Tell a story

A story can reach anyone, anywhere, at the moment they need it most. Yours might be that story for someone.

The question every story answers

What has life taught you, in good times or hard ones, that you're now ready to tell or teach someone else?

A story here starts with what life taught, then tells what happened. A lesson without what happened is only advice. What happened without a lesson is only a life story. Here, every story has both.

Whose story?

Yours. What life taught you, and what happened that taught you.

Someone close to you. A parent, a grandparent, a friend. If they're alive, ask them first, and you'll confirm they agreed. If they've died, you'll confirm their close family would be comfortable with it being shared.

An ancestor. Someone further back in your family, whose story was handed down to you. You'll confirm that a family member is comfortable with it being shared. Not sure where to start? Take the Donum Ancestor Challenge.

Four questions

Write as much or as little as you want under each one, in any language. The first two are needed.

1. What life taught me. One or two sentences, in your own words. It can come from a good time, a hard time, or both.
2. What happened that taught me this. The events, and the part people played if the story needs it. Never who they were, or which group they belonged to.
3. Who or what helped me learn this. A person, a gift, a mistake or a moment. Not anyone's name.
4. The first step I'd tell someone to take with this lesson. Something small a reader could start with.

For someone else's story, the questions ask about them: what life taught them, and what happened that taught them this.

As Dr. Chekwech puts it, life happens, the good and the hard, and it's nothing personal. Your story shows the reader they were never singled out: others have stood where they stand, and learned something worth passing to the next person.

If you'd rather not post it yourself

Under "How your name appears on this story", choose "Donum Foundation's name instead of mine". Everything else stays the same: a person reads it, you approve the final words, and you can take it down at any time. Your handle and your first name are never shown on it.

What happens after you send it

1. It's saved as a draft. Nothing is public.
2. An automatic check looks for anything that could identify you or someone else. It never publishes or rejects anything. A person on our team or an approved volunteer decides.
3. An editor reads it and may suggest changes, with a reason for each one. We email you when they're ready. The email never contains your story: you read it, and the changes, in your account.
4. You read the final text and approve it in your account. Nothing is published until you do.
5. It goes live at a random time within the next day, so nobody can work out when you sent it.

You can take it down at any time, without giving a reason. Every five years, we'll ask you to confirm you'd like it to stay up.

Before you write

Read the story guidelines. In short: start with what life taught you, then say what happened and the part people played, never who they were or which group they belonged to. Leave out anyone's contact details, and ask readers for nothing.

How your name appears

For each story, you choose: the handle you signed up with, your first name, or Donum Foundation's name instead of yours. We never show a surname, and we never ask for your full name to tell a story.

Start writing

Start writing. You'll need an account. There's no password: each time you sign in, we email you a link and a six-digit code, and you use whichever is easier. You stay signed in on that device for 7 days, or for 30 days if you tick "Keep me signed in on this device" when you sign in.

You can stop halfway and come back. Nothing you write is public until you've read the final text and approved it yourself.