Reasons why your association should work on its storytelling skills, a way to bolster volunteer efforts, and more are all in today’s Lunchtime Links.

The Importance of Storytelling

It’s in our nature to identify with other people, so why not use that to your association’s advantage? Frank J. Kenny has a blog post about the importance of compelling stories and how they create compelling relationships.

“Every one of your members, whether just starting out or finishing up a long career, has a story. Up until recently, the vast majority of these stories remained hidden from public view. Not anymore,” Kenny writes.

Social media provides a perfect outlet for you to introduce your members and other constitutents to the larger association and the public. Who are the people that your latest charity drive aided? What compelling stories do recent enrollees have in their backgrounds?

“When you tell your members’ stories—which you can now easily do—you tell your own story,” Kenny notes.

The Emotions Behind Viral Success

Social Media Week has come and gone, but the lessons learned endure. At CMS Wire, analytics expert Marshall Sponder looks back at the February 17-21 occasion , in particular at two events held by Unruly Viral Marketing (both of which can be seen here). His perspective is valuable for associations looking to create their own viral successes and to foster closer connections with both members and the general public.

“[O]ne thing that stood out to me was the idea that viral video (and viral media, by extension) has strong emotions associated with it that drive sharing. The most successful viral videos have a positive and negative emotion (an emotional wave) associated with them,” he writes.

So you may want to keep that “emotional wave” in mind in crafting and telling those member stories.

Prepping Good Deeds

March 9 will mark Good Deeds Day, and there’s still time for your association to take part in a bit of public good. VolunteerMatch’s Shari Ilsen reminds us not only about the event, but also of her group’s offerings.

Even if your organization doesn’t have anything planned for Good Deeds Day, VolunteerMatch still offers ways for you to engage with 3.5 million people working through its outreach programs. For associations looking to step up their volunteer efforts, but in need of a few more helping hands, this may be a fine solution.

For more background on Good Deeds Day, check out this video from last year’s events:

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