The founder of Suicide Rescue, Johan Sjoholm, was on a personal as well as a professional mission: to prevent people from taking their own lives as his older brother had. Despite his monumental efforts, he was having trouble raising money to support his wonderful organization, which provided counseling and support services to young people in danger of committing suicide.

We created a new presentation for donors that used storytelling as a vehicle by which to move donors to action. We also coached Johan in delivery skills. Although this new paradigm—utilizing deeply personal stories—was initially uncomfortable for him, he quickly grew to understand its efficacy. Not only did it generate new sources of revenue for the organization, but it inspired audience members to share their own stories too.