Missions to Movements

How To Choose Stories Based on Strategy - Creating Belonging & Champions of Your Mission with Max Kringen

• Dana Snyder • Episode 221

Share episode

How do you build a storytelling rhythm that can fuel your fundraising efforts all year long? Max Kringen of Tellwell Story Co. is EXACTLY who nonprofits call when they want to stop guessing.

We kick off by going behind the scenes of a Ronald McDonald House Charities gala where a beautiful, cinematic story helped raise more than $350,000 in one night.

Max walks us through how Clara’s story was selected, the meaning of narrative transportation, and how organizations can reposition themselves as the “helpful guide” instead of the hero.

Once you hear Max’s wildly practical “Story Seasons” framework, you won’t be scrambling for stories in May or guessing what donors should hear in October. You’ll be fueling generosity all year long!

Resources & Links

Connect with Max on LinkedIn, subscribe to his newsletter, Start With Story, and learn more about Tellwell Story Co.

Grab your ticket to Max’s nonprofit storytelling conference, WellTold, on April 30, 2026.

LettrLabs is the proud presenter of Missions to Movements.

LettrLabs helps nonprofits build lasting donor relationships through real, handwritten mail that’s fully automated - turning moments of intent into meaningful connection. From thank-yous to impact updates, they help you cut through with mail donors actually open, remember, and trust.

Register now for the FREE Monthly Giving Summit on February 25-26th, the only virtual event where nonprofits unite to master monthly giving, attract committed believers, and fund the future with confidence.

The Mini Monthly Giving Mastermind: A high-touch Mini Mastermind + optional in-person retreat (May 6-8) for nonprofit leaders that have an existing monthly giving program and ready to take it to the next level with 1:1 and peer support. Apply now!

Let's Connect!

  • Send a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn and let us know what you think of the show!
  • My book, The Monthly Giving Mastermind, is here! Grab a copy here and learn my framework to bu...
SPEAKER_01:

Today's episode is going to drop you right into the middle of a gala. Picture lights dimmed, hundreds of donors holding their breath as a single story completely transforms the energy in the room. And the storyteller behind that moment is Max Kringan, founder and chief storyteller at Tell Well Story Co. He is the person that nonprofits call when they want to stop guessing what story to tell and start choosing stories with strategy, stories that are built around who's in the room, what they care about, and how you are really nurturing and telling powerful stories all year long. So for over a decade, Max and his team have helped nonprofits really move from generic mission statements to deeply human storytelling that builds trust, creates belonging, and really leads people from strangers to friends to champions of the mission. So today specifically, we're gonna get a little peek behind the curtain of one case study for Ronald McDonald House Charities, how they chose Clara's story, why it was the right story for that room on that night. And then maybe I think one of the biggest unlocks we talked about was what an annual storytelling plan actually looks like. So that you're not scrambling for stories in May or guessing what donors should hear in October. I love, love the conversation we had today because it was so wildly practical. So settle in. How did Ron and McDonald House raise$350,000 in one night? And how do you build a storytelling rhythm that can really fuel fundraising all year long? Let's jump in and meet next.

SPEAKER_03:

I think the best organizations position themselves as the helpful guide so that way the donor is truly the hero. And their leadership understands how empowering others actually invites more people into the story, right? They talk more about the community's transformation than the organizational accomplishments. And that I think is one of the biggest ones is just repositioning the organization from the hero to being the helpful guide. So that way the donor can be the hero in the story.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it when fellow storytellers come on to the podcast and we just dive deep into very tactical, like nitty-gritty. Tell me how it was done, the best practices. And so, Max, I'm gonna drop us like right into a moment that you shared with me. You were working with Ronald McDonald House at their gala. Okay. So I'm gonna just set people up for this. You just premiered a beautiful cinematic video telling, which we'll go into this, Clara's story. Okay, let's just imagine the room goes quiet, everyone's listening, everyone's captured. What happened afterwards? What was the energy did you feel? What was the moment of that video intended to do?

