We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits · We Are For Good

681. Shift 11 — Story as Infrastructure: How Narrative Shapes Culture + Drives Impact - Carolina García Jayaram

·34 min·2 clips

"People care about people more than they care about the issue."

1. We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits centers Carolina García Jayaram and the idea that "story is infrastructure" for nonprofit culture and impact. 2. Carolina García Jayaram is the founding CEO of Elevate Prize Foundation, and she matters here because the organization has spent five years testing story-led visibility. 3. The episode asks what story is for, and Carolina's answer is that narrative shapes culture, trust, and fundraising rather than serving as a marketing layer. 4. Carolina says Elevate tracked its winners fundraising 65%, and then "over 70% more" after a two-year fellowship, which turned visibility into a measurable theory of change. 5. She argues that people care about people more than issues, so the strongest stories center one leader, one community, or one proximate voice. 6. Carolina compares nonprofit storytelling to films like Song Sun Blue, where two characters pull audiences in faster than a broad biopic or an abstract issue brief. 7. She says older impact messaging relied on data and large-scale claims, which often impressed foundations while dehumanizing the work on the ground. 8. Carolina describes a shift from "trust-based philanthropy" to "relationship-based philanthropy," where friendship and vulnerability are part of the storytelling process. 9. She says that vulnerable stories take time to earn because trust has to be built before leaders can share the "gooey" parts of their experience. 10. The episode frames polarization and segmentation as major barriers, because organizations often end up talking only to their "favorite people" instead of new audiences. 11. Carolina says distribution is now a core strategic question, not a side task, and she points to YouTube as a creator-friendly channel for owned content. 12. She notes that Elevate used creator partnerships, including Dudette with a Sign, when bigger names were too expensive for the budget. 13. Carolina says the organization bought Times Square billboards for 48 hours for less than $10,000 for 10 winners, showing that large-scale visibility can be negotiated creatively. 14. She uses Hannah Freed and All Voting is Local as a case study, explaining how a Time Magazine op-ed and a YouTube series created a broader platform for voting-rights work. 15. Carolina says the second season of Nevertheless shifts to democracy defenders, and she tied Hannah's work to Kerry Washington, Sundance, and a documentary partnership. 16. She emphasizes that the best storytelling surrounds a leader with "scaffolding" across op-eds, stage conversations, sound bites, and repurposable content. 17. The conversation is practical and strategic, with John and Becky repeatedly asking for repeatable moves that small nonprofit teams can actually use. 18. Carolina's delivery is fast, specific, and expansive, moving between board-level strategy, creator platforms, and concrete tools like Canva, DaVinci, microphones, and phone rigs. 19. People building nonprofit communications, fundraising, or mission campaigns will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners looking for a pure theory conversation without tactical nonprofit examples may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical case for treating narrative as infrastructure, not decoration.

Carolina Garcia-Jairam and the Elevate Prize Foundation make a steady case for story as infrastructure, not decoration. The episode connects visibility to fundraising and stays focused on the practical work of helping a leader be seen, heard, and resourced without turning that…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want to treat visibility as infrastructure and turn story into fundraising, reach, and momentum.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits