Some resources we’ve had our eyes on this week at Narrative Arts.

MOVEMENTS.ORG’S ONLINE TOURS OF ACTIVISM: Movements.org has been working with Google’s “Tourbuilder” tool (now in beta) to track activism in closed societies around the world. So far in their “Loneliest Planet” project, they’ve got a half-dozen virtual tours featuring maps, text, video and photos. As they say: “Those who are reporting, organizing, and advocating in closed societies have amazing stories to tell, and activists elsewhere can learn a lot from following each other’s progress and obstacles.”

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA GRANTMAKERS’ STORY RESOURCES:  Northern California Grantmakers is the San Francisco-based association of foundations and other grantmaking organizations, and they have resources for funders on using stories to boost their impact. These include a short guide on how to craft short written narratives that communicate a foundation’s impact, and examples of such stories in their Snapshots of Philanthropy series. You might also take a look at a short list of related resources for funders at the Philanthropy Public Policy Portal.

ANDY GOODMAN ON HOW NONPROFIT JARGON CAN MANGLE STORIES: Andy Goodman, an expert in public interest storytelling, gives a funny demonstration of how nonprofit jargon can turn a perfectly good story into a boring mess. Click ahead to the 2-minute mark of this video on YouTube, also available on the front page of the website for The Goodman Center.

COLOMBIAN TV SHOW “REVELADOS”: “Revealed” is a Colombian TV show and web series for youth that treats issues of sex, sexuality, relationships and reproduction. See episodes here, a summary of episodes here, and info on the educational packet for the show here. While there’s something a little PSA-y about the episodes we’ve sampled, they’re not bad. In our experience at Narrative Arts, you don’t want to make a story too preachy or sanitized, lest you lose your audience. “Revelados” seems to have struck a reasonably good balance.