Designed, copyedited, and wrote content for case studies featured in Telling Your Pro Bono Story.
Download the full guide here.
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Case Study: VMware Foundation
One of VMware Foundation’s recent storytelling efforts grew out of the creation of Transforming Technology Pro Bono, a series of guides designed in collaboration with Taproot to move the needle on tech adoption in the social sector. Over the course of the last three years, the Foundation embodied each step of the storytelling approach, highlighting how small but mighty teams can get the work done.
Step 1: Preparing Key Stakeholders
Building partnerships that resonate
One of VMware’s early efforts revolved around cultivating strong relationships across the company, but not just with the obvious players. “We worked very closely with our Global People Development team,” said Jessamine Chin, VMware Foundation’s Director. “This collaboration helped us tie our work to our Leadership Code”—a core part of the company’s culture—“which really resonates with employees.” The alignment was equally critical for connecting to the company’s bottom line. “From a brand perspective, the work we’re doing showcases who we are as a company and how those values translate to our business.”
One of VMware Foundation’s recent storytelling efforts grew out of the creation of Transforming Technology Pro Bono, a series of guides designed in collaboration with Taproot to move the needle on tech adoption in the social sector. Over the course of the last three years, the Foundation embodied each step of the storytelling approach, highlighting how small but mighty teams can get the work done.
Step 1: Preparing Key Stakeholders
Building partnerships that resonate
One of VMware’s early efforts revolved around cultivating strong relationships across the company, but not just with the obvious players. “We worked very closely with our Global People Development team,” said Jessamine Chin, VMware Foundation’s Director. “This collaboration helped us tie our work to our Leadership Code”—a core part of the company’s culture—“which really resonates with employees.” The alignment was equally critical for connecting to the company’s bottom line. “From a brand perspective, the work we’re doing showcases who we are as a company and how those values translate to our business.”
The team also invested time and energy in partnering with their Global Communications department, keeping them abreast of all of the Foundation’s efforts and engaging them for key initiatives. Many years later, they now have a dedicated communications role supporting the Foundation. “Having [this role] on board has been instrumental in continuing to build our relationship with our Global Communications colleagues,” notes Chin.
Step 2: Crafting a Story
Honing in on audience
Transforming Technology Pro Bono—and the stories connected to it—have a wide and varied audience, from the nonprofits and skilled volunteers it was designed for to VMware’s peers in the tech space to the employees who are using the tool in their own pro bono engagements. “We talk a lot as a team about our goals—who is our audience, and what action do we want readers to take?” said Kristin Atkins, Director of Global Impact Communications at VMware. “It’s a tried and true method—adapting your message and your story to your audience is key.”
A prime example is their approach to internal messaging. Chin points out that “as a Foundation, we speak to inspire. We ask ‘how do we get our employees to be active and engaged in their communities?’”
Being real through an inspiring narrative
Creating a robust and inspiring narrative around pro bono as a driver in digital transformation laid a solid foundation for the team as they embarked on their storytelling journey. In their initial phase of communicating Transforming Technology Pro Bono, they focused on awareness—sharing the research, their desired outcomes, and “being real about the realities of putting a global pro bono program like this into practice,” said Chin.
Step 3: Amplifying Message
Finding their Chief Storyteller
VMware’s CEO Pat Gelsinger is deeply invested in the company’s philanthropic and global impact efforts, and he is an advocate for telling the Foundation’s story. The result? Gelsinger recently delivered remarks infused with the team’s story of pro bono impact to over 1,000 employees at the company’s recent R&D innovation offsite.
Repetition, repetition, repetition
“Even though you feel like you’re repeating yourself ad nauseam, [your story] can still be new for a whole bunch of people,” Atkins points out. VMware’s team engages through multiple touchpoints instead of one big push, which has been a valuable approach to getting their stories out both internally and externally.
The team gets creative with their storytelling as a way to break through the noise interally, from posting digital signage in breakrooms around the globe to features in their company’s bi-weekly video news to inclusion in the company’s new employee onboarding experience. The success of their internal communications has ultimately built a strong employee following for their initiatives.
Externally, the team has maximized their knack for connecting, whether that’s through presenting to their peers at conferences or by leveraging the nonprofit, volunteer, and corporate network of Taproot. And as they’ve found, it always helps if your CEO is active on Twitter.
What’s Next?
Much of VMware Foundation’s storytelling efforts so far have focused on the big picture nature of their work. As Transforming Technology Pro Bono continues to be embedded in their pro bono programming, the team is shifting their focus to telling the individual stories of impact. “Seeing projects actually come to fruition has been so exciting,” said Chin. “Our communications team is really looking to share these stories to inspire others to take action.”
