In the inaugural episode, co-hosts Tanya Wall and Michelle Samson introduce the origin story and mission of the series, which aims to help Atlantic Canada nonprofits leverage storytelling to enhance fundraising and community engagement. Then they sit down with Erik Ayers, Founder and CTO of GoodSeeker, to discuss the data-backed benefits of storytelling, how small stories are crucial for building trust and visibility, and how nonprofits can systematically collect and use stories to engage stakeholders and boost donor contributions.

• 00:00 Introduction to The Atlantic Impact
• 00:51 The Origin Story of the Podcast
• 05:31 Introducing Erik Ayers and GoodSeeker
• 08:40 The Power of Small Stories
• 11:42 How Storytelling Helps Build Relationships
• 14:50 Advice for Collecting and Sharing Stories, and the Power of Prompts
• 18:22 Data on Eroding Trust in Nonprofits (And How to Build Trust)
• 21:27 More Advice on Writing Good Story Prompts
• 23:38  What Organizations Gain By Capturing and Organizing Stories
• 25:29 Barriers and Challenges in Story Collection and How to Address Them
• 29:17 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Find out more about GoodSeeker

• GoodSeeker website: goodseeker.com
• GoodSeeker on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/goodseeker-inc

About the Atlantic IMPACT podcast

Atlantic IMPACT is a podcast that helps nonprofits across Atlantic Canada use storytelling to drive fundraising and awareness. Each episode features conversations with people working in community, sharing how story supports connection, impact, and long-term growth. Whether you're part of a nonprofit or simply care about your community, this podcast invites you to listen, reflect, and engage.

 Is your organization ready to tell its story? Take the free Storytelling Readiness Quiz at collaborativecause.ca/stories.

The podcast is hosted by Tanya Wall and Michelle Samson, and is produced by Storied Places Media.

Asking for stories in and of itself, even if you didn't get any

2

stories but you just asked all day

long, you would be building high levels

3

of engagement with your community.

4

Michelle Samson: Welcome to The

Atlantic Impact, where we help

5

nonprofits across Atlantic Canada

use the power of storytelling to

6

drive fundraising and awareness.

7

I'm Michelle Samson.

8

Tanya Wall: And I'm Tanya Wall.

9

Michelle Samson: Well,

Tanya, this is exciting.

10

The first episode of our brand new podcast

about storytelling in the nonprofit space.

11

That means you, dear listener, are coming

in on the ground floor of this initiative.

12

Tanya Wall: Thank you for joining us.

13

Michelle Samson: So we are going to

keep these intros short, I promise,

14

especially in future episodes.

15

But since this is our first episode,

why don't we talk about the origin

16

story of the podcast and what

inspired you to launch it Tanya?

17

Tanya Wall: Okay.

18

Yeah, So the idea for the Atlantic

Impact actually came earlier this year

19

when I was at the Western Fundraising

Conference, and I heard Sam Laprade speak

20

of something that she does in Ottawa.

21

She's the creator and host of a show

called An Hour to Give on Rogers TV.

22

And Sam shared with us just how

highlighting nonprofit organizations

23

has been such a powerful experience

in her community and a really powerful

24

story about a charity guest who actually

was on the show and then received a

25

transformational donation after appearing.

26

And it really underscored the impact

of storytelling and how visibility

27

can really lead to opportunity.

28

And Sam was so generous in sharing

this and encouraged us to go back to

29

our own communities and see if there

was a way to bring a similar concept.

30

So I was thinking a podcast would

be a great platform to highlight the

31

organizations across Atlantic Canada

and help them share their work and

32

highlight the power of storytelling

and what's been working for them.

33

And for me personally,

it's a real passion.

34

I've worked inside small nonprofit

organizations and I know how tough

35

it can be to get started, so I'm

hoping that this is helpful to the

36

organizations that are listening and,

we, Collaborative Cause Consulting, we

37

support organizations with this work.

38

So it just seemed like a really great fit.

39

Michelle Samson: Yeah.

40

And I agree with you that a podcast is

a great platform, but I may be slightly

41

biased, which we'll get into in a minute.

