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Making your case with a strong case for support
By June Bradham
Nonprofit Development
Q. I am the chairman of the development committee of a local charity. Recently, the development officer asked me to review our “case for support.” What is that?
A. A case for support is a document that presents the organization’s mission, current challenges and transformational opportunities that will occur through charitable gifts. It strives to answer the fundamental question a potential donor has about a nonprofit: “What difference is my gift going to make?”
Q. What are some good examples of a case for support?
A. A few of our clients have recently written successful cases:
Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research is a unique automotive and motor sports research initiative vaulting Clemson University into a new category of economic development and educational innovation. The project is so powerful that it is attracting major donor interest from such significant industry partners as BMW, Michelin, Timken, Sun, IBM and Microsoft. Through their support, endowed chairs in engineering are being established for this incredible project.
The case was appealing in this situation because of the mutual benefits it expressed to produce specialized engineers and products valued by the auto-related industries.
Dee Norton Lowcountry Children’s Center is a great example of how the powerful emotional pull of an organization’s mission can move donors to respond. A children’s advocacy center fighting child abuse in the Lowcountry, DNLCC strikes a chord with donors.
The case statement presented compelling statistics about the fight against abuse and stories that substantiated DNLCC’s reputation as a center of national prominence. This case statement was a critical component in helping DNLCC raise millions.
In 2005, the administration and governing board of Roper St. Francis Foundation set forth to increase philanthropy for key initiatives, including the new Heart and Vascular Center. The case had a primary focus to upgrade technology and facilities to more effectively combat the Lowcountry’s biggest health challenge: heart disease.
With trusted physicians as the messengers, the case outlined dramatic facility changes that have created a state-of-the-art treatment center. Prospective major donors, who may need such services, responded with millions in just one year.
Q. As chairman of the major gifts committee of a local private school, I am well aware we have a need to construct a new facility. We know what we want but how do we know if we can raise the funds?
A. It is important that you not take off your for-profit knowledge hat when you are in the nonprofit boardroom. For instance, if you were going to add another building to your business, would you just put up the least expensive building you could find in any location in the general area? Of course you wouldn’t. In the same sense, you should not just “launch” a campaign, without doing due diligence first.
That due diligence involves asking this question of the board and the staff is: Are we ready for a capital campaign?
If you can answer “yes” to the following questions, you are ready to undertake a campaign planning study, a critical step in determining potential support for your project:
1. Do we have an urgent and valid opportunity to make needed changes if we have the funds to launch our project?
2. Are the board and staff in total agreement that the project is important to the mission and future of the organization?
3. Do we have highly respected people in top-level volunteer leadership positions who are interested and ready to work on behalf of this project?
4. Do we have a close relationship with a specific potential donor who will give us 20% of our campaign goal?
5. Are our board and staff totally committed to focusing their work on the campaign for at least a year and will each individual make a stretch gift?
6. Does our community respect the work of our organization and feel it is important that the campaign be successful?
7. Do we believe the timing is economically and politically right for this campaign?
If you answered “no” to some of the questions, you have more work to do.
June Bradham is the president of Corporate DevelopMint, a full-service fundraising consulting firm with offices in Charleston, Greenville, Blowing Rock, N.C., and Memphis, Tenn. Send questions to cdm@corporatedevelopmint.com.
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