Q: I work for a pretty small organization. We’ve been able to get started on government and foundation grants, and after two years working hard to build an Annual Fund, my board thinks we’re ready to add a major giving program. I have never done this before. I’m willing to try it, and I’m reading everything I can on how to do major gift fundraising, but I’m scared and I’m stuck. I know I need a case statement, but I don’t know how to write one, and I have no idea what to say. Do you have a template you recommend?
A: I don’t recommend a lot of templates. They can be very very useful, don’t get me wrong, but templates too often give people implicit permission to literally think inside the box. You’re so focused on properly filling in the blanks in your form (sorry – template) that you’re no longer thinking about what you actually need: what makes your story unique, what makes the way you tell your story unique, and what makes your audience unique.
So I’m going to do two things: first, congratulate you on asking for help, and two, encourage you to keep doing it.
Oh, and since I’m not totally heartless, I’m going to explain that, and give you a worksheet for how to create a case statement.
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