Today, many organizations — especially nonprofits and social change organizations — are expected to include storytelling with their communications.

Organizational storytelling has become the solution to information that is difficult to communicate. The impact of an organization’s work or a social issue on an economy or the environment can be communicated with reports and data, but human impact can only be described effectively with a story. Similarly, change of any kind of practically impossible to describe outside of a story.

Common stories produced by organizations are:

• Impact stories

• Founder + CEO stories

• Startup stories

• Member stories

• Movement stories

Organizational storytelling became a norm in communications practice after digital media and Web 2.0 created audience expectations for organizations to communicate with stories about people, not just with reports and data. As the internet became awash with personal storytelling — on blogs, video sharing and social media platforms — donors, funders and supporters also wanted to see personal storytelling to describe the work they were supporting.

When an organization narrates a story about someone’s life — for the benefit of the organization — ethical concerns are raised, however the practice became established before ethical standards were; organizations are encouraged to proceed with care.