42

So a first episode is also a good time

to introduce the hosts, us, so, tell

43

us a bit more about yourself, Tanya.

44

Tanya Wall: Sure.

45

So I've worked in nonprofit my entire

career and I've had an opportunity to work

46

both in direct service, and as the leader

of small nonprofit organizations, and also

47

working directly in fundraising roles.

48

Initially, I worked in a small youth

shelter in Ontario, and in that role

49

I was able to do some fundraising

kind of off the corner of my desk.

50

And I discovered that I really loved

supporting the mission in that way.

51

And so from there I moved into a role

at a small hospital foundation and I

52

was able to help develop their annual

giving program from the ground up.

53

And while there also launched

a major capital campaign.

54

After that I moved on to another

small nonprofit in Northern

55

Ontario where I was the executive

director and again, back to doing

56

fundraising off the corner of my desk.

57

And so it really led to understanding

from the inside how important it is

58

to not only know what to do, but have

the capacity to be able to do it.

59

And that was sort of the reason for

founding the Collaborative Cause

60

Consulting and what we do, which is a

little different, is we provide consulting

61

in the traditional way, but we also

provide hands-on implementation support.

62

So for organizations that don't have

that internal capacity, we have the

63

ability to integrate with their team

and deliver the program for them.

64

What I don't have experience

in, Michelle, is podcasting.

65

And so I'm so glad that we're working

on this project together, and I'd love

66

for you to share a bit about yourself.

67

Michelle Samson: Yeah, so you

bring all of that not-for-profit

68

and fundraising expertise.

69

I bring the podcasting expertise.

70

I'm the executive producer of

Storied Places Media, which is

71

a podcast production agency that

leverages my previous careers in

72

radio then economic development.

73

So I usually work with economic

development organizations.

74

But when I saw your email in my

inbox, I got very excited because,

75

one, I love your mission to help

nonprofits drive fundraising and

76

awareness for their various causes.

77

And two, because I actually

moonlight as a writer and therefore

78

I am obsessed with storytelling.

79

So we've been collaborating

on this podcast ever since.

80

Why don't you share a little

bit more about the purpose

81

and the vision for the series?

82

Tanya Wall: Absolutely.

83

So the vision is really to be a blend of

providing a platform for organizations to

84

share about their mission and their work,

what their needs are, and inspire other

85

organizations by sharing their stories.

86

And also offer some very practical

tips and ideas on how organizations

87

can get started if they're

not really sure how to do so.

88

And then lastly, really for all of

Atlantic Canada to hear what's going

89

on and if people wanna get involved

whether they want to financially support

90

organizations, or volunteer, or maybe

they have skills that they can offer.

91

And really emphasize that small

stories matter to organizations and it

92

really is a way of building trust and

connection throughout their community.

93

Michelle Samson: Yeah, and that's

something that our very first guest in

94

this very first episode really emphasizes.

95

So, without any further ado,

who are we talking to today?

96

Tanya Wall: Yeah, so excited to speak

with Erik from GoodSeeker, he is actually

97

the founder of GoodSeeker, which is a

platform that helps organizations capture

98

and organize authentic impact stories.

99

And this first episode really

focuses on storytelling itself,

100

why it matters, and how asking

for stories can create engagement.

101

And again, really highlighting

the importance of small everyday

102

stories and how internal stories,

whether that be from staff or

103

volunteers, can be the most powerful.

104

Erik talks a lot about how storytelling

can be part of the daily work,

105

rather than an occasional campaign.

106

Michelle Samson: This is a really great

high level setup for the series before

107

we get into the rest of our season,

which will be made up of four case

108

studies, I think we could call them,

with people working in community sharing

109

how story helps their organizations.

110

So here's Erik Ayers from Good Seeker.

111

Tanya Wall: Welcome, Erik.

112

We're so glad to be

chatting with you today.

113

You and I have had a chance to work

together over the past year supporting

114

some of the organizations that

Collaborative Cause works with, but we'd

115

love to start off our conversation today

with you telling us about GoodSeeker and

116

the kind of organizations you work with.

117

Erik Ayers: Well, thank

you so much for having me.

