Before You Ask Someone to Share Their Story,
Ask This.
A free workbook to help your nonprofit
interview recipients, clients, and beneficiaries
with care, protecting their trust and your mission.
You know the moment. You're about to interview someone whose story could move donors, inspire volunteers, or bring in the funding your program needs to keep going.
But that person sitting across from you? They're not just a "case study." They're a human being who may be revisiting something painful — sometimes something they haven't fully processed yet.
The wrong question, asked at the wrong moment, can do real harm. Not because you meant to cause it — but because most of us were never taught how to ask.
This workbook changes that.
The Ethical Storytelling Prep Guide walks your team and the person who's story you are capturing through a simple process before the camera ever starts rolling - so boundaries are set, trust is built, and the story that gets told is one your hero is genuinely proud to share.
What's Inside
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A pre-interview boundary-setting exercise for the person you will be interviewing, so they define what's off-limits before they're put on the spot
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Guidance for your team on spotting topics that may activate unaddressed trauma - before a question causes harm
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A trust-building framework that helps the person you are interviewing feel like partners in the story, not props in it
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Language you can use to check in with someone mid-interview if a question lands harder than expected
Why This Matters
A story told with care doesn't just protect the person sharing it. It protects your organization's reputation, deepens your relationship with the people you serve, and ultimately produces a more honest, more powerful story. Donors and communities can feel the difference between a story that was extracted and one that was entrusted.
This guide grew out of a presentation on ethical storytelling given to nonprofit leaders at the Drury Nonprofit Leadership Conference. Built for the real, sensitive conversations nonprofits have every day.
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