The hidden labor behind ‘authentic’ storytelling

Authenticity has emerged as the nonprofit sector’s most coveted currency—a way to demonstrate impact, establish credibility, and forge genuine connections with communities. Nonprofits and funders both seek out and feature “authentic voices” in their communications to signal that they’re in meaningful relationships with those they serve and center the experiences of community members.  
 
But what does authentic storytelling in the nonprofit sector actually mean? As Paul J. Zak explained in How Stories Change the Brain, stories are foundational for our ability to connect with our culture, ourselves, and our communities. 
 
And in nonprofit communications, where we seek to connect donors to our mission in the most compelling, impactful way, authentic stories tend to hyper fixate on a person’s struggle or crisis. And we know why: It’s effective. According to Storyraise’s 2024 Benchmark Report on Storytelling, more than 70% of respondents said they’re more likely to donate to a nonprofit that effectively uses storytelling to communicate mission and impact. And when your mission is focused on eradicating poverty, ending hunger, fighting individual or systemic injustice or violence, we can imagine what types of stories are most impactful.  

But while the sector values authentic storytelling as a tool, it’s also standard practice to undervalue and overlook the people who create them, and in some cases inadvertently exploit them. 

The invisible work of authentic storytelling 

Behind every authentic story told in nonprofit communications is someone’s invisible labor. It asks a person to sit with their experiences, memories, and struggles—to recall and articulate their feelings from moments of crisis. The act of gathering, shaping, and sharing these narratives takes substantial emotional energy. Yet, organizations rarely acknowledge, compensate, or adequately support this labor. 
 
The persistent minimization and erasure of what it takes to share a story is something I know from lived experience. 
 
I grew up in poverty. I grew up with abuse. I grew up with housing and food insecurity for most of my childhood and into early adulthood. 
 
My story is foundational to my commitment to equity, justice, and systems change. When I interview people about their experiences with poverty or housing insecurity, I relate to them in a tangible, memory-based way. This connection makes me a strong translator of their stories, but it also means the work can affect me in ways I cannot always predict—because the pain of those experiences is something I still carry. 

In the nonprofit sector, my story is often seen as a strength—a point of authenticity that signals a connection and commitment to the mission—but the cost of telling it is reduced to a talking point. And if I—someone who makes a livelihood in this sector—feel this way, imagine how someone who’s receiving services from nonprofits feels. Do we understand the emotional labor and cost involved in what we’re asking?  

Reimagining authentic storytelling through more ethical practices 

How can organizations tell authentic stories without undervaluing, overlooking, or exploiting the labor that goes into creating them? The first step would be to recognize that producing authentic narratives is labor that deserves respect, resources, and protection. When nonprofits acknowledge and invest resources in the hidden labor and cost of offering authentic stories, they create more equitable internal practices while strengthening the trustworthiness of their external communications.  

Telling authentic stories in an ethical and sustainable way requires intentional practices that honor both the value of genuine narratives and the humanity of those who share them. These practices are designed to dismantle the perceived power dynamic between nonprofits and the clients they serve; help community members feel that sharing their stories is an exercise of power, autonomy, and connection; and support staff to be practiced in ethical story collection practices. Ultimately, it produces more genuinely authentic stories in a sustainable way—and what we are all actually trying to achieve—trust. 

Practical strategies for ethical storytelling 

What would ethical practices for authentic storytelling look like? Ethical storytelling frameworks prioritize informed consent, establish clear boundaries, and provide meaningful support for story contributors. For example:  

• Develop fair compensation structures for community story contributors  

• Create informed, transparent processes for staff who share personal experiences 

• Establish clear consent processes that allow people to maintain control over their narratives 

• Build organizational cultures that recognize emotional labor as legitimate work deserving of resources and support 

These are just a few ways nonprofits can begin to intentionally design that process. Each requires investments of time, energy, commitment, and intent. By raising the visibility of and awareness around authentic storytelling as labor, we can begin to invest resources and budget for it in the same way we do any other labor within our sector. We should treat the resources and labor required for authentic storytelling as a core operating expense. For sharing authentic voices in an ethical way will always be essential to the work of nonprofits.  

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