Raise more. Feel better doing it.
This year's Storytelling Conference takes place in
San Diego, California, November 13-15, 2025
EARLY-BIRD PRICING
Save 55%
ENDS May 30 - SAVE $1,200
What if the real power of fundraising isn’t in the ask --
but in the moments you create for your donors?
The 2025 Nonprofit Storytelling Conference isn’t just about crafting better stories.
It’s about helping you use those stories to craft Meaningful Moments - the kind that make your donors feel connected, valued, and deeply moved to give.
That’s what your donors want.
And, if we’re honest, it’s what you want too.
You don’t want to feel like “the money person.” No one does! You want to be invited in. You want to be trusted. You want to be welcomed. You want donors to look forward to seeing you - not avoid you. You want to feel great about making an ask.
That happens when you master the art of creating powerful, emotional donor moments - At events. In the mail. On the phone. At a coffee shop. In a major donor meeting.
That’s what this conference is for.
The Nonprofit Storytelling Conference is the only event that teaches you how to engineer those moments—on purpose.
You’ll learn how to:
- Build emotional tension that makes donors stop and care
- Shape appeals, videos, and asks that feel personal and urgent
- Use stories to attract and retain new donors
- Turn nervous asks into natural conversations
- Write thank-you messages that bring real tears to donors' eyes
- Craft moments of pride, joy, and meaning that make donors want to give again
This isn’t about theory. It’s emotional craftsmanship.
And it changes everything.
This isn’t just another conference. It’s a place where fundraisers learn how to create moments that move people—and raise more money than ever before.
This Conference Is Built Around One Powerful Truth:
Giving happens when emotion, logic, and urgency collide in
a single meaningful moment.
Most donor communications sound fine. Polite. Informative. Clear.
But they don’t move people.
A meaningful moment is the part of your message where the donor feels something. Where their heart rate changes. Where they pause and whisper, “Oh.”
It’s the shift from "I should care about this" to "I do care about this."
A moment can happen in a single line, image, or sentence.
But that moment doesn’t happen without a story.
A story is the journey—the path that leads the audience somewhere they couldn’t get on their own. And if you want a donor to feel something real… If you want them to stop scrolling, lean in, and care deeply… You have to build that moment into the structure of a great story.
Because storytelling is how we lead people to feeling something significant. To connection. To generosity.
And the better you get at storytelling, the more powerful those moments become—For your donors. For your mission. For you.
Wondering what it’s really like to be at the conference?
Here’s what people say afterward—real stories, honest reactions, and the kind of energy that stays with you.
"This, by far, has been the best conference I've attended... I came by myself and I've met so many others like myself... The experience I've had in two workshops has been completely worth it for me."
~ Monica Reyes, New Brunswick Tomorrow
"This year I brought my whole team... We are learning so much... I've been to a lot of other conferences. This one has very practical information that is so useful to your everyday use."
~ Linda Greenberg, Executive Director - Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation
"The Nonprofit Storytelling Conference teaches you how to hone your story, ways to make it better, ways to find and reach people in a better way... It's a quantum leap difference in what you do in terms of getting your message out."
~ Chas. Floyd Johnson, Executive Producer - NCIS
"This is my fourth conference... After the first conference I went back and put into practice some of the things I learned and it led to tremendous success... It just works!"
~ Tom Eremondi, Saskatoon City Hospital FDN
Great stories raise more money. Period.
Every year, fundraisers who attend this conference come back with appeal letters, emails, and videos that outperform anything they’ve done before—because they learned how to tell stories that work.
Thousands of fundraisers have walked out of this conference and immediately:
- Doubled or tripled results on their next appeal
- Raised major gifts by changing just a few words in their story
- Created stewardship moments that made donors cry (in a good way)
- Attracted new donors using social storytelling
- Got their board to finally understand the power of emotion in fundraising
And that’s just the start.
The Real Obstacles Standing in Your Way
(and How We’ll Help You Break Through Them)
- You’re telling stories that inform, but don’t move people.
We’ll teach you how to craft stories that make donors feel — deeply, powerfully, memorably. - You’re focused on what your organization needs, not what your donor feels.
We’ll show you how to flip the script — and turn giving into a joyful, identity-affirming experience for your donors. - Your stories feel distant, generic, or safe.
We’ll teach you how to pull donors into the moment with vivid, specific, emotionally resonant storytelling. - You’re afraid to take emotional risks.
We’ll help you find the courage (and the techniques) to make your stories brave — not boring. - You’re missing the emotional pacing that keeps donors engaged.
You’ll learn how to create rhythm and flow that pull donors forward naturally toward a yes. - You’re treating storytelling like “telling,” not experience-making.
We’ll help you transform your appeals, videos, and conversations into emotional experiences donors want to be part of. - You don’t know how to bridge the story to the ask.
