The 5 Forms of Storytelling Capital

Money isn’t everything.

But as anyone who communicates for a company, foundation, or a nonprofit can attest, it sometimes feels that way.

We focus on producing quarterly earnings reports, creating fundraising appeals, and making announcements about how much we are granting to nonprofits.

Yet, in doing so, it’s easy to forget that the stories that matter the most to our key audiences have little to do with money.

The most impactful stories are instead about the people we help and the values we hold.

Every organization – whether it’s for-profit or nonprofit – stands for something that’s bigger than the bottom line. And, as communicators, it’s our role to make sure our stories tell the full range of what we do.

How do we ensure we’re doing that?

One way is to think about the various roles our organizations play – and then commit to telling stories that connect with each of these roles.

Jim Joseph, the former president of the Council on Foundations, once described the five types of capital that each foundation can deploy to get things done.

While he was speaking specifically about foundations, this framework can also connect to the multiple roles played by foundations, nonprofits and socially-minded businesses.

These five forms of capital include:

Social capital – Each organization has relationships and networks of influence. Your social capital refers to how you use these relationships to reach out to and connect disparate groups. 

Intellectual capital – Every organization has knowledge – often gleaned through years of experience studying problems, testing solutions, and working with partners. Intellectual capital refers to the power and ability to share this knowledge in order to advance your mission. Organizations often do this by commissioning research, sharing information with the media, or bringing people together to share and learn.

Moral capital – Foundations are often seen as nonpartisan, neutral players who can use their unique position to help identify and bring attention to the gap between our values and our behaviors. Nonprofits – and many companies – also have a degree of moral capital, which can be deployed to shine light on problems and inspire our audiences to take action.

Reputational capital— As organizations develop credibility over time, they reach a point where, when they act, people take notice. If managed properly, organizations can use their reputational capital to draw attention and to inspire people to follow their lead.

Financial capital – Lastly, organizations have financial capital. In telling stories about money – whether it’s being earned for profit or used to address social issues – our storytelling can help provide transparency into how we’re using our financial capital. It’s also important to remember that their financial capital has a greater impact when it’s used in conjunction with these other, equally important forms of capital.

I recently had the opportunity to talk more about these five forms of capital – and how they can relate to storytelling – in a new whitepaper for the software company Blackbaud.

If you’re intrigued by what you read here, I invite you to check out the full report.