Over the course of the last twenty years I have had the occasion to work with several very large non-profit agencies. One of the things that all non-profit agencies must get good at to survive is asking for money. The standard tool used in fundraising is something called a case statement.
A case statement, as the names implies, is a document created to make their case to the donor; to answer, why you should give us money.
When you think about it, there’s not that much difference between the profit and non-profit sectors. Almost every small business is proposing that the prospect trade money for something of value.
I have found the case statement to be a handy tool for cutting through the marketing hype and getting to the reason why a prospect should trade their money for what your have to offer.
Dump the traditional sales and marketing speak and create a case statement to compel your target market to understand why they should give you their money. This one-page document may be the most significant piece of marketing collateral you produce.
Your case statement should address the following:
- A statement of a challenge, frustration or problem that your target market experiences
- An image of what life is like when the problem is solved
- How they got here in the first place
- A path for them to follow
- A directed call to contact you
