What Makes a Good Donor Story?

In planned giving, facts rarely move people. Stories do.

A donor story is not simply a profile. It is not a summary of generosity. It is an invitation. When done well, it allows the reader to see themselves in the life of another donor and quietly think, “I could do that.”

Planned giving is rooted in identity and legacy. That means the stories we tell must be rooted in those same things.

A good donor story shares much in common with a good book. It has structure, emotion, and meaning. But in planned giving, each of those elements carries weight.

A Main Character

Every meaningful story has a protagonist. In planned giving, that protagonist is the donor.

The opening should make the donor human and relatable. A simple quote can accomplish more than paragraphs of explanation:

“Coming from a rural community in the 1970s, college seemed like a dream that would never come true.”

In one sentence, we understand something about her background, her aspirations, and her vulnerability. The reader sees the donor not as a benefactor, but as a person. That distinction matters. Planned giving donors are not responding to status. They are responding to identity.

Emotion

Planned gifts are rarely purely financial decisions. They are emotional ones.
A donor story should leave the reader feeling something—whether awe, joy, gratitude, or reflection.

Sometimes it’s a moment of humor: “I’ll never forget the time…”

Sometimes it’s humility: “I know I can never give like Bill Gates, but this gift will be here long after I’m gone.”

Often, it’s legacy. Planned giving donors are thinking about continuity. They are asking how their values might endure beyond their lifetime. A well-told story makes that impulse tangible.

Conflict

In every compelling narrative, the protagonist faces a challenge. In donor stories, that challenge may be subtle: financial hardship, an educational barrier, a life-altering experience, or a deep concern for the future of an institution.

Conflict gives generosity context. It shows that the donor’s decision emerged from lived experience, not abstraction.

Whenever possible, let the donor’s own words carry that weight. Authenticity builds trust.

Resolution

The resolution is not simply that a gift was made. It is that something meaningful was affirmed.

Perhaps the donor was able to attend college because of a scholarship and now sustains that scholarship for others.

Perhaps she saw students struggling with food insecurity and chose to support a campus pantry or student emergency fund.

The gift becomes a continuation of the donor’s story. That is what makes it powerful.

A Call to Action

Unlike a novel, a donor story has a purpose beyond the final page. The purpose of the donor story is to move the reader to action, not close the book. The donor story must end with a clear call to action (CTA).

But in planned giving, the call to action must reflect the values of the donor. Urgency rarely serves us well. Planned gifts require reflection and trust.
The most effective invitations are simple and respectful:

• Learn more.
• Start a conversation.
• Consider how your values might continue.

I once worked with long-time donors who thought their small annual gifts didn’t matter. When I presented them with an impact report that showed just how much those annual gifts had accomplished, the result was a substantial planned gift.

When a donor story succeeds, it does more than inform. It creates recognition. The reader sees themselves in the narrative and begins to imagine their own legacy.

A well-crafted donor story does not say, “Look what she did.” Instead, it says “You could do this too.”