Why Your Nonprofit Stories Shouldn’t End at the Gala
A conversation with Claire MacLean, CEO of SHARE Family & Community Services Society
It’s a simple idea—but one that can completely transform how your nonprofit shows up in the media, connects with donors, and builds trust with your community.
Too often, organizations default to event-based storytelling. A fundraiser, a launch, a campaign. And while those moments matter, they’re not enough on their own.
Because the real power of storytelling doesn’t come from what you’re doing.
It comes from why it matters.
"We Are in the Business of Changing Trajectories"
That’s one of the first things Claire said to me early in the conversation…and I think it will always stay with me. Because, in a nutshell, that’s exactly what nonprofits do.
It isn’t the kind of work that makes headlines.
But it is the kind of work where powerful stories either emerge or remain hidden.
SHARE’s work spans an extraordinary range: food bank services, affordable housing, legal advocacy, mental health counseling, addiction support, early childhood programs, disability services, seniors supports, and newcomer settlement. The thread connecting all of it, Claire says, is the belief that people's lives can change when they get the right support at the right time.
In a word: Hope.
"If we can intervene early, if we can provide the right support at the right time," Claire says, "they're going to have a better outcome on the other side."
But telling the story of hope — in a way that moves people, sustains relationships, and actually drives giving — doesn’t just happen by chance.
The Power of a Story People Can See Themselves In
When I asked Claire how SHARE tells the story of trajectory change, her answer was simple: it has to be relatable.
"Everybody has lived a version of that," she said. "Even if you've lived a life of a lot of privilege, everyone has had the experience of wanting something, setting a goal, and encountering obstacles. They've had people who helped them — whether it was a parent or a teacher."
That relatability, she says, is what makes a story land. And hope is what makes it stay.
"It can be really demoralizing," she says, speaking about the constant stream of difficult news — rising unaffordability, declining mental health, housing instability. "So to remind people that the wheel keeps turning... when you can tell someone's story and talk about how they came from hardship, how they got the right supports at the right time and made progress — that is both relatable and really hopeful."
The Fundraiser as a Moment of Belonging
SHARE’s annual gala brings together local businesses, elected officials, restaurateurs, and community donors — people who make the work possible but aren’t there for the day-to-day.
For Claire, the event isn't primarily about raising money. It's about bringing people into the organization.
"I feel like part of my job is to let them know what they've done," Claire says. "We are really blessed — we get to walk by the room with the little ones playing at the drop-in program — but other people don't get to see that every day. So that event is an opportunity to bring them in and share with them not just what we're doing, but what we're doing together as a community."
It’s a great perspective on events, elevating it’s purpose beyond fundraising to the kind of connection that keep people coming back year after year.
"I want them to feel a part of it. I want them to feel like they were in the room too, because in a very real sense, for us — they were."
Keeping Stories Alive Beyond the Event
I think this is something most nonprofits struggle with: keeping their stories visible year-round.
Storytelling has such an obvious and necessary space to occupy at fundraising events, but visibility increases when the stories begin to live beyond the event.
Think of the stories told on social media, captured in sponsored content or pitched to the local paper.
Claire says keeping their stories alive beyond events is an area where her organization is still maturing and, to be honest, the challenges aren’t uncommon: stories told at a gala can disappear the moment people walk out the door. Amid information overload, social media noise, and competing demands on people's attention, how do you make sure your message actually lands?
Her answer centered on two things: repetition and culture.
On the communications side, she emphasized the importance of keeping core themes consistent — "our lives as a community are all interconnected," "this is working, and here's the story that shows it" — across every platform and in bite-sized, platform-appropriate formats.
On the internal side, sharing good news and client successes is a standing agenda item at SHARE's leadership meetings.
"This is heart-draining work sometimes," she said. "And so sometimes staff need to be reminded about the victories they're having, about the impact they're making."
The stories we tell give us hope, too.
Storytelling as a Leadership Skill
Like so many nonprofit leaders, storytelling is something she’s been investing in. She sought out coaching, went to courses on speech writing and narrative, worked with mentors in oral history and storytelling, and still watches recordings of herself to improve.
Her advice to nonprofit leaders? Start with the internal work.
"Are you crystal clear on what the why is behind what you're doing? Can you say it in a way that isn't embedded in lingo and acronyms? Because every industry has its language, and it's very othering."
Once you have that clarity, she says, the investment in how you tell the story is just as important as the work itself.
"People more than ever want connection. And storytelling is all about connection. Whether that's in a room where you're networking, or at a big event where you're speaking to 500 people — at the bottom of it, you're always trying to form connection. Because you never know where that connection might lead."
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SHARE Family & Community Services Society has been serving the Tri-Cities and New Westminster communities for 54 years. To learn more about their work, visit sharesociety.ca.