Flickr Photo: luiginterI used to give a workshop about storytelling in online mediums. Back then, it focused on email and websites -- that's all there really was. In true nerd fashion, my metaphor for the workshop was Star Wars.

But I digress. The main point of the workshop was to get folks to articulate an emotional need they could address with their stories. Stakeholders will act on our behalf only if they feel an emotional investment in the outcome. They have to want us to succeed.

This week in We Are Media, we're focusing on storytelling. The number of outlets for nonprofit stories has exploded: email, websites, blogs, video, photos, twitter and more are all part of our communications universe now.But the fundamentals remain the same: How do you tell a good story, despite the medium?

Ali Levine, NTEN Special Projects Fellow

Storytelling is one of the oldest and most powerful communications strategies, but many nonprofits become so focused on providing facts, figures, and statistics that our communications and marketing becomes dry and tedious. We forget that what we really need to do to get people excited about our cause is to start with a compelling story. One session (materials here) at the NTC focused on the art of storytelling and how to do it well. Although many of the same rules apply, not all storytelling techniques are in a text-driven, once-upon-a-time format.

For example, there is something about maps that makes sense to the human brain. A good map has the power to get across a huge amount of information in just a few seconds, quickly and effortlessly giving a sense of scope and context. Interactive maps create a visual story and give an easily accessible starting place from which users can explore at their own pace based on their own interests. Many nonprofits have caught on and are telling their stories with online mapping tools like Google Earth.

Your guide to resources that will help you put technology to work for your cause.

Web 2.0 and New Media Tools

• Find out how to reach out to users of that other social networking website in Using Facebook in Your Nonprofit.

• Learn how to successfully use social networking communities for your cause in Christine Herron's article 7 Tips for Successful Social Network Campaigns.

• Think blogging is passe, or just not for you? Read Jeff Brooks’ Nine More Good Reasons to Blog before you make up your mind for good.

• David Brazeal gives the five most common reasons why nonprofits don’t follow the web 2.0 hype, and then tells you how to lead them back to it.

Telling Your Story

• Telling the why behind your organization is one of the best ways to gain support. Tech Soup’s Eight Tips for Telling Your Story Digitally tells you how to do this online.

• Some nonprofits are already telling their stories online, and using maps to do so. The Story Mapping Blog, a creation of the The Center for Digital Storytelling, has great examples of digital story maps.

• See what the reps from Free Range Studios said about online storytelling at the NTC and what advise they gave for telling your story using different new media tools.

Know of a great "how-to" resource? Tell us about it in the comments.

What is your organization’s online personality? Susan Finkelpearl, the Director of Online Strategy at Free Range Studios, says your website if often the first impression people get of your organization. And we all know what people say about first impressions.

Get to know Susan a little here and learn how to show off your organization’s personality in her session “The Fundamentals of Storytelling in Online Communications” on Thursday, April 5, at the Nonprofit Technology Conference.

How did you get into helping nonprofits?

"I've always had a passion for helping organizations communicate effectively and started my career working in traditional PR, first for a relief agency and later for the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental think tank.