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Philanthropy and Business Integration

Chris Polk is a proven executive and emerging sector leader  with nearly two decades of experience in fundraising, philanthropy, marketing and corporate engagement. As counsel, he has also raised over $215 million for various client project initiatives across the United States.  His primary focus is working closely with entrepreneurs, impact investors, foundations, institutions of higher learning, independent schools, professional  associations,  arts & cultural organizations, progressive non profits and Fortune500 companies interested in strategic philanthropy, corporate partnership and community engagement.

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Case by case- what's yours?

3/3/2014

1 Comment

 
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I was recently asked by a client to provide some leadership advice regarding how to develop a quick strategy to increase major gift fundraising and attract new high capacity donors. I quickly responded with two requests of my own - “(1) Show me your vision statement and (2) show me your case statement.” In my opinion the latter is probably the most important and does not need to be a twenty page document. Case statements are obviously useful for everything from capital campaigns, to annual appeals and grant writing to developing a strategic appeal designed to attract new leadership level donors.


The key to writing a strong fundraising case is to anticipate the core questions that prospective donors may have about the project, answer them succinctly and to differentiate the effort for other projects/competition.

An important step is information gathering. Identify the following organizational information:
•your mission;
• your vision;
• your values;
• your strategic plan;
• your monetary goal and what that money buys;
• data on those you serve;
• trends;
• information on emerging or increasing needs;
• descriptions of programs and services;
• proof that your programs are worth doing and that they work.

After gathering information, I recommend sorting it into categories to create “personal  case,” which can be described as a collection of potentially useful information that’s unedited, confidential and not necessarily meant for circulation.

When developing the information for the case document, you should ask three questions:

Why us?, Why now? and Why you?

• Why us? — What is your organization doing that is so unique donors support its new plans?

• Why now? —Why is the fundraising initiative crucial today?

• Why you? — Why are donors/supporters critical to complete the vision?

A case, like a story, should have a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning presents the problem/solution, the middle supports the problem/solution with evidence and the end is the call to action, where you shift responsibility to donors’ shoulders.



Things that interest donors are:

1. Accomplishments, i.e., “What did you do with my money?”

2. Vision, i.e., “What could you do with my money?”

3. Recognition, i.e., “Did my support matter? Am I important?”

4. Efficiency, i.e., “Can I trust you with my money?”

Remember these simple ideas and you will be well  on your way to developing a simple yet comprehensive case that will support your fundraising needs and further engage your next generation of loyal donors. Good luck!







1 Comment
Cabinet Makers Tennessee link
12/14/2022 12:17:00 pm

Thoughtful blog, thanks for sharing.

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