SPEAKER_03:

So after the video was done, the gala logo comes up at the end, and it was just quiet in the room. And it was one of those moments where, like, as the organization that produced it, we're like, is this a good quiet? Is this a good quiet? And it was. And it was one of those moments that you just just never forget because it was just like it like sizzled into this like almost visceralness where like the lights come up and there's total silence. It's not an awkward silence, but it's like an energy. And you could feel the collective like exhale in the room because people had connected so deeply with the mission in a way that they hadn't done before. And this is an incredible event. This event has been going on for a long time, but the energy really shifted, not when the applause started, but like in the aftermath, because you saw people like turning to each other and be like, Did you see that moment? Did you see that thing? Like, oh, what an incredible moment. And what was wild is that it really like transitioned people from just observers to participants, because then Clara and her family actually came on stage to make the mission-related ask. And so there was this like when you see a celebrity out in the real world or in the airport, it's like this beautiful young woman was transported from the screen to the stage, and it became so real for them that like you could almost feel the room start to shift with energy and generosity. And it was just, it was incredible.

SPEAKER_01:

I love this on so many levels. So I have been in a similar situation. I was at a female entrepreneur conference and had no idea there was going to be any type of like ask moment at this event, right? Very different in the sense of if you're at a galley, you kind of know that that's supposed to happen. Versus like at this event, I was there for learning. I was there for thought leadership, I was there to network. And up walked one of the heads of marketing for IJM at the time, International Justice Mission. And they played this max, like insanely captivating video. And it was the same thing. It was silence. And then there was an ass following, and like hands just shot up around the room to become monthly givers to that organ. Completely outside of the expectations of what we thought we were there for, right? But we all felt so compelled. So in the nonprofit space, sometimes we are very focused and on statistics and videos that showcase stats, which I think are powerful to set the tone for something. But I wanted to set the stage about like where you ended up, and then we'll talk about like what happened because of that video. But let's back up. And in the instances where I felt that way in a room, where this audience felt that way in a room, had they leaned more statistically prevalent before, had they done something this emotional and captivating before, like when you met with them, what was their ask from your team?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. So we are so privileged that we have gotten to work with Ronald McDonald House charities since we began as a company 11 years ago. And so it has actually been a really natural progression. Like as we got more confident in transitioning from stats to stories and from really like from numbers to heart, they got more comfortable with it too. And so it's been a really natural progression with them, which is so, so nice. But there are so many organizations that we start with. And when they come to us for that gala video, they're like, Well, we have all these great stats. And I sometimes need to get a little softer because sometimes I can be too direct. And I'm like, sorry, nobody gives a about your stats, right? Because they connect with one person. We have to make whoever is watching it the hero of this story. We have to let them see themselves in it. It's a tool called narrative transportation, and it's what makes every film incredible. And really what we have to do is we have to get people to be able to vision themselves in it. And that's why we'll showcase mom and dad and the, in this case, Clara and her siblings, because what we want them to do is we want the audience to be able to say, hey, we see ourselves in the story and we can imagine ourselves in there because it's only when they can imagine themselves in that position to say, oh, that would be awful to like be in that exact position right now that makes them say, What can I do? What is it that I can do right now? How can I reposition myself from just being in the story to potentially being a hero or being a guide in the story that helps that family, helps me in that case, as I see myself in it? Yeah. How do I help get them to their heroic ending? And in this case, it was by supporting Ronald McDonald House charities to say, hey, we want you to have a comfortable place. We want you to have great meals. We want you to have camaraderie. We want you to have the support system of other families that are going through the same thing. Kind of strayed from your original question, but really it was for them, it was a pretty natural progression. But for so many organizations, we really have to like kind of peel back the layers and to say, hey, stats are great for people that are doing grants, right? Grantors and funders. They need some of that backup stuff to justify. But we also talk about starting with curiosity, right? Part of our job as storytellers is to spark curiosity. And you can't spark curiosity with numbers because people just glaze over.

