This is part four of a six-part storytelling series, filled with real-world examples for telling the stories of people in your athletic department and community

Storytelling Series: Athletes | Coaches | Alumni | Staff | Fans

August 6, 2026

Every athletic department has projects, programs, and student-athlete experiences that exist because someone chose to support them. This support may come from a variety of places:

• A former student-athlete giving back to the program that shaped them
• A family honoring the legacy of someone they love
• A local business investing in its community
• A longtime fan who believes deeply in what college athletics can provide

While a gift is important, a gift with a story behind it is even more powerful.

Communication with donors is often one-on-one, choosing to build relationships or put campaign goals into action. Those details are important, but they rarely explain why someone chose to give or what their support made possible. Even less, a public declaration to the university community that signals just what is special to that individual.

Thoughtful donor storytelling connects the person, the purpose, and the impact. In fact, programs that regularly share stories see dramatically higher donor retention — 45% compared to 27% among those who don’t.

So, here are five story formats for your donors that you can put on the calendar right now.

1. Why I Give

Every gift has a reason behind it. For some donors, it’s gratitude for an experience they had as a student-athlete. For others, it is a relationship with a coach, a belief in the institution’s mission, or a desire to create opportunities they never had themselves. “Why I Give” features put that motivation at the center of the story.

The format is simple: Interview a donor about their connection to the school, the moment they decided to become involved, and what they hope their support accomplishes. The person’s values should drive the story.

This is also one of the most repeatable formats in the series. Major-gift donors, annual-fund contributors, former student-athletes, parents, faculty members, local businesses, and even small-gift crowdfunding donors can all provide distinct perspectives.

Three questions that consistently produce good answers:

1. What was the thing that connected you to this program?
2. Was there a particular moment when you decided you wanted to give back?
3. What do you hope student-athletes experience because of your support?

Best timing: Year-round. These stories can support Giving Tuesday campaigns in November, donor-recognition initiatives, or quieter periods when you want to strengthen relationships without making a direct appeal.

Example: Maryland: “Why I Give: Steve Schanwald”

2. The Impact of a Gift

An impact story shows what changes because of a donation or gift. A renovated space, new piece of equipment, expanded nutrition program, or additional scholarship support may begin with a donor contribution, but its true meaning appears in the daily lives of student-athletes and staff.

The format is simple: Work with your department to trace the impact of one completed gift or donor-funded initiative. Interview the donor(s) about the intention behind the support, then include the voices of the student-athletes, coaches, or staff members who experience the result.

Three questions that consistently produce good answers:

1. What need or opportunity did this gift address?
2. When did you first realize the opportunity to make a meaningful difference?
3. What can student-athletes do now that wasn’t possible before?

Best timing: After the project, program, or initiative has been in use long enough to show tangible results. Pair it with a dedication, ribbon-cutting, campaign update, or end-of-year impact report.

Example: Utah State: “Beyond the Buzzer: Barbara Troisi’s Impact on Aggie Athletics”

3. Legacy & Memorial Giving

Some gifts are designed to carry a name, memory, or set of values forward. They may honor a former coach, teammate, family member, administrator, or passionate supporter, but the deeper story is the person whose legacy continues through the gift.

The format is simple: Interview the donor or family members about the person being honored. Explore who they were, what connected them to the institution, and why this particular project, scholarship, or fund was the right way to preserve their memory.

Three questions that consistently produce good answers:

1. What do you want people to understand about the person this gift honors?
2. Why did this program, scholarship, or project feel like the right way to continue their legacy?
3. What would it mean to them to see the opportunities their name is creating today?

Best timing: Around the fund’s establishment, a memorial event, an anniversary, or the announcement of its first recipient.

Example: Kansas: “The long game: David Booth’s historic gift to KU”

4. Donor and Student-Athlete Connections

A scholarship donor may know the name of the fund they support without knowing the student-athlete it helps. A student-athlete may understand that their opportunity was made possible by generosity without knowing the person or story behind it.

The impact of giving becomes more powerful when the people on both sides of it can see one another. Bringing those perspectives together creates a more personal and complete story.

The format is simple: Pair a donor with a student-athlete, team, or program directly affected by their support. Interview them separately or bring them together for a conversation about the opportunity, the responsibility that comes with it, and what each side has learned from the relationship.

Three questions that consistently produce good answers:

1. How has this support influenced your experience as a student-athlete?
2. What does it mean to see the person or people behind the impact?
3. How does this opportunity change how you prepare for competition?

Best timing: Around donor events, homecoming, graduation, or the end of a student-athlete’s career.

Example: Boston College: “Johnson Named Jay McGillis Scholarship Recipient”

5. Community Partners

Local businesses, foundations, civic organizations, and community leaders often support athletic departments because they see the program as an important part of the region they serve. Their involvement can fund student-athlete opportunities while strengthening connections between the institution and its surrounding community.

The format is simple: Profile a community partner and explain the shared values behind the relationship. Ask why the organization chose to invest, what connection it has to the school, and how the partnership serves a broader purpose. Keep the story focused on impact rather than promotion.

Note: This format also expands the public understanding of who supports college athletics. Giving is not limited to wealthy individuals or former student-athletes; it can be a community-wide effort.

Three questions that consistently produce good answers:

1. Why is supporting this institution and its student-athletes important to your organization?
2. Which values do your organization and the athletic department share?
3. What impact do you hope this partnership has beyond competition?

Best timing: Around a partnership announcement, community event, completed project, or annual renewal. These stories are especially effective when tied to a visible local impact.

Example: Indiana: “IU Athletics Announces Comprehensive Partnership with Merchants Bank”

Making It Repeatable

Donor stories can be sensitive and operationally complex.

Development or advancement may own the relationship, while communications may not know the history. The donor may not want to speak publicly, have limited availability, or prefer to review every word before publication.

Without a clear process, a straightforward profile can turn into weeks of scheduling, collecting responses, transcribing interviews, and managing approvals.

That’s the problem FanWord’s Online Interviews and Feature Stories features were built to change:

• Create an Online Interview and set up questions
• Send donors (and anyone else involved) a link
• They respond on their own time from their phone via audio, video, or text
• Every answer lands in one place — no email chains, no chasing, no transcribing
• From there, one-click import into Feature Stories turns raw responses into a working draft
• Customize the voice and length of each story
• Use our built-in review process to speed up collaboration with donors and internal stakeholders
• Your team spends its time editing and publishing instead of collecting and formatting

If you want to see how programs are running series like these at scale, we’d love to show you.

Want to take it a step deeper? Click here to read FanWord’s The Fundraising Playbook College Athletics Has Been Missing: Storytelling.

Next up in the series: Storytelling ideas for your staff — highlighting the people whose work behind the scenes keeps your department moving forward.

See what FanWord can do for your communications team: 
➡️ Request a demo using the contact form below
➡️ Reach out to our CEO directly to talk through your team’s workflow