DEVELOP
YOUR CASE
FOR SUPPORT

Your nonprofit is solving a problem in the world, or meeting a need. Your work is critical, and is making a difference. There are many organizations doing good work – perhaps even on the same issue that you are addressing. So you need to differentiate yourself.

Your case for support explains your mission, and your vision for the future. It will include some confidence building history and achievements, and a story. It outlines defined goals to be achieved within a specified timeframe, and explains your strategy. The strategy will be carried out by different tactics (projects, initiatives), each of which has an operational plan. Your organization’s fundraising needs are then laid out with a budget that covers staff and operations. Your case for support will be used with your board, staff, donors, and volunteers. It defines for everybody what better world you are working towards. It is why your board members volunteer, it is why your employees work for you, it is why donors choose to give to and through your organization. It is an organizing rally cry that inspires and engages.

CONNECT WITH DONORS

You want prospective donors (and volunteers) whose hearts align with your mission to choose your organization. There are many worthy causes, and many good organizations making a difference. Your donor partners choose to put their confidence in your mission and methodology – giving through you to make a difference in the world.

Our process starts with your current universe of volunteers and donors, and then moves to possibilities of donor acquisition. We help you think through your fundraising goals – for instance, would you rather have a thousand donors that each give $1000, ten donors that each give $100,000, or one donor that gives $1 million? Let’s face it- everybody wants the million dollar donors! The strategies for each of these scenarios are all very different and all three types of donors are important. The path to million dollar donors is almost always one of many years of organizational loyalty, regardless of amount.

We will help you think through your immediate and long term goals, and how to build a fundraising operation that is sustainable and productive – both for your organization as well as for your donors.

BUILD OPERATIONAL STRENGTH

Like most nonprofits, you are already working as hard as you possibly can, driven by the importance of your mission and the critical work you do. There is a need in the world that your organization exists to meet, and you live with that urgency every day. You have dreams about how you could extend your mission in breadth or depth, but to do that you need time to think strategically. You need money. You need more people. We can help you assess your available resources:

○ Identify your staff’s strengths and passions to align them most effectively with work that energizes them most and empowers them to be creative. We can help you draft or refine job descriptions to include fundraising and help manage the impact of related communications and calendar commitments. We can help hire and train if useful.

○ Develop operational work plans and organizational systems to be more efficient, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

○  Work within your available operational budget and organizational resources so that solutions are titrated appropriately, and positioned for growth fueled by philanthropic investment.