Great storytelling: Best practices for advancement

Kate Mcdowell and Deborah Miller
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Kate Mcdowell: Associate Professor, School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA
Deborah Miller: Assistant Director of Clinical Partnerships, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA

Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing, 2021, vol. 6, issue 3, 257-267

Abstract: Storytelling is a key strategy for establishing and sustaining relationships with donors, current and prospective. The purpose of this paper is to explore connections to the century-long public library storytelling in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) and identify best practices for advancement work. Analysis of 20 interviews with advancement professionals — part of a larger Storytelling at Work project of over 100 interviews — reveals advancement best practices related to library storytelling. Interviewees include advancement professionals at all stages of their career development, from new hires to seasoned leaders. Findings demonstrate that storytelling can inform every stage of the advancement process — including gathering narratives, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship — so that development officers become inspiring tellers of tales. This paper provides a framework to support new advancement professionals to be more strategic in their storytelling and, at the same time, provoke seasoned professionals to analyse how they weave storied relationships.

Keywords: storytelling; advancement; libraries; donor; listening; relationship; connection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aza:jeam00:y:2021:v:6:i:3:p:257-267

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