SPEAKER_01:

Or if it's complimentary, and I think this is a really good point to tap into is how did you? I'm sure many listeners, you have so many stories you could pull from, that you could pull from for your next gala, that you could pull from for your next campaign. How did you work with them on identifying Clara's story as the one to go for in this moment?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. So the year before, we had had this incredible series of stories. We actually did three the year before because it was one of their major anniversaries. I don't remember exactly which one it was. I think it was like 50 years. But it was because we had done those stories and it really talked about like, hey, here's where we've been. So it had like the founding story, and the founders were in the room of the Ronald McDonald House here in Fargo. It had a story from the middle. So we had like an alumni that was able to share their story. And what we realized was like in the looking back, great stories, super compelling, super fascinating. But this year, as we talk about where we want to go and who is it that we want to be serving and how do we best serve them? So we really wanted to focus on a younger family because, like, the folks who had been there for the founding, the folks that had been there, you know, in the middle parts of their lives, super compelling stories. But we lost a little bit of that narrative transportation. We lost a little bit of the people in the room who are largely like middle-aged to younger middle-age, they couldn't see themselves in the story as well. So it's really important to get a young family.

SPEAKER_01:

That's super interesting. So I'm just thinking about this for the listeners, is understanding who your donors are to then determine which stories and how to share that story is going to resonate the most.

unknown:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Is that the narrative transportation that you're talking about? Like, do you do a whole diagnostic of like who's gonna be in the room?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, absolutely. And when we talk about strategy, a lot of people talk about strategy, and a lot of people talk about like personas and those types of things. The path that they go down is usually around demographics. Demographics don't tell you anything, in my humble opinion. Yes, I love this.

SPEAKER_01:

Tell me more, tell me more. Did he have a card? Tell me more. Yeah, I love that we both wait there. Okay, we total sidetracked. And listeners have Grace is one of my favorite movies ever. Stop.

SPEAKER_03:

I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_01:

I know every word. I'm sorry, Max.

SPEAKER_03:

I love it. Uh you know, I'm here for it. So we go and we try to use closer to like psycho segmentation, where we're not trying to figure out what is their age, what is their gender, what is their thing. But it's really like, who are they as people? What motivates them as people? And we can get a little bit into demographics to be like, what is the average age in the room and those types of things. So that way we can start to get there. But it's only when you understand who you're talking to that you can actually craft a story for them. Because I think one of the challenges that so many organizations run into is that they're like, we have a great story, let's just blast it out. Right, right. You know, we love to get people in the habit of storytelling. But once you get into the more mature levels of storytelling, you really have to understand who is your audience, what motivates them, and how to drive them to action oftentimes has as much to do with can they see themselves in your story as important or more important than what the actual story is.

SPEAKER_01:

If somebody's like, cool, Mac sounds good. How do I actually figure that out?

SPEAKER_03:

Well, we have all of these incredible data sets at our disposal. And so almost every one of our giving platforms has some of this segmentation built into it. But also it doesn't have to be that complicated, right? Because, okay, let's say you have a 250 or even a 500-person gala. What I love to do is like once we have that list or the list from years past, go through and every fifth to 10 person, just start to identify who are they? Do we in general know who they are? Hopefully, we have a general idea of who they are. And then just start to jot down like, what is the age? What are the things that like tie these donors together? Because once we start to do that, then we can start to get really specific with who are we talking to them? How are we talking to them? What is a story that's going to connect?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So good. Okay. So I want to go back to our event. So you've done all this research, you've identified that Claire's story makes sense. Okay, after the room, there was a call to action by her family. What happened?

