From the founder of the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference

Stories That Raise Money was written by Chris Davenport, founder of the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference.

For more than a decade, Chris has helped fundraisers find and tell the stories that make donors care enough to give. This book brings that work together in a practical system you can use in appeals, emails, donor reports, campaigns, and events.

Most fundraising starts too late.

Most fundraising explains the need and then asks. The problem is that understanding the need isn't the same as caring about it.

That is why so many letters, emails, and speeches fall flat. You can write a clear ask for a real need, and it still falls flat, because the donor doesn't care yet.

This book is about the earlier moment, where caring is won or lost. Stories That Raise Money shows you how to find stories donors actually want to read, shape them so people feel something, and pair them with an offer and ask that make giving feel like the natural next step.

The framework: Story, Offer, Ask

The whole book runs on three pieces: story, offer, and ask. Story is what makes a donor care. The offer shows what a gift will do, and the ask invites the donor to act. When one piece is weak or missing, fundraising gets harder. You'll learn to spot which piece is broken and fix it so that fundraising is easier.

Finding better stories

You'll learn how to find the small human moment inside a big issue, the kind a donor remembers. You'll learn why a story without a scene falls flat even when the facts are moving. You'll also learn how to pull good stories out of program staff, what to do when privacy or timing means you can't use a real person, and how to tell a powerful story when the beneficiary is a forest, a theater, a river, or an animal.

Making stories feel alive

Some stories make a donor lean in. Others get skimmed and forgotten. You'll learn what separates the two, so the stories you tell hold a donor's attention instead of losing it. You'll learn how to write a story that makes someone feel something, instead of sending it out and hoping it lands. 

Writing the moment donors remember

You'll learn why the right small detail sticks with a donor longer than a paragraph of facts. You'll learn how to drop in something a person actually said, so the donor feels like they're standing in the room instead of reading a report. And you'll learn how to make a donor act now without inventing a fake deadline they'll see right through. You'll also get the cheese-to-chip ratio, a simple way to keep your message from being all emotion with no substance, or all substance with no heart.

Turning caring into action

A story can move a donor and still bring in nothing. That's why what comes after the story matters just as much. You'll learn why "support our work" gives the donor nothing to picture, and what to say instead so they can see exactly what their gift does. You'll learn how to ask for the gift without apologizing for it. And you'll get a simple way to check any letter, email, or speech that isn't working: is the problem the story, the offer, or the ask?

A book you can use

Inside you'll find examples, story types, interview guides, and message fixes for the fundraising you're already writing. Underneath all of it is a better way to see the work: helping donors see something worth caring about and feel glad they gave to it.

Why does the cover say Pre-Edition?

Because this small batch was printed before the public First Edition comes out. It does not mean the book is unfinished. The book is written, edited, printed, and ready to read.

The public First Edition may include a few small additions, such as praise quotes in the front, small cleanup edits, and the First Readers Club list in the back. This is your chance to get the early printed version before the public launch.

When you order today, you get

One signed Pre-Edition copy of Stories That Raise Money
Start using this book now before everyone else has access to it in August. Each copy will be personally signed by the author, Chris Davenport.

A limited version of the cover
The Pre-Edition stamp appears on this small-batch version only.

Optional add-on: First Readers Workshop Replay with Chris
Join Chris for a practical walk-through of what to read and use first.

Add the First Readers Workshop Replay for $49

The book gives you the full system. This workshop shows you where to start.

In this recorded workshop, Chris Davenport shows you how to use Stories That Raise Money to look at a fundraising message and find what needs fixing first.

You’ll also receive the presentation slides so you can follow along and use the ideas with your own work.

You’ll learn:

Why caring has to come before the ask
The donor decides whether they care before they decide whether to give.

How to use Story. Offer. Ask. as a simple diagnostic
Learn how to tell whether your message has a story problem, an offer problem, or an ask problem.

How to find the moment that makes donors care
Learn what to look for: a scene, a detail, a line of dialogue, or a small human moment.

How to spot “popcorn paragraphs”
See which parts of your message keep donors reading and which parts may cause them to lose interest.

Three ways to find a stronger scene
Start with a statistic, a desk sentence, or a stand-in story.

What to read first in the book
You’ll know which chapters to turn to based on what you’re trying to fix.

Bring a recent appeal, fundraising email, gala script, donor report, or other fundraising message. Use the workshop to review it as you watch.

Get the book early. Use it now.