If you’ve been in fundraising for a while, you’ve probably heard about case statements. Maybe you’ve read a few, or even written one.
Traditionally, this term refers to a text-only document of 10 or 20 pages that lays out the philanthropic case for an organization, campaign, or project in some detail. For decades, this was the model for defining and expressing why, exactly, people might give money to our organizations. If you wanted to raise money, you had to have a case (that part is still true), and if you wanted to have a case, you had to deliver it in the traditional format.
The Trouble With Case Statements
However, conventional case statements present a few problems. Here are a few of them:
They’re hard to write well. A well-done case statement is a magisterial thing: rich in substance, clear in structure and message, and vivid in language. But most suffer from a range of problems endemic to the format. Sustaining a clear structure and momentum through 15 pages of nonfiction is the rarefied art of long-form magazine writers. Most importantly, the length makes it fatally easy for us to keep adding content, piling on ideas, diluting messaging, and dodging our basic duty to commit to a clear central message.
They’re hard to use. Even when they’re done well, a lengthy narrative case statement is a bit like having a beautifully engineered luxury car — in your basement. That’s because most of the things you might want to do with this document require you to disassemble it, translate it into different media, and reassemble it in various formats and lengths that foster conversations.
They’re hard to love. What was the last text-heavy, 15-page document you truly loved? When was the last time you forwarded one to a friend? Do you remember any key lines from it, and what did you absorb from the rest?
What You Should Do Instead
Start by thinking of your case not as a document but as a set of messages you will use to prepare prospective donors for a solicitation.
- Focus on the core ideas you want to express and key questions you want to answer. Identify the messages you want people to receive, connect with, and repeat to others. Answers to those deeper questions form the heart of a compelling case.
- Next ask what kind of document would be the most useful vehicle to work through ideas, questions, and messages with my staff and board to build consensus? Here are three options that work well:
One-pager. (OK, maybe two pages. Use the front and back of a single page.) Use it however you want — lay out your big idea in a paragraph, spell out your five main messages in an outline, write an “elevator speech,” or make it a page of frequently asked questions. No matter what, the space limit will force you to distill your big ideas and commit to them. Don’t be deceived: Any compelling idea can be expressed meaningfully in a page or two. Once you have that, building it out into longer versions for specific applications (web copy, campaign brochure, etc.) is running downhill.
Case brief. This is a compromise with a nod to the traditional case statement. If you’re building the case for a complex campaign, think about having a four-pager for the campaign overall and a modular set of one- to four-page inserts for each of the major projects.
Presentation deck or “flipbook.” It’s not PowerPoint’s fault that most slide presentations are terrible. In fact, we think slides can be the best way to develop your case. The beauty of this approach is that it encourages you to think in terms of spoken language — which is what you need for meeting with major donors and empowering your board members to be ambassadors within their networks. Let each slide express one key idea, and use crystal-clear headlines, charts or graphics, examples and supporting details, and photography to deliver your case in a powerful, versatile flow.
Most important: Deliver the presentation to an audience of stakeholders to see what works and what needs honing. There’s no better way to get constructive feedback and avoid line editing by committee.
These aren’t the only options, but each format requires you to be clear about what you’re saying and makes it pretty obvious when you aren’t. Each fits well with committee-based reviews and consensus-building processes. And each is easy to expand or adapt to different purposes or audiences.
So the next time you come up against that age-old challenge of making your case for support, consider a contemporary approach that suits your needs and serves your stakeholders best.
Andy Brommel is director of communications consulting at Campbell & Company, a firm that advises nonprofits on fundraising.