118

I really appreciate it and appreciate

this podcast, and your goals for it and

119

vision for how it can help the community,

because stories are an untapped resource.

120

Tanya Wall: Mm-hmm.

121

Erik Ayers: And at a time, perhaps

globally, when nonprofits are

122

needed the most, we need to do all

we can to enable their success.

123

So I appreciate that.

124

Yeah.

125

So GoodSeeker exists to help

organizations collect impact stories

126

from all their stakeholders, internal

equally as important as external.

127

And I'll share some data later that

specifically for nonprofits non-profits

128

may be a real key to story transformation.

129

'Cause a lot of the impact is actually

locked inside the heads of our own teams.

130

And the data shows that

actually people want that.

131

So we built a platform

that helps companies think

132

strategically about storytelling.

133

Activate a system, a systematic way,

to collect stories that align with

134

goals of the organization so that you

could then never forget those stories,

135

harness them for your immediate

needs, whether that's fundraising or

136

advocacy, or perhaps more importantly,

think of them as that resource.

137

So over time, you could reach

back into this, we call it a

138

story bank, pull from it and use

it for lots of different things.

139

Tanya Wall: Right.

140

Erik Ayers: So it is SaaS.

141

We offer some support services

as well, but we're really

142

excited to bring this to market.

143

Michelle Samson: We're really

excited to get your high level

144

view of storytelling, Erik.

145

So from your perspective, where do

stories naturally show up in the

146

organizations that you support?

147

Erik Ayers: Yeah.

148

If it's okay, I'll speak to it also not

just from the nonprofit side, which is

149

a huge focus for us, but we do have some

non-nonprofits, some companies use it.

150

And I, and I'll say this because

I think there's some lessons to be

151

learned from where organizations

find stories, not just nonprofits.

152

So, small stories matter a lot.

153

I think that's one of the premises, I

would say, you know, it's not always the

154

save the day story that gets people's

attention or quite honestly moves people.

155

It tends to be the small thing.

156

So I think when you ask that question,

like, where do you find the smallest

157

examples of the things you claim you

do, of the values that you claim you

158

have, and where do you bottle those up?

159

So I kind of look for small first,

and I come back to the internal thing.

160

So think about everything from projects,

and milestones, and lessons learned,

161

and people take training and they apply

the training and the training works.

162

A volunteer brings a new skill into an

organization and volunteers that skill

163

and you didn't even know you needed it,

and helped with an event that you're...

164

All those small little moments are the

ones we want to capture, quite honestly,

165

'cause there's a lot of them, and the more

you have, the more trust you can build.

166

Michelle Samson: I'm wondering, Erik,

if you can speak a little bit more

167

about finding the small stories, and

is it getting small wins and practicing

168

working that muscle of collecting

stories, or is there a particular

169

kind of power in the small stories?

170

Erik Ayers: Yeah, I mean, one of

the things we always say is like,

171

what are your current practices,

your current business processes,

172

what do you currently do?

173

Do you do surveys?

174

Well, what do you do when somebody

responses to the survey and then

175

the little nugget in the survey

response, it's a story lead.

176

So building the radar to find

story leads is an important

177

thing you need to get good at.

178

'Cause if you can get good at identifying

the signals, then it's easy, honestly.

179

Michelle Samson: Hmm.

180

Erik Ayers: And I think we're a little bit

blind sometimes to thinking things aren't

181

significant enough to be called a story.

182

That's one thing absolutely all

of my studies, from working with

183

companies, we need to get over the

idea that the story is a big thing.

184

We need to look at the small things.

185

I did research a long time ago when

I first started GoodSeeker and asking

186

employees about whether or not they

felt the small things they do matter

187

to the success of the organization.

188

90% said yes.

189

Michelle Samson: Hmm.

190

Erik Ayers: And the follow up

question is, do people recognize that?

191

Do people see it?

192

And they said, no, they wish they did.

193

And then I, and then one of the

reasons why they thought leaders aren't

194

supposed to look at those things.

195

They're not supposed to see those things.

196

It was almost like this

acceptance that they don't see it.