We’ll teach you how a well-crafted meaningful moment makes giving feel like the donor’s own idea. - You’ve been handed vague storytelling advice — but not real-world tools.
We’ll give you practical, simple, powerful techniques you can use immediately — and watch your fundraising change before your eyes.
"That was, hands down, the best conference I've attended!!!"
Renae Goettel // Make-A-Wish America
You’ll learn how to:
- Build emotional tension that pulls people in (even if they’re busy or distracted).
- Design donor communications that feel good to send—and irresistible to respond to.
- Craft moments that move people to act—even if asking makes you nervous.
- Turn simple stories into emotional turning points
- Write donor asks that feel personal and urgent
- Use storytelling to attract first-time donors who stick around
- Feel proud of the way you ask—and raise more doing it
This isn’t about fluff or theory.
It’s about fast, emotional tools you can use the second you get home. Many of them take just minutes to apply. But they can change everything about how people respond to your fundraising.
Bring Your Team. Multiply the Impact.
This conference isn’t just for fundraisers.
It’s for anyone who shapes how your organization connects with donors—your Executive Director, your board members, your communications team.
Because when everyone understands how to craft moments that move people, everything gets easier.
- Fundraising goals become shared momentum—not just your burden to carry alone.
- Your Executive Director stops editing the heart out of your appeals—they start asking how they can help tell the story better.
- Board members finally see why emotional storytelling works—and why it's not "dumbing things down."
- Your comms team starts writing with purpose, not just polish.
The most successful organizations come as a team. Because they leave with a shared language, clear direction, and ready-to-go tools that actually get used.
And when that happens, the results aren’t just bigger.
They’re faster.
Here’s what you get with your Full Experience Ticket:
- Full access to all keynote sessions, breakouts, and deep-dive intensives
- Downloadable templates, checklists, and plug-and-play storytelling tools
- Lifetime access to recorded sessions
- Immediate access to 10 videos to help you raise money today
Fundraising at its best isn’t just asking. It’s not just telling stories. It’s crafting moments that move people.
When you master crafting moments that move people, you don’t just raise more money—you become something more. You become a Moment Maker.
"I would send everyone I know to the conference. It was that good. I tell people this is the best conference I have ever attended. I mean it."
Judy Whiting // OPAL Community Land Trust
Conference Videos — Watch Every Session, Anytime
Can’t come in person? Or want to watch what you missed?
This is your all-access pass to every breakthrough moment.
Whether you’re watching from afar—or joining us in person—the videos let you absorb everything this conference has to offer.
- Full video access to every session
- Rewatch your favorite moments
- Share with your team
- Learn on your schedule
“I discovered a gold mine in purchasing
the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference Videos."
~
Thomas Zmolek, MBA - Executive Director - MOKA Foundation
Perfect for you if:
- You can’t travel but don’t want to miss out
- You’re attending live but can’t be in four places at once
- You want to keep learning long after the event ends
Already coming in person?
Get the Full Experience ticket to make sure you don’t miss a thing.
Not attending live?
Choose the Video Only option and watch all the sessions from wherever you are.
"I have not been this energized in a very long time. The conference was exhilarating, chock full of info, refreshing, and an intellectual delight!"
Sherry Manschot // Western DuPage Special Recreation Association
Want to Raise 2x More From the Same Donors?
Become a Moment Maker.
A Moment Maker knows how to shape an appeal, an ask, a thank-you, or a donor update so that it doesn’t just get read—it stirs something. It brings pride, joy, hope, relief. It helps people see the best in themselves—and act on it.
It’s a joyful, honored role. And once you step into it, fundraising feels different. Lighter. Stronger. Full of meaning, for you and for your donors.
This year, you’ll walk away not just with new techniques, but with a new sense of who you are—a moment maker.
We’ll show you how.
Even if asking feels awkward now, this conference will give you safe ways to try—and real wins that build your confidence fast.
What if this was the year you raised more money—and
felt proud of every moment that led there? Let’s make
it happen. Grab your ticket before May 30.
Right now, the Early-Bird pricing for a Full Experience Ticket is just $995.
After May 30, the price jumps up.
Same seat. Same moment-making experience.
Why pay more later?
If one better story brings in one extra major donor…
this $995 ticket pays for itself 100x over.
(Yours included.)
SAVE $1200 & Get 10 Video Bonuses to
Help You Raise Money This Afternoon!
Early-Bird Pricing Ends May 30
Purchase your ticket, or the videos today.
Click below.
TICKET & VIDEOS
Full Experience
This is our most complete ticket option
Be There and See It All
$
995
REGULAR PRICE $2195
($1200 Savings)
TICKET ONLY
No Videos
In the Room
Live Access Only
$
895
REGULAR PRICE $1995
($1100 Savings)
VIDEO ONLY
No In-Person
Get lifetime access to the sessions on video
$
595
REGULAR PRICE $1495
($900 Savings)