SPEAKER_03:

It was incredible. It was incredible. And so some folks might call this a cash call. We call it a mission moment. People just started giving. Right after the film was actually the auction. And so, you know, they they did their trips, they did their big fancy meals in different places. And Clara had actually created a piece of artwork. The artwork. Oh, I'm getting full body goosebumps just thinking about it again. The artwork was the final piece on there. And she came up and she held it up. When I say that, that might sound icky, it might sound cringy. It was beautiful because she is this, and I'm assuming we can like put a link to the video. She is this vibrant, beautiful young lady, and she was so excited. And what was wild is like she held it up, and this like finger painting went for$25,000. Amazing. Right. But then it went even further because then we went into that mission moment in the cash call, and they were handing out wands, right? Like, hey, thank you for being a part of this. And she was going out and she was handing out the wands, and it was very, very cute. And then at the end of it, like a magic wand. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Because it went along with a theme that you're and it was so. I love this so much. I always say there should be something that is given as like a moment. Yes. Oh, it's so good.

SPEAKER_03:

And then at the end of that, we have this fabulous auctioneer, and they do this kind of final one where it's just kind of like a free-for-all, and it's like basically last bid standing. And so I don't remember exactly what theirs was at that time, but it was like$38. And so anytime you raised your paddle, it was another$38 that goes into it. Clara jumped on stage and started egging people on and was like, come on, come on. And people just kept going, right? And so it took their gala from raising just over 200,000 that year before to over 350,000 that next year. I think just by making some really purposeful and intentional connection with the audience and letting them see like these are real kids, these are real families that are being affected and being inspired.

SPEAKER_01:

Really integrating the story throughout the entire experience, it sounds like instead of it just being a solo video, just instead of it being like, oh, here's a video asset, then let's go ahead. They sit down. That's it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think that's so common. That's so like I've been to so many over the years. And that's very normal. I think it's way more rare to have the actual like story fully immersed into what the event is about.

SPEAKER_03:

And if I can like soapbox for a moment, mostly because I saw a video production company do this recently on like one of their case studies, is they almost took full credit for like making a lot more money the next year. And I want to be like wildly clear, this was not us. This was not because of the work that we did that Ronald McDonald House charities raised a ton more money. It's because they were so purposeful in how to integrate those things. And they used a storytelling framework to actually plan the night, right? Rather than just like random scripting pieces, we crafted a purposeful arc for how the night was going to go, right? We brought them up to a high and then we brought everybody way down. And then we created some more sizzle so that way we could build the crowd back up. And it is through those relationships that Ronald McDonald House charities built that they were able to have that incredible night. It wasn't us, right? We got to play a very, very small part in bringing some of those creative assets to life. But it was Jill and Jaquel and the team at Ronald McDonald House. And so sorry to soapbox, but but as we're talking about these things, I also like it's so important that like the team is super involved in integrating those pieces really purposefully.

SPEAKER_01:

