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How we do it: Projects
Storytelling
for Impact and Influence
Helping community organisations tell stories that feel true, effective, and culturally grounded
Project Overview
In partnership with ANCAD, Community Waitākere and Auckland Council, Catalyse developed and delivered an innovative workshop series on values-based communication. The mahi grew out of two years of conversations with people working in and with diverse communities across Tāmaki Makaurau, and a shared question: how do we communicate in ways that feel true, effective and culturally grounded, and that can be heard and understood by people who may not have a deep engagement with our kaupapa.
In an era of attention scarcity, advocacy fatigue and shrinking funding, facts inform, but stories connect. When stories resonate with people's values, joined-up pathways forward emerge and actions follow.
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Objectives
The series set out to shift participants' focus from "getting the message right" to deeply understanding who they hope will hear and act on their stories, whether funders, policymakers or neighbours. The underlying belief: changing minds doesn't start with being right, it starts with being heard.
Approach
Across two workshops, Catalyse mapped audiences, helped participants clarify their values, and tested storytelling frameworks that draw on globally recognised values research alongside Māori and Pasifika worldviews. From this work, several guiding storytelling principles emerged:
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Lead with empathy, end with empowerment.
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Anchor in shared values before asking for change.
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Know your audiences and what matters to them.
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Keep stories short, emotional and human.
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Above all, tell the truth, clearly, kindly and authentically.
Impact
Participants left the workshops with a clearer sense of who they're trying to reach and why facts alone often aren't enough to move people to act. By anchoring stories in shared values rather than simply presenting information, organisations are better placed to be heard by audiences who don't yet share their starting point or deep familiarity with their kaupapa.
That thinking is now taking shape as the Storytelling for Impact & Influence website, currently in development as a free resource for community organisations wanting to amplify their impact through storytelling. It will bring together easy-to-use guides and practical action steps alongside real examples of impactful storytelling from peer organisations, including Belong Aotearoa's #PassTheMic podcast, Healthy Families Waitākere's Tāfesilafa'i campaign, A Fool's Company's interactive theatre show on food waste, the People of Avondale portrait series, Changing Minds' NZSL-accessible video series, Kick Back Make Change's work on youth homelessness, the Pan African Community Centre's in-person programmes, and Earth Action Trust's Team Up 2 Clean Up.
Insights
Stories that resonate with people's values do more than inform, they create joined-up pathways to action. This matters most in a funding and advocacy environment defined by attention scarcity and fatigue, where simply being right is no longer enough to be heard. Culturally grounded storytelling, drawing on Māori and Pasifika worldviews alongside global values research, helps organisations reach people who might otherwise tune out a message that doesn't yet speak to what they already care about.
Next Steps
Work continues on the Storytelling for Impact & Influence website, which will keep growing as more peer organisations' stories and resources are added ahead of launch. Catalyse is also working with funding partners to deliver further storytelling workshops for community organisations.