197

The irony of the whole research was that

we asked leaders the same questions,

198

and they literally said the same thing.

199

Michelle Samson: Huh.

200

Erik Ayers: They said the small things

matter and they wish people saw them more.

201

So it's just human nature and I think

if we can kind of build that muscle

202

to identify the smaller things.

203

But, where you find them?

204

I say look at business processes,

like what are your current practices?

205

If you wrap up an event at the end

of the event, you have a debrief.

206

Alright, part of that debrief should be

who was involved, who made a difference.

207

You know, what's the smallest

example of our organizational values?

208

It just takes a little bit of

practice, but it's perfectly doable.

209

One of the most important things is

just figuring out what stakeholders

210

have stories in their heads, what's

the fastest way to get to them,

211

and then how would you use them?

212

: Tanya Wall: Do you see that storytelling

can help in terms of relationship building

213

with the different organizations you're

working with, whether that's employees

214

or community partners or donors?

215

Erik Ayers: Absolutely.

216

Another lesson learned is that

the act of asking somebody for

217

a story is an engagement moment.

218

Like we kind of have it flipped,

like we think we need to get

219

stories, and if people give us

stories, they're engaged with us.

220

True.

221

But it kind of starts with the ask.

222

You know, imagine asking a partner

who's worked with you for years to

223

share a story about the lessons they've

learned working with our your team.

224

And to do it in a way where they want

to hear that partner's lessons learned

225

'cause it could help other partners.

226

Tanya Wall: Right.

227

Erik Ayers: So you've kind of

activated this teacher motivator

228

that we all kind of have.

229

Asking for stories in and of itself,

forget getting anything, even if you

230

didn't get any stories but you just

asked all day long, you would be building

231

high of engagement with your community.

232

That's one of the things we've learned.

233

And I think one of the things that's

been the biggest surprise for customers.

234

Tanya Wall: Mm-hmm.

235

Erik Ayers: I think at some point

we'll talk about hurdles, but

236

sometimes just asking is the hurdle,

but it's like the secret sauce.

237

So, yeah, it is a great tool

for building deep relationships.

238

Michelle Samson: Well, you've just

talked about asking and not necessarily

239

getting, but of the stories that

have been collected, I'm wondering

240

if you have an example of a story

collected on the platform that made a

241

real difference for an organization.

242

Erik Ayers: I can tell you, I'm

gonna, I'll tell you two real quick.

243

One is, like, it's part of

the origin of GoodSeeker.

244

And I was in an organization and we had

just started kind of toying around with

245

building this and it was very crude.

246

And somebody senior in the organization

shared a story about somebody who

247

made a mistake, a spreadsheet mistake,

it was something really small.

248

And the point of the person sharing

the story was it wasn't a mistake,

249

they were talking about how the person

came up with an innovative solution

250

to solve the mistake they made.

251

That was the story.

252

And it was a senior person, it was like

a COO and it was a junior accountant who,

253

and I remember she actually came by to see

me and was kind of like shocked thinking

254

that it started as one of the worst days,

knowing that she made a mistake, but

255

it was kind of presented as this very

positive lesson learned that other people

256

in the organization could benefit from.

257

That was a kind of a moving thing and just

showed you the power of small stories.

258

So I remember that one very specifically.

259

I think we just got our first

French story the other day.

260

And I would say that's memorable

'cause it's recent, but it's also

261

because the ones that I love the most

are the ones when the organization

262

really wants stories from a group,

but they don't think it's possible.

263

Like they think that it's hard,

they've tried before and they failed.

264

And they get that first one.

265

And that first one is so exciting because

then you know where there's one, there's

266

five and where there's five, there's 10.

267

But I think it's the first one that

kind of gives us the most motivation.

268

Michelle Samson: Hmm.

269

Erik Ayers: And the organizations

themselves too 'cause it kind of

270

unlocks this, oh wait, we can do this.

271

It's like wind.

272

It's like we can harness energy,

we can harness story energy, but

273

but getting going I think is always

the most fun hurdle to get over.

274

Tanya Wall: Yeah, absolutely.