Is this the what you mentioned about story seasons? Is this the concept of those? So I know you have a framework that's called story seasons that really talks about these peak storytelling moments into this, like, because I think it is important to have these great, I call them tentpole moments, like an event, but then the more sustainable evergreen. So can you dive into a little bit about what story seasons is?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, absolutely. So Story Seasons actually came from I'm a verbal processor, I'm a verbal ideator. And one of our clients a few years ago had asked, How do you guys create an annual content calendar? And we have a framework. Says everyone everywhere. Absolutely. So our framework is very simple. And it's a storytelling framework, it's a trust framework, it's all those things put into one. And it's very simply introduce, educate, engage, and remind. And it we narrowed it down to four because the human brain can't really remember more than four things. And so when we started pulling this together, I was really like, okay, we think about spring. Spring is our introduction. Spring is a time where we get to spark curiosity. It's where we get to say, oh, there are new things coming. It is an exciting moment. I live in North Dakota. So spring is so exciting because, like, we can finally go outside and like breathe without it hurting. Hurting, right? And we have this ability to go outside without like 37 layers, like the Christmas story. And so it's this like really fascinating moment of where we can start to like signal safety and we get to spark curiosity and we get to think about new things again. In the same way, if you're in a story, if you're in a gala event, if you're in your newsletter, spark curiosity before you move into summer. Summer is our season to trust. In the Midwest, or kind of really in the heartland of America, this is our growing season where we have to tend to our crops, right? I'm not a farmer. My grandparents are farmers, but I'm not a farmer. But they have to take care of them throughout the year, or just like you would take care of a garden. And this is building consistency. It's letting your donors know and it's letting your advocates know. Like, hey, we know what we're doing here. You can trust us to do this thing. And it's only once we spark curiosity and we build trust that we go into fall. Fall is our engaged season. It's when we get to invite people into a story. It's when we say, Hey, you learned about us. You now know and trust us. Now I want to invite you into the story. I want to call you to action. I want to invite you to give. I want you to invite you to volunteer. I want to invite you to our gala, whatever those different things are. And right now, in January, we are in one of my favorite seasons, but I think the season that gets so often forgotten. And that's winter, or what we call remind. It's reminding people that you love them. So that way they remember that they love you too. So often we see nonprofits at the end of December, and they're just like, they're at the end of the marathon, they are exhausted. They're like, Whew, glad we don't have to do that again for another nine months. And I think that is such a missed opportunity because those months and kind of the winter doldrums are our opportunity to say, look at the impact that you had. Look at what we were able to do because of you. Look at what you did for these families. Look at what you did for this mission. Look at what you did here. And by reminding them, then when we go back into spring, when we go back into our introduce season and try to spark curiosity again, then we already have those good feelings built up. People are excited to hear from us instead of dreading like the next appeal letter. They're like, ah, I wonder what they're working on now because I feel like I'm a part of the mission.

SPEAKER_01:

And what I would add to this amazing, thank you for breaking that down. Is that even when someone's been with you for a long time, you might be thinking, well, do I need to like start up their curiosity again? Yeah, you do.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Because always things are changing. Yet do I need to continue to educate? Yes, you do. Like always, always, always, always. Now, you have worked with many clients in this space. And as 2026 is kicking off, I wanted to, we could talk for hours about all these different things. What would you say you've noticed about organizations that just really get storytelling right? Is it the mindset? Is it the structure? Is it the leadership culture? Is it and I know that content, especially these days, doesn't always have to be it can be raw and real. It doesn't have to be as cinematic depending on people's budgets. Like, what have you noticed about people who just get it right?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. I think about probably three big things. The first is it's a mindset shift and it's something that we are wildly uncomfortable with as nonprofit storytellers. And it is where the nonprofit refuses to be the hero. And I think that is a really strong one to take. And I think the best organizations position themselves as the helpful guide so that way the donor is truly the hero. And their leadership understands how empowering others actually invites more people into the story, right? They talk more about the community's transformation than the organizational accomplishments. And that I think is one of the biggest ones is just repositioning the organization from the hero to being the helpful guide. So that way the donor can be the hero in the story. The second big one, I think, is authenticity over polish. And this is one that I think we're getting more comfortable with in 2026 at the end of 2025. But they give their team permission to be human, right? Admitting when things didn't work. Like, you know, being vulnerable, but like recognizing vulnerability with competence is like a really powerful combination. Oh, that's good. Right. And they realize like a simple voice memo or a talk to text will beat a committee-approved press release every single day. Right. Because if it feels like it was written by a lawyer, guess what? I don't want to read it. So it was my my college's giving day a couple of months ago. I saw the number pop up and I said, I'm not answering that. Absolutely not. I don't want to answer that. Because what I know is on the other end is a student reading from a script that's like, Thank you so much for your contribution on this giving day. Uh-uh. What I would love to get from there, because I did get like individual emails. My college is very small, 2,500 folks, right? And I worked in the alumni in the giving office. So I know all those folks. Yeah. Right. And what resonated with me was the quick text message that I got from a friend of mine from my class who works in that office. I was like, hey, saw this come through. Thank you so much. It really means a lot. That hands down, every day will win over that canned thing. Totally. Totally. The final big thing is really like following a purposeful rhythm. And that could be the seasons of story. It could be the hero's journey. It could be what whatever it is, but it really intentionally moves people through the seasons of the year because real relationships do not move on a timeline. They move in seasonality. They, you know, think about the best relationships you've ever been in, right? Like they spark curiosity. Somebody slides you a drink at the bar. Maybe not slides you a drink, maybe buys you a drink, whatever it is, right? You you swipe right on Tinder, whatever it is. It sparks curiosity. And then you go on a couple dates, right? You build trust. You say this person could be for me. Before, you know, you engage. Well, hopefully you don't get engaged right away, but like before there's a call to action, before like investing more. And then the best relationships. And I look at my parents, right? My parents are not like they're not like crazy, passionate people, but they have little things that remind each other that they love each other on a very regular basis. We have an opportunity and an obligation as organizations to guide our donors and guide our advocates through that seasonality.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, it's so good. I think this is such a reminder to think about at the end of the year, the beginning of the year, every time we are leading up to an ask campaign, have we done all those prior steps? Or do we are we just expecting, because someone's just on an email list, that they're gonna pop up and give? And I think that's such a strong point is to remember the human side of it and that every single right email, every single phone number, it's a person. I love this. Thank you so much for your time and what you're doing. Max, where can people reach out to you? Where can they learn more about Tellwell? And I will definitely link to if you send it to me, the video from the gala.

