations whose stories secure funding and move people to act begin somewhere else: with what they need people to feel, and what they need them to do.
This guide is for charity leaders planning the year ahead, whenever your year starts.
Why it matters now
The last two years have been hard on charities. In 2024/25, 151 charities with an income over £50,000 closed, up from 87 the year before, according to an analysis of Charity Commission data by the accountants Lubbock Fine. Some of the best-known names have cut deeply. Macmillan reduced its workforce by 413 people in 2024, about a quarter of its staff (Civil Society). RNIB made 197 of its 1,248 staff redundant (Civil Society). At Oxfam GB, 142 people left in a restructure (Civil Society), and Scope closed 73 of its 138 shops (Civil Society).
Fewer people are giving, too. CAF’s UK Giving Report found that 50% of people donated in 2024, down from 58% in 2019: about 4 million fewer donors.
When money is this tight, every story has to earn its place. That starts with knowing what each one is for.
The question
Before you write a word, draft a case study or brief a photographer, answer this:
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What emotion do I want my audience to feel at the end of this story, and what action do I want them to take because of that feeling?
I call the answer the Emotional Destination. It’s the first step in The Social Impact Storytelling Framework, and every other decision follows from it.
What I learned the hard way
After the tragic death of my fiancé, Naz, in 2014, I started telling our story. I told it the way most people tell stories: in order, first this happened, then this, then this.
It took years, and a documentary that Channel 4 initially turned down, for me to see what was missing. I wasn’t starting from the change I wanted to create. I hadn’t decided how I wanted people to feel, or what I wanted them to do with that feeling.
Once I got that right, the story changed shape. The documentary, My God, I’m Queer, was broadcast on Channel 4 and won Best TV Programme at the Asian Media Awards. The facts were the same as before. The story was built differently.
Choosing your destination
The emotion has to lead naturally to the action you need. Some common pairings:
Donations: Moved by the human cost, and hopeful that change is possible
Funding renewal: Confident the money was well spent, and clear on what comes next
Advocacy: Outraged at the system, and clear on what to do about it
Board support: Reassured that the strategy is working
Volunteers: Connected to the cause, and sure they can make a difference
Get it wrong and even beautifully crafted stories drift. Get it right and the structure, the details and the photographs all become easier to choose.
Ask for: a written Emotional Destination for each major audience, agreed before the year’s storytelling is planned.
Then work back from it
Once you know the destination, plan from there:
Who needs to feel it? Funders, supporters, your board, partners, the public.
Which stories could take them there? Look at what you already have before gathering more.
What proof will they need? A number, a quote, a photograph.
When do they need it? Funding deadlines, report season, board meetings, campaigns.
Planning in this order means every story has a job before anyone starts working on it.
Six questions to ask before you plan the year
What do we most need people to do this year?
What feeling would lead them to do it?
Which audience matters most?
Which of our existing stories already lands there?
What are we missing?
When does each audience need to hear from us?
Where to start this week
Write one sentence: “At the end of our stories this year, we want [audience] to feel [emotion] so that they [action].” Share it with your leadership team. Plan nothing else until you agree on it.
If you’d like to set your Emotional Destination with your whole team and leave with a plan built around it, that’s what my social impact storytelling workshops are for.
Questions people ask
What is an Emotional Destination?
The feeling you want your audience to have at the end of a story, and the action you want them to take because of it. It’s decided before the story is written.
How is it different from an End Vision?
An End Vision describes the change your organisation exists to create. An Emotional Destination describes what a particular audience should feel and do after a particular story. You need both.
Isn’t it manipulative to plan for an emotion?
Not if the story is true and told with consent. Every story leaves people feeling something. Deciding what that should be is part of telling it responsibly.
Matt Mahmood-Ogston is a London-based social impact storyteller and documentary photographer. He founded the Naz and Matt Foundation in 2014 and has led it for more than 12 years.
