The Internal Case Statement

Purposes and Process

Provided by:

Brydon M. DeWitt, President

DeWitt & Associates, Inc.

Richmond, VA 23233

Telephone: (804) 364-0145

Email: bdewitt@dewittandassociates.com

From Ugly Duckling to Beautiful Swan

What We’ll Cover

• What is a case statement?– Internal?– External?

• Why is a case statement important?

• For whom is it written?

• How is it created?

• How is it used?

Defining Development

Development is a process

designed to build commitment to the mission and purpose of your nonprofit

organization through nurturing lasting and mutually satisfying relationships with your

logical constituency

Are You Ready to Write the Case?

• Mission statement – current and compelling?

• Current strategic plan?

Or

• Board approved priorities?

• Identification of “value propositions”

• Identification of your target audiences

The Value Proposition

• “A marketing offer (value proposition) is a proposal by a marketer to make available to a target audience a value proposition consisting of a desirable combination of positive and negative

consequences if, and only if, the target audience undertakes a desired action.” -- Kotler

The Value Proposition

• Positive consequences

– Getting a needed or desired product

– Getting a needed or desired service

– Facilitating one or both of the above

• Negative consequences

– Costs the target audience has to pay

• BCOS Factors (Behavioral Drivers)

– Benefits– Costs– Others– Self-assurance

Centrality of the Target Audience

• What the target audience members think, want, and how they act determine how you try to influence them.

• Marketing research MUST find out:

– What they are like– What they will respond to– What is keeping them from responding as the

marketer wants them to

• Who Are Your Target Audiences?

• How does your nonprofit meet one or more of their needs (value

propositions)?

What Is an Internal Case Statement?

Ugly Duckling

Beautiful Swan

Purposes of the Internal Case Statement

• Obtain internal consensus about the goals and objectives of the nonprofit

Purposes of the Internal Case Statement

• Serve as a resource and a basis for marketing and fundraising publications, marketing materials, and proposals (external case brochure, etc.)

• Executive Summary

– Recruit and inspire volunteer leadership

– Play a key role in market-testing

– Assist in raising major gifts

The Case Statement is the Organization’s Clear Statement About . . .

• Its programs and goals

• The goals of the fundraising program to support the organization:

– What will the funds enable? – How will the success of the program strengthen the

organization? – Why is the reaching of the goals vital to society and

particularly to the target audiences of the organization?

• Ways in which the organization will remain significantly productive in the next 3-5 years.

Answers the Central Question. . .

. . .“If you didn’t exist, would somebody invent you?”

The Purpose of the Internal Case Statement

• Getting a consensus about the organization’s:

• How the organization will be described to target audiences and the general public

• Priorities – program and funding

• the directions envisioned

The Purpose and Use of the Internal Case Statement

• The resources deemed most crucial

• The avenues of service to be stressed and opened up

• The thrust in its service area.

The Purpose and Use of the Internal Case Statement

• Testing the market with the executive summary:

 

– Obtaining reaction of leaders and opinion molders as to the direction of the organization is taking and the priorities established.

– Determine how leaders feel about gift requirements.

– Receive input on projected timing of capital fundraising

– Gain information about who might support program with major gifts and assist in carrying out the program.

The Purpose and Use of the Internal Case Statement

• Identifying/recruiting Board members and other key volunteers

• Recruiting volunteer leadership for the solicitation of major gifts.

• Obtaining major gifts early in a capital program

What the Internal Case Includes

• Begin at the beginning 

– How did your organization begin?

– Who did you serve and why?

– What prominent person or group of persons were involved?

– Role in society, in education, etc.

– What were your early significant accomplishments?

– If you have changed -- how and why?

What the Internal Case Includes

• What must be preserved – and why?

• If your organization did not exist, would somebody invent it? (Value propositions)

What the Internal Case Includes

• Current, correct, and memorable mission statement

• How is the organization fulfilling an important role in your community -- in society?

• How is it distinctive?

• What are its recent significant accomplishments?

What the Internal Case Includes

• What are the measures of current success? How successful is the organization?

• What impact is being made on the community, on society, on the church, etc.?

What the Internal Case Includes• What have been the physical developments of the organization?

• How has the physical plant developed and in response to what need(s)?

• How has the (faculty, staff) grown and improved its ability to serve?

• Is the client/student base growing or stable? What are the projections for the next 3-5 years?

• Has the organization traditionally operated in a fiscally sound manner?

• Have financial resources been provided by the organization’s constituency in the past when the organization needed that support?

What the Internal Case Includes

• What does the nonprofit need to do in the next 3 years to move toward fulfilling its mission?

 

• How were the organization’s development priorities determined?

• What are the challenges must be faced and overcome?

• What opportunities are there?

• What weaknesses and threats must be addressed?

What the Internal Case Includes

• How much money will must be raised and for what purposes?

– Operating/current program support?– New construction and/or renovation?– Building endowment?

• How will these objectives be accomplished?

• What is the time frame in which each objective should be completed?

Supporting Materials

• List of the kinds of gifts that will be accepted

• List of the opportunities to name physical facilities and endowed funds

• Year-by-year overview of the development program

• Summary of financial information for previous three to five years

• Summary of endowment growth over previous five to ten years

• Summary of fund-raising progress over previous five years

Supporting Materials

• Summary of enrollment data for previous five years (colleges and schools)

• Summary of clients served for previous five years (social service agencies, health care organizations, etc.)

• Examples of achievement by alumni(ae), faculty, physicians, researchers, professional staff, etc

• Lists of the Board of Directors/Trustees, Advisory Groups, and any other significant volunteer participation

Process of Creating the Internal Case

• Strategic planning is important; at the least, Board must have defined major objectives

• Creation of the Case Statement Committee (may include Executive Director, chief development officer, top staff members, Board chair, Board development chair)

• Creating the action steps and time line

Process of Creating the Internal Case

• One person writes first draft. 

– Knowledgeable about all aspects of organization

– Talks to administrators, faculty, medical staff, other staff, students, Board members, etc.

– Understands audience for which statement is written

– Relinquishes pride of authorship

Preparing Printed Materials

• Forms of the printed material

– Executive summary– Presentational case for individual prospects and group

presentations– Brochure for the capital gifts program or campaign– Pamphlet on organizational facts– Brochure on ways to give– Newsletter on estate planning– Special materials for one particular prospect– Brochure on memorials

Questions. . . .

Ask questions by phoning Brydon at (804) 364-0145, texting to (804) 387-9451, or emailing bdewitt@dewittandassociates.com.

All questions and inquiries will be answered.