SPEAKER_03:

Absolutely will. So you can connect with us on all the different platforms, right? Our website is we tellwell.com. Connect with me on LinkedIn. I have a weekly newsletter that I send out every Sunday called Start with Story, where we talk about all kinds of different things that nonprofits are.

SPEAKER_01:

Send it out on a Sunday. Also love that.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, it's really this idea of starting with story. And I think so many folks get bogged down on Monday because then they see their to-do list. And so every Sunday morning I try to send it out because it's also like my little bit of reflective time. And like this week was a really interesting one, I think, right? I wrote it, so I think it's interesting. But it was about like the two nonprofit galas that I went to over the weekend. And it was about like, how do we start to invite people into participation at galas? Because the galas that I went to were out of control loud, right? Nobody quieted down for the mission moments.

SPEAKER_01:

Nobody had the same I had the same experience. And it like made me so mad.

SPEAKER_03:

My team was at a table, right?

SPEAKER_01:

This is so interesting.

SPEAKER_03:

Just livid, right? And so I just gave a really simple how do we start the night, right? And it's very simply like, hey, give people a job, right? People want to do something good. They want to do a good job. And so give them a job at the beginning of the night. Your job is to one, have fun tonight. But two, is that as soon as the lights dim, get quiet and pay attention to the stage because we have incredible stories to share. And so you can subscribe to my weekly email, which is very simple. It's 2,500 or so nonprofit leaders from across the country right now. And then we also have an incredible nonprofit storytelling conference coming up in April called Well Told. And we have this both online, we have an incredible virtual version of it, but we also have a really great in-person version of it as well. And so would encourage you to like hone your storytelling skills by joining us at Welltold. So lots of different ways to connect.

SPEAKER_01:

Very cool. Love it. Max, thank you so much for being here. And I'm wishing you the best start to the new year.

SPEAKER_03:

You as well, Dana. Thank you so much. Thanks for all the work that you're doing to uh empower these nonprofits to do incredible work.

SPEAKER_00:

We do it all together, right? Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Missions to Movements. If you enjoyed our conversation and found it helpful, I would love for you to take a moment to leave a review wherever you're listening. Your feedback helps us reach more change makers like you and continue bringing impactful stories and strategies to the show. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button too so you'll never miss an episode. And until next time, keep turning your mission into a movement.

Head Shot

Dana Snyder

Host