275

When you think about collecting

and sharing stories, Erik, what

276

approaches have you've seen work

best and make them easy to gather

277

as well as impactful when shared?

278

Erik Ayers: I think building it

into a process that you already

279

have makes it easier to get stories.

280

I mean, we align every, our product

aligns everything around campaigns.

281

You know, you create campaigns, you create

story prompts, and the story frames drops.

282

So, the approach that is probably

the most important to getting it

283

tactically is crafting good prompts.

284

Tanya Wall: Mm-hmm.

285

Michelle Samson: Hmm.

286

Erik Ayers: So if you craft

good story prompts, then you're

287

gonna get good stories back.

288

And there is an art to that, and it's

usually not what people, I hinted on

289

it earlier about this idea of tapping

into people's teacher motivation.

290

Organizations that reach out to

stakeholders and basically say, can you

291

share a story about how great we are?

292

It feels icky.

293

Again, let's face it.

294

I mean, it kind of does, right?

295

It's a dance that we all do.

296

The person says, Hey, well,

what do you want me to say?

297

Can you write it for me?

298

But, like, if you ask it differently

and you frame it so they feel good

299

about what they're sharing, asking a

question that lets the person who's

300

sharing the story demonstrate a little

bit about their own skills and impact.

301

Especially with volunteers.

302

You talk about young volunteers

who are trying to contribute their

303

skills to an organization, they're

trying to build their career.

304

It's not all about them, but

it is about their contribution.

305

Tanya Wall: Hmm.

306

Erik Ayers: And if you craft these

prompts in a really targeted way, I mean,

307

that's the approach that I think is key.

308

And then knowing who to ask.

309

I think knowing who to ask is key.

310

But people get stuck on that.

311

One of the things I always tell

people is, like, reverse engineer it.

312

Like where do you already

have a list of people?

313

Okay, we have a list of people

who just finished training.

314

This keeps coming to mind because

this came up the other day.

315

Perfect.

316

They just finished training.

317

Give 'em two weeks, reach out and

ask a story about how the training

318

worked and what they learned.

319

And like, you already have a

list on the nonprofit side.

320

You know, give me every donor

who's donated more than two years

321

to three different programs.

322

Okay, that's interesting.

323

That's somebody who's

engaged across areas.

324

Or gimme a list of people who donated

to a new program just this year.

325

If you already can think of the

list, you have, people who've been

326

volunteering for more than five years.

327

Not only do you have your list

of people to reach out to, you

328

kinda already know what's going

to motivate them to share a story.

329

Think of it that way, backwards

from lists that you have.

330

That's a good tip.

331

Tanya Wall: And I think you're touching

on something really interesting when

332

it comes to the nonprofit world as

far as seeking stories from donors.

333

Because so often I think we get very

focused on the stories we share with

334

donors, but the donors themselves

have their own stories to share

335

and can be incredibly impactful.

336

Erik Ayers: Absolutely.

337

There's a lot of really strong

data out there right now around

338

how critical storytelling is with

respect to donor and donor engagement.

339

Not just making sure that your

current donor base is still active,

340

but you know, certainly here in the

US and I think globally, problem.

341

I mean, the donor pools are

shrinking and you have to

342

activate new sources of donors.

343

Well, what's gonna motivate a new donor?

344

I mean, you have to build trust.

345

They're not just gonna give you their

time and money if they don't know

346

you and saw a fancy ad in a video.

347

Tanya Wall: Mm-hmm.

348

Erik Ayers: Like you, you have to be

able to demonstrate to them that other

349

donors before them felt like their

contribution was making a difference.

350

So you have to ask those donors

for stories about their vision for

351

how their money that they donate

will help the organization grow.

352

It kind of goes back to those prompts.

353

But yeah, absolutely.

354

Michelle Samson: Erik, I have two

follow up questions from that.

355

There was so much that was

really interesting in that.

356

Maybe I'll start with

the more recent thing.

357

You've mentioned the research

and the data a couple times, and

358

I'm wondering if you could just

speak a little bit more to that?

359

Erik Ayers: Yeah, I'm actually preparing

for a different presentation, so I spent

360

the last couple days looking at this,

and kind it's kind of shocking to me.

