(This is part 1 of 3 from our April Roundtable: Leveraging Your Marketing Dollars to Increase Fundraising Success)
Building Your Foundation: The Case for Support
The Case for Support is a document that explains the need for your work as an organization, the impact you make, and how you change people’s lives. It is normally about three pages long and provides the essence of what you do and why. The case is an “insiders” document that should be available to any staff that needs it, but is generally not shared in its full form to the public. When the case has been thoroughly developed with input from the relevant stake holders, the result is a document that is valuable on many levels.
Why do you need a Case for Support? A well-written case becomes the backbone of all your communications pieces by establishing consistent language for how you speak about the work you do. When you need to write appeals, newsletters, communicate on-line or off, the case is your resource for “how we talk about us”. Staff members should be able to access the document so they will know how to speak to the public.
In the case for support, rather than listing activities, speak about the impact you make and how you change lives. The case for support is not the place for enumerating your programs, but rather to outline the result of those programs.
Differentiate yourself by showing how your organization is uniquely positioned to do the work. There are many non-profits out there today; how do you stand out in the sea of others who also do good work? Language such as “we’re the only organization in West Michigan that ….” is compelling and helps to distinguish you from what might otherwise be considered similar groups.
Stay tuned for Building Your Walls: Marketing Tools!
Content provided by Julie Hordyk of Mind Over Marketing.
Visit Julie’s website to learn more about ways she can help your organization!