Shaping Stories with Sensitivity: A Guide to Trauma-Informed Storytelling for Nonprofits
Storytelling fuels nonprofit work. By sharing personal narratives from the communities they serve, organizations can powerfully spotlight social issues, humanize abstract policy matters, and inspire supporters to act. However, the same intimate stories that invoke change also carry a less visible weight—the weight of the storyteller's trauma and lived experience. As keepers of real life stories, nonprofits navigate an ethical balancing act: raising awareness while preventing further harm. This blog explores why compassionate, responsible storytelling matters and how nonprofits can engage in trauma-informed storytelling.
What is trauma?
When most people hear the word “trauma,” they imagine extreme situations of war and violence—catastrophic events that shatter one’s sense of safety. This narrow view has historically led to the belief that trauma only impacts groups like combat veterans or crime victims. However, research reveals a more nuanced reality.
Trauma is not inherently about experiences themselves but rather the body and brain's response to distressing events that overwhelm our ability to cope. Trauma refers specifically to the cascade of physiological and emotional processes that get triggered when we face situations that are mentally or emotionally overwhelming.
Studies show us that 70% adults have endured at least one traumatic event throughout their lives. Trauma lies on a continuum and can emerge from stresses and hardships quite common in any person's life - a parent’s dementia, a difficult neighborhood, a natural disaster displacing families, etc. Given social disparities, women, gender non-conforming people, people of color, and Indigenous communities are more at risk of experiencing higher rates of trauma on average.
So what does trauma actually do? In simple terms, it throws our mind and body out of balance. Facing danger initiates instinctive survival responses meant to protect us like our flight, fight, freeze, or fawn impulses. These activate our nervous system to deal with threats. But if we undergo repeated trauma or don’t have the resources to process it, our system gets stuck and has trouble calming down. This shows up in both emotional and physical symptoms like anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, obesity, and so on.
Given how widespread trauma is and the immense impacts it has when left unresolved, it becomes essential for anyone engaging in storytelling to grasp these realities. When we handle stories of the people we seek to support without recognizing the trauma behind them, our communications risk exacerbating pain rather than healing it. Because nonprofits share vulnerable stories in advocacy, outreach, and fundraising materials, they carry a duty first to understand their audience and subjects on the deepest level possible.
What is truama-informed storytelling and why is it important for nonprofits?
What exactly is trauma-informed storytelling? It’s both a lens and a practice. As a lens, it means bringing trauma awareness into how we conceptualize, gather, and shape stories. This greater understanding affects the language we choose, how visuals and audio are presented, what details we focus on, and more. As a practice, trauma-informed storytelling puts procedures into place that aim to prevent inflicting further harm, empower individuals, and foster a culture of sensitivity and care around vulnerable stories.
This approach matters deeply for nonprofits because storytelling permeates this sector’s work in fundraising, advocacy, and outreach. Nonprofits often rely on personal narratives and images to spotlight issues and create connections with donors. However, this also means handling extremely delicate content around trauma, from individual experiences like homelessness, violence, or discrimination, to community-level wounds rooted in systemic inequities.
A trauma-uninformed lens risks exploiting such stories or triggering painful emotions without the structures to process them safely. Even with good intentions, storytellers may neglect consent, fail to provide trigger warnings, or default to deficit-based narratives that further stigmatize marginalized groups. This not only hurts individuals but can undermine social change efforts by alienating audiences.
In contrast, a trauma-informed approach applies principles of empowerment, collaboration, and healing-centered framing to guide nonprofit story work with vigilance around impacts.
Three People to Consider
When crafting stories for nonprofit purposes, we must consider the experience of three key parties:
The Story Owner
This refers to the primary subject at the heart of the story - often a client, service recipient, community member, or program participant with lived experience related to the cause. As story owners open up about personal narratives, they relive tough memories and become vulnerable to re-traumatization. Practices like gaining full consent, allowing control over their own story, and checking on their comfort are essential. We must honor their courage while ensuring exchanges aren't one-sided or draining.
Tips for a Trauma-Informed Approach
Obtain genuine informed consent before gathering someone's story, clearly explaining how it will be used and allowing them to withdraw permission at any time
Slow down interviewing processes; give space for people to share at their own pace and take breaks as needed
More is not always better. Avoid overburdening community members by attempting to gather a high volume of stories per year. Only collect as many as your team can responsibly support
Involve case managers or program staff to help assess readiness to share vulnerably and provide support
Let owners decide what details to include or exclude; don't pressure them to disclose more than they are comfortable with
The Story Receiver
This encompasses the audiences who engage with the story across various mediums and contexts. Seeing others’ trauma can trigger difficult responses or emotions in observers too. Nonprofits must craft appropriate warnings about graphic content and provide mental health resources alongside stories. Audiences also need balanced narratives that humanize rather than further marginalize oppressed communities.
Tips for a Trauma-Informed Approach
Use content warnings when necessary to alert audiences to graphic accounts of trauma and give people the option to opt-out
Counter stigma by focusing narratives on resilience rather than hardship; highlight complexities and solutions
Provide mental health resources alongside intensely vulnerable stories
Assume a mix of lived experience in audiences and allow people to engage on their own terms in safe spaces
The Storyteller
This refers to nonprofit staff, communications teams, leadership, or volunteers producing stories. Bearing witness to trauma indirectly can lead to immense stress or vicarious trauma for storytellers as well. Organizations must encourage creative teams to practice self-care, set healthy boundaries, and share struggles with colleagues or mentors. The first step in avoiding harm is learning to model sustainable vulnerability.
Tips for a Trauma-Informed Approach
Monitor workloads around traumatic content to avoid overload; set boundaries on hours spent gathering stories
Debrief with supportive managers, partners, or counselors to process secondary trauma after bearing witness
Develop self-care practices that restore nervous system regulation to manage distress: breathing exercises, yoga, mindfulness, connecting with loved ones
Recognize warning signs like changes in mood, sleep, and relationships so you can address compassion fatigue proactively
Seek professional support through counseling or therapy if feeling overwhelmed by vicarious trauma
When nonprofits approach storytelling with care for all three groups’ safety and dignity, it builds trust while preventing unnecessary pain. This upholds an ethical imperative around handling trauma with responsibility.
Trauma ripples through the entire storytelling ecosystem, impacting everyone involved differently. But symptoms of trauma can also connect us in our shared humanity. Nonprofits must recognize what each group undergoes in this intimate, collaborative process. This awareness spotlights where we need boundaries, balance, and healing-centered practices to prevent unnecessary harm.
Conclusion
Nonprofits play an invaluable role in elevating voices excluded from mainstream platforms. However, the privileged position of storyteller means carefully considering how to frame and present people’s narratives sensitively. Understanding trauma allows organizations to embed safety practices when collecting stories, balance portrayals of hardship with resilience, and make a positive impact on their audience.
When stories are handled carefully they do not have to reopen old wounds; instead they can become building blocks for collective resilience moving forward. Though individuals’ experiences surface trauma, there is power in gathering stories guided by compassion.