361

I mean, I knew it, but I needed to see

the data around it, the big trust problem.

362

And the data, which you have access

to it, what's interesting is they

363

also break out Canadian data.

364

And that's give.org.

365

The Better Business Bureau

in the US has give.org

366

and I've actually just been in

some exchanges back and forth

367

with the researchers there

around what this data says.

368

So the data is showing, and it's

generally the same for the US and

369

Canada, you know, trust is eroding.

370

Where nonprofits sometimes are presented

as high trust organizations, and

371

they are, we're not great at telling

stories, which is part of the problem.

372

But they're high trust compared

to, in the US at least,

373

government and business, right?

374

So that number looks really high.

375

But overall trust is pretty low.

376

In the US, there's 22% trust,

and in Canada, the same data says

377

only 15% trust in nonprofits.

378

Tanya Wall: Wow

379

Erik Ayers: Not compared to

other organizations, just at

380

the whole, if you take em all.

381

So that's not great.

382

Tanya Wall: Mm-hmm.

383

Erik Ayers: Then you peel back the onion

and you say, what's driving that problem?

384

Where's the trust coming from?

385

And the research that I've been

reading says that honestly, we're not

386

great at showing the accomplishments.

387

We're also not great at, I won't tie

this yet to stories, but explaining

388

to people what happens with the money.

389

where Where does the money go?

390

Like visibility, transparency.

391

So we got low trust, we kind

of know what's driving it.

392

Then you ask the same people, what

would motivate you to build trust?

393

And it's seeing accomplishments, it's

seeing what happens behind the scenes.

394

Hearing opinions from friends.

395

I think it's like 50, well, if

you combine 50, 67, 80% seeing

396

accomplishments, appealing stories would

help them build high levels of trust.

397

The same data also says 40% of them

are willing to be solicited more,

398

Michelle Samson: Hmm.

399

Erik Ayers: 25% of those people

are willing to give more money.

400

So it's like there's this

trust gap because we're not

401

communicating well enough.

402

I would argue we're not communicating

enough what's happening behind the scenes.

403

This is why I think our own teams

are the source of some of the

404

most powerful, transformative

trust-building content that exists.

405

We see how the money is being spent,

we know that volunteer came up with

406

a great, innovative idea that we

implemented and saved the organizion,

407

but if you don't talk about it,

nobody's ever gonna see that.

408

And so, if we can do better at

that, we can close the trust gap.

409

The benefit and the upside is

people want to see it and they

410

wanna give you more money.

411

So that's a good thing.

412

So, I think storytelling is, it's a

strategic priority for organizations.

413

Like it's no joke.

414

Part of the reason why GoodSeeker

exists is just to give you

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the platform to systematically

bottle it up and never forget it.

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So it doesn't go off in the ether,

but like as a strategy, yeah,

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it's like, now is the time really.

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Michelle Samson: That's a great case.

419

Okay, so bringing it back to my other

follow up question, I was wondering

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if you had any more advice, more

technical advice, more specific sort

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of language for how to really write

good prompts and get quality stories.

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Erik Ayers: Yeah.

423

I mean, I think the be the biggest

lesson learned around writing the prompts

424

was just make sure that the person

giving, I usually say "give" the stories

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because I think giving a story to an

organization might be more valuable than

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giving money, particularly if that story

can then end up being used to attract

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other donors and things like that.

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Michelle Samson: Hmm.

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Erik Ayers: But, yeah, kind of tapping

into that motivation for each stakeholder.

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Like, are they thinking about legacy?

431

Are they thinking about teaching other

volunteers so that people like them

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get involved in the organization?

433

So once you know the stakeholder's

motivation, then you craft the

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prompts that give them that

opportunity to have a voice.

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Michelle Samson: Hmm.

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Erik Ayers: We all wanna

have a voice for something.

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If you craft a prompt in way that

let's them talk positively about

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your impact as an organization,

but also gives them a voice on

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something that matters, that's key.

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And I'll say that one other,

uh, we just discovered, if you

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can start the story for them.

