When Your Story Splinters: How Misaligned Messaging Costs You More Than You Think

Have you seen this? Your board chair is at a community event, your program director is on a panel, and your social media manager is posting about your latest campaign. They’re all speaking from the same mission — but what comes out sounds like three different organizations.

It’s not that anyone is doing something wrong. It’s that without a shared message library, your story starts to splinter. And when that happens, your work loses momentum.

Here’s what I see most often when stories fracture:

• Funders and clients drift. They hear your pitch, but they’re not sure what exactly you do — or why it matters.

• Media moves on. Reporters don’t have time to piece together a scattered story. If your team can’t deliver it clearly, they’ll find someone who can.

• Teams stall. Staff spend hours rewriting the same content because no one is sure which version is “right.”

That splintering comes at a cost: missed opportunities, wasted time, and stories that don’t land the way they should.

But here’s the good news: this is fixable.

When your whole team is anchored in one clear story, everything changes. Donors lean in. Clients reach out. Media calls feel less daunting. Your board, staff, and volunteers all sound like they’re rowing in the same direction.

That’s exactly what we build in Message Magic Sessions: a ready-to-use library of words and stories that everyone on your team can pull from with confidence. One voice. Many messengers. Unstoppable impact.