Idea Factory - Shaping Your Co-op Story

Creating a story can be intimidating, here is a friendly guide to get your ideas flowing.  Video is a powerful medium for storytelling. Let's create a video that speaks to your fellow cooperators and future co-op partners, holds their attention, and effectively tells the impact of your co-op to your community.

Storytelling is a powerful tool in video content creation as it helps to captivate and engage viewers on a deeper level.

By incorporating compelling narratives, videos become more memorable and relatable, allowing the audience to connect with the message being conveyed. Stories can tap into the power of emotions, create suspense, and leave a lasting impact, making them an essential element in grabbing and maintaining our neighbors' and stakeholders' attention throughout the video. 

Co-op Storytelling Template

Here is a script you can use for your co-op story.

1. Intro
   Introduce the co-op and provide a few details that offer context for the co-op impact story, such as their name, relationship to co-op (staff/board director), co-op name, and the co-op sector/type.
2. Co-op as Solution
   For this section, what is the opportunity for the co-op to improve a situation? What pain points were they looking to solve for? How could the co-op create a positive impact?
3. Co-op Success Results
   What were the results? What was the experience in engaging with the co-op and/or the program/initiative?
4. Co-op Impact
   How did engaging with the co-op and the program/initiative impact the community in a significant way?
5. Co-op Call to Action
   Wrap up the co-op story with some details about the overall experience. Then, include how to engage with your co-op, or how they should support co-ops in general.

Co-op Video Recording Tips

The more realistic the recording, the more authentic the experience.

In your real conversations with people, you say umm, you sneeze, or you may mispronounce a word.  Leave it in...it keeps the experience real.  Here are some more tips to consider.

Remember:

• Don’t make it long! 1-2 minutes is plenty.  Keep it under 2 minutes, 30 seconds.
• It does not have to be professionally done – a smartphone is all you need
• Don’t stand in front of a busy background, but also don’t use a boring background. Try going outside on a nice day, in a park or quiet place in town with a nice background that doesn’t draw too much attention away from you.
• If you have access to the co-op location with a relatively quiet atmosphere, definitely film in or in front of the co-op.
• Follow your storytelling template, make sure to smile, and use your natural facial expressions and your natural voice.  

Co-op Story Topics

Consider these topics when crafting your co-op story.

1. Your co-op's impact to the local community as a result of a new initiative, ongoing program, or a funding boost from a key stakeholder.
2. Creating inclusive economies with your co-op to empower your low-income neighbors, diversify your vendors, membership, leadership etc.
3. Principle 6 story - creating cooperation among cooperatives to achieve a goal.
4. Advocacy story - engaging with elected officials for a tour, town hall, meet and greet, etc.
5. Co-op amplification - how to amplify the importance of co-ops with the community through a marketing/engagement campaign.

Connect with NCBA CLUSA on Co-op Circle 

Co-op Circle is an online community for NCBA CLUSA members and stakeholders to share ideas, get feedback and be part of engaging discussions, events and more. We created Co-op Circle to empower the co-op community to connect and build true “cooperation among cooperatives” in the spirit of Principle 6.

When you join NCBA CLUSA, you’ll receive exclusive access to our Co-op Circle Common Room, Knowledge Drop, Small Groups and Events, along with the full support of our NCBA CLUSA team and volunteers. Join Co-op Circle today, and be sure to check out the Purchasing Co-op Group for industry-specific conversations and networking.