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I can ask you a really good prompt, and if

I hit the right person, that's gonna get

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a certain percentage of people to respond.

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But think about the difference

between sending a request for a

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story and the request for a story

has a picture at the top of the page.

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That's the first day you

showed up as a volunteer.

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And the story prompt says, we have

this picture, I remember that day.

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Your willingness to dive in is a

great example of our organizational

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values and what makes us great.

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Like what do you recall

from that first day?

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Michelle Samson: Hmm.

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Erik Ayers: So take that

prompt and put it with a story.

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So imagine receiving that from somebody

who's kind of started the story for you.

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First of all, it's hard to say no.

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Um, but it feels good.

456

Like, it's almost like recognition.

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That's why I go back to that

first point about it's the ask.

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The ask is a really great

way to build engagement.

459

And when you ask somebody for a story

and you put it in front of them as

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your own reflection first on their

impact, like, you're gonna get a story.

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You're gonna get engagement.

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Michelle Samson: Right.

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Okay.

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Getting back on track, I think

you've already kind of answered

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this question, but I'll just give

you another opportunity in case

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there's anything more you wanna say.

467

But is there anything more you wanna

say on what organizations gain when

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they start to capture and organize

their stories in a more intentional

469

way, especially when it comes to the

awareness and fundraising pieces?

470

Erik Ayers: Gosh, so many things.

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You gain never forgetting.

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You gain always having.

473

Speaking specifically to GoodSeeker, you

know, the benefit of having it centralized

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is that you can pull from it again for

other purposes and you can bundle things.

475

So let's say you've ran multiple campaigns

and there's a thread, a theme across

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multiple campaigns, you need to respond

quickly to a potential um, donor, or

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a sponsor, or something like that.

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Like to be able to go into the story

bank and pick the things that you know

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are important to them and bundle it

up and save it on a page that you can

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send to them in a matter of minutes.

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Not herding cats.

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Like that's, like the utility of having

it in one place and how quickly it

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enables you to be responsive to policy

makers who might be asking for stories

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as part of a legislative hearing to, you

know, your fundraising team, to a grant.

485

You're applying for a grant and

like time passes, we lose sight.

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So, with this you can quickly gather

what you need to kind of activate.

487

So I think those are big things.

488

And then the last piece is

the internal culture benefits.

489

I've seen it.

490

We have an organization, we had an

organization, they were nine 90 employees,

491

800 stories just from their team alone.

492

So whether you're collecting stories from

your inside your team or outside, you

493

know, having it all visible in one place I

think gives leaders a lot of transparency.

494

But the benefit is teams feel engaged,

like they see what's happening.

495

And that feels good.

496

Where you're trying to build capacity,

and it's hard enough to find great

497

talent, the more you can invest in

something like storytelling and has

498

a byproduct of engaging your team,

I mean, that's kind of a no-brainer.

499

Tanya Wall: Yeah, I think you're

touching on a lot of the benefit.

500

Can you speak any more to what

barriers this technology, this

501

platform, like GoodSeeker can address?

502

Erik Ayers: So barriers to

getting started or just barriers

503

that the product overcomes?

504

Tanya Wall: So if I think of myself

working in a small nonprofit, in my

505

past, for us the challenge would've been

certainly getting the stories, housing the

506

stories in a place that we can go back and

find, and then putting those stories out.

507

And so those come to mind, and

I'm wondering if those are the

508

trends that you're hearing as well.

509

What challenges organizations are

facing and why technology now, and

510

a platform like GoodSeeker, can

help move that forward for them?

511

Erik Ayers: Yeah, I

mean, it's scale, right?

512

I mean, You don't have much time.

513

So, go back to all that data, right?

514

That data paints a picture of we

need a continuous flow of impact

515

stories from all our stakeholders.

516

Not one here and there,

like, we need to flow.

517

New donors, they're expecting

to see consistency, 'cause

518

consistency is truth, you know?

519

That's why like the more small

things you have over time

520

equals more truth, more trust.

521

But that brings with it like, oh

my God, how are we gonna do that?

522

So yeah, with the technology,

you can't do that with labor.

