Is your nonprofit seeking a big investment for a special project or maybe planning a capital campaign? Whether you’re looking to upgrade facilities, launch a seed fund for new initiatives, build organizational capacity, or create an endowment, scaling your impact will require a well thought out and executed fundraising campaign. There are many essential ingredients needed for such a highly focused fundraising effort – strong board leadership, a motivated donor base, experienced development staff, and more. And at the very heart of every successful effort is a clearly articulated and compelling case for support.

Your case statement is a powerful fundraising tool that helps you excite and inspire donors, explain your project’s benefits and impact, and prove you have a solid game plan to bring donors onboard. Here are the key components that My Philanthropy Team recommends for your campaign case statement:

Organizational Background: This should include your organization’s history, mission, and values, but most importantly, your vision for the campaign. How will this project help propel your organization into the future?

Statement of Need: What challenge is your organization trying to solve and why is it critically important?

Campaign Fundraising Goal: Establish a bold and specific dollar amount that will help you realistically achieve your campaign goals.

Campaign Timeline & Implementation: By what date do you need to achieve your campaign fundraising goal? When will the project be carried out or completed? Include a timeline for all your major milestones.

Funding Priorities: If your campaign goal is met, what are the projects or programs that will be funded? How will these programs meet the stated needs, and what will be the impact on your organization, your clients, your community, and beyond?

Success Stories: Include heartfelt and well-written pieces about how your programs have made an impact. This can include quotes from clients, program case studies, stakeholder vignettes, and more. It’s also important to have high-quality and compelling visuals throughout your case statement!

Campaign leadership: List your campaign leadership, board members, and key staff. Include honorary chairs and committee members and endorsements of elected officials if applicable.

Measures of Success: How will you measure and evaluate success throughout the campaign timeline? What are the key metrics and milestones you aim to achieve? Some examples include total dollars raised, donors activated, and solicitations made.

Business Plan: How will campaign dollars be used? Show donors your program budgets, projected revenues, and your sustainability plan. In other words, once the campaign is complete, how will your organization raise ongoing operating costs to sustain the work?

How to make a gift: Close the document with details about who to contact or where to learn more about the campaign (such as a website) and, of course, how to donate. Never underestimate the power of your case statement to inspire an immediate gift to your campaign!

My Philanthropy Team has put together an easy-to-follow Case Statement Outline to help you organize your case for support. To receive this resource, sign up for My Philanthropy Team’s monthly newsletter. Our monthly newsletter contains helpful knowledge and tips on all aspects of non-profit fundraising and management.

Need Help? Call My Philanthropy Team! If you’re planning a capital campaign, and need a thought partner or implementation partner, My Philanthropy Team is skilled in all phases of capital campaigns, from pre-campaign planning to feasibility studies, campaign kickoffs, and beyond. Schedule a call today!

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