Identifying a Corporate Narrative
Agrosuper, Chile's largest agricultural company, is considering a public offering – which will be the biggest in the nation's history. In preparation for increased attention from the IPO, and to provide conceptual unity to its diverse brands and product lines, Agrosuper hired Thaler to interview top management and key outsiders, elicit leadership stories, and determine and draft the institutional narrative. She is working closely with the corporation's top leadership in applying, strengthening, and sustaining the narrative with supporting stories. As Agrosuper's advertising, marketing, and public relations campaigns unfold, they will support and reinforce this narrative.
Helping Entrepreneurs Harness the Power of Story
Four successful entrepreneurs, all members of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), hired Thaler to facilitate an YPO Forum and help them better understand how to persuasively communicate through the use of story. Thaler helped the entrepreneurs, who are expert at scanning the horizon and taking in the big picture, focus on finding, developing, and sharing discrete stories that encapsulate their broad visions. The YPOers also explored the benefits of the Heart, Head & Hand™ communication tool. As a result of the day long "brain dump", the entrepreneurs are strategically sharing stories, and Thaler is listed in the YPO Speaker Database.
Using Story to Explore Complex Situations and Movement Building
The Arcus Foundation sought to explore the experiences of their grantees who mobilized against an anti-homosexuality bill introduced in the Ugandan parliament. Thaler Pekar & Partners facilitated a layered story sharing session, in which twenty participants were prompted to recall, examine, and make sense of their experiences.
Despite the multiplicity of individual stories, the exercise of developing a collective narrative helped to surface certain recurrent themes, challenges, characters, and positive and negative practices. The result was an inventory of the grantees' collective knowledge and resources, mapped against a timeline of events during the crisis.
This program was part of a larger effort to assist grantees in understanding their overall strategies, goals, and assessments. The Arcus Foundation is "thrilled with the outcomes" and the program's contribution to understanding movement building and the assessment of progress, especially in rapidly changing, complex situations.
Connecting a Company's Past, Present & Future
Chile's largest cable and telecommunications company, VTR, is confronting a complex and rapidly changing landscape: the introduction of new, technically advanced products and services, increased competition, and a regulatory environment in constant flux. Poised to venture into the provision of mobile services, VTR engaged 35 of their senior leaders in an exploration of the company's narrative, and how the leaders could support – and spread – the "big story" of VTR through smaller stories and anecdotes. Through the elicitation, creation, and analysis of stories about the company's past, present, and future, the leaders reconnected with the organization's core values, gained a better understanding of the present situation, and are now better communicating the VTR vision.
Sharing a new organizational narrative with high-level donors
Prior to embarking on major donor solicitation, the New York Advisory Board of Enterprise Community Partners sought to ensure that its members were equipped with effective, persuasive messages and an understanding of how to best personally deliver those messages. After thorough research and narrative analysis, Thaler Pekar & Partners identified three high-level donor archetypes and recommended messages and methods for communicating with each. Thaler Pekar & Partners also recommended that Enterprise shift the story it was sharing to one that is more personally meaningful and resonant with donors. The Board has embraced this new approach to communication with high-level donors and implementation is proving successful.
Increasing Status and Financial Support
The Interfaith Alliance desired a greater public profile and an increased understanding of their work among donors, policymakers, and colleagues. Thaler Pekar & Partners conducted a full communications audit for The Interfaith Alliance (TIA), and prepared a full communications strategy, including defining goals, messages, target audiences, messengers, and recommending tactics and tools (as well as staffing). We then trained the full Board in the use of the messages, specifically with media. Our work continued with TIA for another 2 years, focusing on creating messages for various policy and donor initiatives, and ensuring adherence to the message framework in their daily work and through their weekly radio show, State of Belief, on Air America radio. Last year, Thaler assisted the President, Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, in preparing his speech for their annual gala. Rather than his presenting a litany of accomplishments, she asked him a series of questions that elicited stories about his work with donors, policymakers, and staff throughout the year. We selected several of those stories for inclusion in the speech. Donations given at the event, or as a result of the event, were up 37% from the previous year (and George Clooney was the guest of honor that year)!
Creating Connection and Generating Results
The Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDCo) desired a unified message that would be effective with donors, policymakers, the media, and colleagues. Thorough interviews with staff and a review of existing materials, Thaler Pekar developed a message overview for WHEDCo. The template has been used to craft donor thank you letters, revitalize the web site, and prepare foundation proposals. Most recently, Thaler provided counsel to Nancy Biberman, the Founder and President, on recognizing and sharing compelling stories about the organization, and on using personal stories to connect with donors. At Thaler’s urging, Nancy shared with select donors an anecdote about the Secretary of the Treasury’s visit with members of WHEDCo’s microenterprise program, which resulted in immediate responses from top donors.
Articulating Impact and Involving the Board in Fundraising
The North Star Fund desired a greater public profile and an increased understanding of their work and their impact, among donors, including foundations, and the media. They also desired to increase comprehension of their work among potential grantees of the organization, with a goal of more productive relationships. Thaler Pekar & Partners conducted a full communications audit for the North Star Fund (NSF), and recommended a communications strategy, including goals, messages, target audiences, messengers, and tactics and tools. Thaler then trained the full Board in the use of the messages, with a focus on the use of the messages with donors. NSF has had great success in implementing the strategy and utilizing the message framework.
Engaging an Audience
Together with Barbara Becker, Senior Communications Advisor to StoryCorps, Thaler Pekar presented a popular workshop at Fundraising Day New York, on Using Story to Connect with Donors. The stunning overflow crowd required that the hotel open up the room dividers – at least 40 people sat on the floor in the adjacent room – a testament to the pent-up desire for learning how to find and develop stories within organizations. Feedback was extraordinarily positive, with many participants reporting that they were going to immediately implement a new way of connecting with stakeholders and moving people to take action.
The workshop explored the necessity of developing trust prior to delivering facts, and the use of story and anecdote as effective methodology. It was highly interactive, with participants sharing and reflecting on personal memories and organizational successes. Participants learned how to identify, develop, and share stories, and they were given practical tactics for consistently hearing the compelling, yet common, anecdotes surrounding us. They left with skills enabling them to motivate listeners, and to help their organizations stand out in a crowded field.
100% of attendees said the session met or exceeded their expectations.