Case Study: Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley strives to be an ambassador for change in the communities where its employees live and work, and giving back to those communities is a core value at the Firm. The communications efforts of the Community Affairs team—where their pro bono programming lives—allow the company to tell this important story of impact. Whether it be the marque Firmwide pro bono program, Strategy Challenge, which brings together rising talent to help nonprofits solve strategic challenges, or more targeted division led opportunities, the Firm has a range of communications channels to deliver its most impactful message.
Step 1: Preparing Key Stakeholders
Deep roots
The success of the team’s pro bono storytelling is deeply rooted in the long-standing relationships they’ve cultivated company wide. They are a partner and a client of the company’s Corporate Communications department, which encompasses internal, digital, and external communications efforts. With both functions rolling up to Corporate Affairs, this integrated partnership is natural. Joan Steinberg, Managing Director and Global Head of Community Affairs at Morgan Stanley, said, “In order to fully tell your pro bono story, your communications partners need to constantly be updated on your efforts. Keeping them in the loop is critical.”
Steinberg also noted the importance of strong support and investment of resources from key leaders in the organization. “When business heads identify telling pro bono stories as a priority, there’s action.”
Step 2: Crafting a Story
Knowing your purpose
The Community Affairs team understands how valuable their storytelling efforts are in educating their employees not only about their programs but also the impact those programs have. With giving back as a core value for Morgan Stanley, the team grounds their communications decisions in the question of “how does this relate to who we are as a firm and how we are viewed by our community?”
Building a narrative from the ground up
“Our communications partners are experts in storytelling,” notes Steinberg. “We rely heavily on them when crafting our stories, as they know what messages resonate here.” The team’s process starts by focusing on the bare bones of a concept, identifying what matters most in just a few words. From there, they tailor the messaging—and fleshed out stories—towards the interests of employees, with the ultimate goal of leading people back to what resonates most with them. Recognizing that they’ll rarely have more than a minute to get their message across, this story has to really hit home.
Step 3: Amplifying Message
Elevating employees’ stories
Morgan Stanley employees like to hear from colleagues and enjoy learning how they’re helping communities around them. The Community Affairs team regularly uses employees’ first-hand stories as a vehicle for sharing the impact of their work to increase engagement. With a talented and diverse employee base of over 60,000 employees worldwide, programs range from in depth multi-week initiatives to half day intensive sessions with local nonprofits through ScopeAthons, team projects and individual efforts, and everything in between. For programs without a large external platform, Morgan Stanley prioritizes their robust internal social network, allowing employees to lead the storytelling, hopefully in turn motivating additional colleagues to get involved. And what better way to display how their pro bono programming drives key business objectives like employee pride, retention, talent development, and recruitment?
Elevating employees’ stories
Morgan Stanley employees like to hear from colleagues and enjoy learning how they’re helping communities around them. The Community Affairs team regularly uses employees’ first-hand stories as a vehicle for sharing the impact of their work to increase engagement. With a talented and diverse employee base of over 60,000 employees worldwide, programs range from in depth multi-week initiatives to half day intensive sessions with local nonprofits through ScopeAthons, team projects and individual efforts, and everything in between. For programs without a large external platform, Morgan Stanley prioritizes their robust internal social network, allowing employees to lead the storytelling, hopefully in turn motivating additional colleagues to get involved. And what better way to display how their pro bono programming drives key business objectives like employee pride, retention, talent development, and recruitment?
Rising above the noise
In a busy world, it can be challenging for the team to keep their messages top of mind for employees who often have competing priorities. “Considering how your audience receives their information is essential,” says Steinberg, “and your communications partners have this insight. Let the experts guide you.” There are a wealth of internal distribution channels at the team’s disposal, from leadership communications and the intranet to posters and events.
Externally, they tap into the power of social media and press. They see their greatest success when multiple voices are telling one story of profound impact. For example, when a program has a particularly press-worthy story, they engage their CEO/senior leaders and their nonprofit partners to align on messaging and bring that story to life.
Critical to all of these efforts, though, is tailoring the story and their broader message to the medium. An example here is sharing stories in the form of images and videos on social media as a way to grab and keep attention. “You can’t drive deep employee engagement unless you know how to reach employees where they are through effective storytelling,” says Steinberg.
What’s Next?
Morgan Stanley’s pro bono programming grows by the day, with more and more employees raising their hands to drive meaningful social impact using their skills. The Community Affairs team is using the stories of their participants to build employee awareness of and drive participation in these programs. Their goal? One hundred percent engagement, and they believe expert storytelling will help get them there.
