Preparing a case for support
Abstract
To compete with other organizations for volunteers, donations, in-kind services, media attention and other kinds of support, it is essential to set your initiative apart from similar endeavors. This practice from Campaign Consultation helps you write a case for support that attracts volunteers, increases stakeholder commitment, builds community awareness and draws in support for your initiative. Excerpted from Honoring and Sustaining Work in Rural Communities Participant Notebook from the 2000 National Senior Corps Conference in Orlando, Florida.Issue
Competing for support — whether it be from volunteers, businesses, foundations, or community members — requires some marketing savvy and planning. Before people give, they want to make sure their time or money will be well spent on a worthwhile cause. A well-planned and articulated case for support can help an organization ask for the resources it needs and build support for its mission.Action
A case for support should....- Focus on what sets the initiative apart from similar endeavors and assures its relevancy to the community
- Share pertinent facts to highlight your initiative's competence and effectiveness
- Serve as the centerpiece of marketing and resource development
- Present an impact beyond the initiative — it's big!
- Reveal a solution to meeting an unmet need
- Request support for a relevant and urgent need which moves people to respond both logically and emotionally
- Specify the resources required to meet the need — i.e., increased funding, changes in public policy, expanded collaborations, etc.
- Cause people who read and learn of the case to feel that they have a chance to make history and that the time for action is NOW.
- Write in the present tense as if your strategies are already reality.
- Include distinctive and innovative programs. Give supporters examples, illustrations, and case histories of your organization's success stories.
- Keep the case simple and brief. Do not drown supporters in data. All the "vital statistics" belong in the attachments.
- Highlight evidence of the planning behind the program. It shows prospects that the initiative is managed in a business-like way.
- Anticipate questions and answer particular concerns expressed by every reader of the case statement such as other volunteers, clients, legislators, bureaucrats, business people, funders and leaders of faith-based communities.
- Be concrete and specific. Do not say, " Our initiative is a model of success"; describe how it is successful and why it is a model.
- State your goals in positive terms and relate what the organization is, rather than what it is not.
- Mission: Describe why your initiative exists and the activities/services you do to achieve your vision.
- Achievements: Establish your initiative's expertise and describe its past achievements. Explain its relevancy and reveal how it impacts the environment. Give the big picture.
- Problem (or opportunity): Convey what needs to be addressed today —incorporate logic and emotion.
- Trends affecting the problem (or opportunity): Show your knowledge and insight
- Respond to the problem (or opportunity): Unfold the answer -— how will your initiative respond to the need and to the trends? Incorporate urgency.
- Needed resources: Describe what you have and what you need.
- Role of the prospective donor: Discuss how the donor can help, how you can help the donor achieve his or her goals, and share possible recognition opportunities.
- Summary: Describe how the support will meet the need, how success will be evaluated, how the situation will be addressed in the future. Keep the perspective big.
- Leadership lists
- Anecdotal stories, case studies
- Budgets
- Program/ project plans
- Demographics and statistics
- 501(C )(3) documentation
- Letters of support
- Printed newspaper articles
- Recognition opportunities
- Photographs
Context
A case for support can have many uses beyond grant applications and asking for donations. Have a case for support ready to distribute to media organizations, potential volunteers, community leaders, or other possible supporters.Citation
Honoring and Sustaining Work in Rural Communities: Participant Notebook. Baltimore: Campaign Consultation, Inc., 2000. pp.14-18.Outcome
A well-written and planned case for support...- Attracts support for the solutions your initiative wishes to accomplish.
- Builds consensus and buy-in.
- Increases stakeholder commitment.
- Attracts volunteers to fundraising, program, public policy, etc.
- Builds community awareness.
- Researches and collects valuable community attitudes.
- Tests marketplace readiness.
Posted On
May 31, 2001For More Information
Campaign Consultation, Inc.
2819 Saint Paul Street
Baltimore,
MD
21218-4312
Phone: (410) 243-7979
Toll-free: 1-877-234-2253
Fax: (410) 243-1024
Website: http://www.campaignconsultation.com/
Resources
From The Resource Center library:
Honoring and Sustaining Work in Rural Communities: Participant Notebook
Item number: R1841