Using Appreciative Inquiry Tip #2: Frame Your Success Story

Last week I introduced the idea of Appreciative Inquiry as a positive, participatory method you might consider using as part of the evaluation of your community change effort.

As so many of you have mentioned to me, funders often ask you to present your data in very specific ways. And oh my, those reports! It can feel like too much.

One evaluation communication strategy I often teach and use with my clients is success stories. Success stories are a low-cost, low-tech strategies you can use to tell your nonprofit, coalition, or foundation story. I promise, it won’t feel like one more thing to do.

Here is more good news: you don’t need any special software. What you need is a strategy for collecting, writing, and sharing your story. Check out this past blog post for tips on collecting success stories.

So, here is Community Evaluation Solutions Tip #2: Use Appreciative Inquiry to collect success stories. Once you decide on your strategy for collecting success stories, try using one of these questions to stir the imagination of your community partners and stakeholders.

1. In the past 3 months, what have we done well?

2. In the past month, how has our community benefited from our efforts?

3. What is the most significant contribution we have made in the last 3 months?

4. Think back over the last 3 months. What are some of our successes?

Remember, you always want to provide a timeframe for the success story. Make it fairly recent since you want to highlight recent events.

Have you used success stories as a communication strategy? I would love to hear how you collected and used them.  

Take care-

Ann