In a few weeks, I’ll be at the GIIN impact forum, a global conference on impact investing, held in Amsterdam. While ‘impact investing’ might evoke images of suited professionals speaking financial jargon it’s actually more interesting than that. The purpose of the event is to bring together a diverse mix of speakers and attendees from non-profits to private market investors sharing thinking on how to tackle big social and environmental challenge and insight on investing in emerging industries.
Impact investing is about using capital to create positive, measurable change along with financial returns. One of the key words here is measurable. Investors want to see exactly where their capital is going. It’s the hard evidence that holds the whole system accountable. Whether it’s funding clean energy projects, supporting smallholder farmers, or improving education in underserved communities – investors obsess over metrics. They want visibility on numbers and to track progress to gain reassurance their money is moving the needle on the issues.
However if the data demonstrates impact – it’s the stories that reveal the change. Stories bring the data to life, providing context and a human element that numbers alone can’t capture. The combination of both data and stories offers a much deeper understanding of the real-world impact of these investments.
This article explores the gap between hard data and human storytelling and why the two need to work alongside each other to help investors connect with the impact their efforts are making.
Wired for Stories
Humans are inherently drawn to stories because they engage multiple areas of the brain simultaneously. Neuroscience reveals that when we hear emotionally engaging stories, our brain activity increases in regions responsible for language processing, emotional response, and sensory experiences. This is particularly true for narratives that evoke strong emotions, as they trigger the release of dopamine—a neurotransmitter linked to pleasure and memory. Dopamine not only makes us feel good but also enhances our ability to retain information. This is why data, metrics and complex ideas, when conveyed through a compelling story, become more relatable and easier to remember.
Stories provide context and emotional resonance, which help the brain organise and encode information more effectively than through abstract facts or data alone. In essence, storytelling taps into the way our brains are wired, making learning both more engaging and memorable.
How Filmmakers Inspire Action through Emotion and Data
Impact campaigners and documentary filmmakers are experts in feeding us a dopamine induced brain buzz. Many impact films from documentaries to short-form stories interweave data and human narratives delivering a dopamine spike and then grounding the emotional stories in fact, take the short film Net Free Seas, for example:
This short film shows Thai fishing communities recycling plastic waste from the ocean, turning an environmental crisis into economic opportunity. The film opens with a powerful statistic:
“Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced each year, nearly as much as the weight of the entire human population.”
It’s a striking number, but it’s the personal stories of the protagonists —fishermen, recyclers, community members—that make the problem feel urgent, solvable, and real. Here the data sets the stage but it’s the stories that drive the message.
I watched it for the first time as one of the jury panel at THE HEAT festival, and during the Q&A session, several important themes emerged. One was the obsession with using data as the sole measure of evidence, often neglecting the value of hearing people’s voices. The discussion highlighted the importance of showing what real transformation looks like—the positive impact on people’s environments—through personal stories and lived experiences, rather than just focusing on numbers. Watching the film again we can see how elements of data and storytelling in action work so well together.
Below are some points on how this can be relevant to impact investors.
1. Show the Context
The opening shot immediately immerses the viewer in the reality of people living with the impact of plastic pollution, and then it uses data to frame the scale of the issue. The problem is undeniable and urgent and sets the stage for the challenge ahead. We hear directly from those on the frontlines of the crisis, and the filmmakers effectively use data to reinforce the powerful personal stories, creating a compelling narrative that combines both human experience and factual evidence.
2. Don’t Lead with Data.
The film treats the people who live in the environment as the experts. We are encouraged to listen to each person to really understand the problem and the necessary steps taken to address the challenge. This view shared by Matt Locke at Storythings is useful in how to position data in story and when to step away from it:
“Compelling stories have protagonists, not subjects. This means the people at the centre of the story need to talk about their own actions and decisions, not be described second hand as if their lives were out of their own control. A subject is someone that a story happens to; a protagonist is someone who affects the story through their actions. Too often, organisations describe complex situations from the perspective of data or processes, not people. Data should never be the protagonist in your story”.
3. Find Human Stories
After laying out the context visually we are introduced to the participants behind the campaign: scientists, researchers, waste collectors, fish industry workers, campaigners. Many of their stories share the impact of plastic pollution from multiple angles. Their experiences managing it create stronger emotional connections helping the audience and potential donors understand the personal and social significance of their support. In the same way when investors hear real-life stories of how their investments can change lives or protect the environment, they feel more motivated to support these causes having understood the real-world impact behind the statistics and grasp the nuances and specific challenges faced by communities.
4. Interweave Data and Metrics Throughout the Story
The narrative takes us through what ordinary fishing people’s lives look like in the community, how the initiative connects fishers with recyclers, how the gear is decontaminated at processing stations. Periodically the film returns to data to ground the emotional stories in hard facts. Hard facts and statistics frame the issue, the visuals show the scale of the problem and stories explain who’s benefiting from the investment and how it is improving lives.
Notice for example at the start, the film presents us with data on the amount of waste generated in Thailand every year, amount of tonnes of waste removed from the ocean and finally images of the restored environment. Now we have much richer picture of the environmental context, people’s lives, how the investment in the recycling plant works, the challenges setting it up, and positive impact created by the operation both in numbers in and through people’s shared opinions.
5. Show Progress over Time
Impact isn’t always immediate, and showing the evolution of progress over time – just like tracking data – should be essential for investors. One way of doing this is to create a timeline using project milestones that indicate improvements in the community and what this looks like from perspective of people living in the area. In Net Free Seas for example, the film explained how many tonnes of waste had been removed, types of jobs created, how the local community were involved etc. Doing this provides key performance metrics and flags any ongoing challenges or areas for further growth as to how funds are working towards long-term solutions with returns.
Conclusion
By using data as the foundation and human stories as the emotional core, impact investors can ensure stakeholders not only grasp the numbers but also connect with the change they are helping to create. Data is essential, but it only tells us part of the story. Blending it with emotive human narratives lights up the mind, allowing impact investors to not only measure progress but feel inspired by meaningful action. All of this is more than just seeing the figures — it’s about truly understanding the transformational impact of their investments.
Credit: all photos in this article by Environmental Justice Foundation
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