Prime Highlights
- Nonprofits like Brilliant Cities are using YouTube documentaries and podcasts to tell their stories, connect with donors, and boost community impact.
- Elevate Studios’ series “Nevertheless: The Women Changing the World” highlights female changemakers, inspiring action and empathy through storytelling.
Key Facts
- Brilliant Cities saw a significant increase in donations after their story aired, including a funder pledging to raise their gift from $7,000 to $100,000.
- Modern technology and social media now allow nonprofits to act as their own media companies, making it easier to share content and connect their work to global initiatives like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Key Background:
Funding is increasingly becoming an issue, so nonprofits are resorting to storytelling on YouTube videos and podcasts to reach donors and show the impact of their own efforts. This approach has recently been shown to be highly effective by Brilliant Cities, a Detroit nonprofit that aids in the early development of children in low-income communities.
CEO and co-founder, Eggleton, shared her story in the YouTube documentary series “Nevertheless: The Women Changing the World”, honoring her late mother, Geraldine, who inspired her dedication to community service. “It’s never been about me,” Eggleton said. “Participating in this series was my way of celebrating her influence and the difference we can make in our community.”
The series, produced by Elevate Studios, the newly launched documentary division of the Elevate Prize Foundation, has already garnered over three million views, with a second season scheduled for summer 2026. Carolina Jayaram Garcia, CEO of the foundation, emphasized that storytelling allows nonprofits to connect audiences to important social issues in a human and relatable way. “Stories help people see themselves in the work and understand the impact they can have,” she said.
Investing in storytelling is not entirely new. Foundations like the Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, and Firelight Media have supported documentaries for years. Today, thanks to modern technology and social media, nonprofits can create and share their own content more easily. Brooklyn Story Lab founder Lance Gould said that now nonprofits are able to be their own media houses, to tie their work to global objectives, like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and to increase their following.
For Brilliant Cities, the impact was immediate. Donations increased significantly after Eggleton’s episode aired, with one funder pledging to raise their contribution from $7,000 to $100,000. “It’s incredible to see the community respond to the story we’re telling,” Eggleton said.
In a competitive funding landscape, nonprofits are finding that authentic storytelling, especially highlighting women changemakers, can build empathy, inspire action, and strengthen community connections. As Eggleton reflected, “This is the time to show the world what can be and what should be, through stories that bring people together.”
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