523

You can, but nobody has that kind

of time or money to invest in it.

524

And it's really about scale, so

investing less time to get more stories

525

from more diverse audiences over time.

526

Centralized, so you never

forget and you always pull back.

527

It really is a capacity builder.

528

It really is infrastructure.

529

Think it's enabling infrastructure

to do this correctly right now, and

530

that helps a lot with lean teams.

531

Tanya Wall: Absolutely.

532

Erik Ayers: I think one of the

challenges, people are just busy, it's

533

just hard to get in front of people.

534

One of the things you gotta

think about is all the different

535

touch points for your ask.

536

So it can't just be like, I'm gonna

send an email and, oh no, everybody,

537

you know, the floodgates didn't open.

538

Like, you can't get discouraged by that.

539

It has nothing to do with

how good your prompt was.

540

I mean, it just has to

do with people are busy.

541

You know, one of the things we

talk about is like making sure

542

that it's visible in many places.

543

Do you have a button on your website?

544

You know, do you have a page on

your website for stories where

545

people can submit a story to

all your different campaigns?

546

And that way the URL is always the same.

547

You can promote that on social.

548

So there's some tactical ways to

get visibility for your campaigns.

549

And I do think that's one of the things

that people underestimate the need to do.

550

No technology's gonna solve the fact

that like, people are stretched.

551

Tanya Wall: Yeah.

552

So you've given us a lot of

really great suggestions, Erik.

553

Do you have any other advice if there's

a nonprofit leader listening to this

554

right now and they're just starting

to think about building a story bank,

555

any advice that you would give them?

556

Erik Ayers: Do it, I

mean, trust is it, right?

557

So trust is it.

558

You have to have an an arsenal of trusted

content, and you can't do it yourself.

559

So that's one of the

things we talk about a lot.

560

It's like organizations will invest a lot

in video production, and that's great.

561

They're beautiful and they're well done.

562

And I often say, do that, but also

make sure you're throwing out a net.

563

Because, you know, those nets are leads.

564

First of all, you wanna capture 'em

all and you, because that smallest

565

one, going back to the small

thing, that smallest little story

566

might be exactly what that sponsor

567

Tanya Wall: Mm.

568

Erik Ayers: But you're

also seeing everything.

569

So then you can take some

individual stories and go do

570

something bigger with them.

571

Think about the idea of user generated

content or stakeholder generated content

572

as incredibly valuable to building trust.

573

And when it all comes down to it,

I think it will help you grow.

574

I mean, in our product you can put

donate buttons in stories, you can put

575

apply for volunteer jobs inside stories.

576

Like, so stories are nice, but

stories that drive people to

577

do something are even better.

578

And our software does all that.

579

Think about that more you put

in, the more valuable it becomes.

580

And that's why we love

that term story bank.

581

And I think just leaders understanding

that is really important right now.

582

Tanya Wall: Yeah, that's great advice.

583

Michelle Samson: This has been really

great, really insightful, Erik.

584

Any final thoughts?

585

Erik Ayers: I would just say that,

you know, we are a hundred percent

586

looking for organizations to help.

587

And I say that not because

we're selling software.

588

It's truly an honor work with

organizations, like, it's so

589

exciting to be able to help people

harness the power of stories.

590

And certainly anybody out there, we'd love

to have a conversation with them about it.

591

Perhaps they've done things

that have worked really well.

592

You know, we're a continuously

learning organization.

593

Um, so I would encourage

anybody to reach out to us.

594

But yeah, that's the gist.

595

Michelle Samson: All right, and we'll,

uh, put your links in the show notes

596

to make sure that anybody who wants

to engage with you can find it there.

597

Is your organization

ready to tell its story?

598

Take the free Storytelling Readiness

Quiz at collaborativecause.ca/stories.

599

New episodes are coming soon.

600

Follow us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

to make sure you don't miss any.

601

The Atlantic Impact is an initiative of

Collaborative Cause Consulting, which

602

provides strategy and hands-on support

to help nonprofits across Atlantic

603

Canada achieve their fundraising goals.

604

It is produced by Storied Places Media.