Summer reset #1: Build your new case for support
The first step in preparing for an uncertain year ahead is to build your new case for support.
You may be thinking, we have a great case…why build a new one?
You need a new case for support for one simple reason: We are not who we were a few months ago.
The world is not the same. What we’ve experienced this year is not a temporary ‘blip’ or a quick pause. We are all indefinitely—and probably permanently—changed. Some of those changes are challenges and others are opportunities. But all of them are big.
Your mission is not the same. Your mission was created in a certain context—to solve a problem or create an opportunity. Because the context has changed, the role of your mission in the world has changed too. It’s also likely that what you do and how you do it have changed too.
Your donors are not the same. Donors are people too. They have lived through all the turmoil of this year like anyone, experiencing the same heartbreak, hope, frustration, and breakthroughs. The way they think about the world, your mission, and their role in it is different now.
It won’t be enough to wait for things to settle down so you can resume fundraising as usual.
It won’t be enough to tweak your case to add in a few crisis-related talking points.
Your organization must become thoroughly and genuinely relevant.
If you’re not relevant today, you will not be relevant for years to come.
So, take out a blank sheet of paper. Forget your scripts and talking points and routines. Start with an entirely fresh perspective.
Follow along with this recording of our webinar last week or the recap below.
For additional support…
How to start: Find your why
No matter what your organization does, you play an important role in the holistic response to the very complex crisis we are facing.
To find your relevancy, start by watching (or re-watching) this the iconic TED Talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action by Simon Sinek.
A simple, powerful concept—that has never been more important.
People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.
In our world, we can translate that to…
People don’t give to what you do. They give to why you do it.
Our why is our root motivation. What gets us out of bed in the morning and drives us to create and innovate. As Simon shares, it’s usually hard to explain. A why speaks directly to our ‘gut’—not to our rational brain. And it turns out, we only think we make decisions rationally. In reality, we make them on a gut level and then rationalize them afterwards with facts and details.
That’s why people don’t give to what you do. They give to why you do it.
What you do simply helps them justify a decision they have already made. For your case then, the most important ingredient isn’t clever logic. Or proof points. Or data. Or metrics. Or even stories. It’s your why—and your why probably isn’t what you think it is.
Finding your why
Here’s how you can explore what it is…
Write down on your blank piece of paper your answers to the following questions. No jargon – your real answers.
Why does your organization exist?
Look at that answer and ask: Why?
And again: Why?
And so on…until you reach a few words that move you.
Your answer may surprise you. For example, if you’re fundraising to cure a disease, you may think the cure is your why. But when you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that the cure is not why you exist, it’s how you’re going to get to your dream: Freedom from the disease. The cure is not your why. Freedom is your why.
That ‘gut’ craving for freedom drives your researchers and fundraisers. And it drives your donors—especially your loyal and transformational supporters.
People don’t give to what you do. They give to why you do it.
Finding your relevancy in your why
The strength of your case for support comes entirely from your why.
When your why speaks to what we are feeling, experiencing, and hoping for, we’re inspired to join you.
Months into the COVID crisis, it’s clear that we’re no longer facing only a COVID crisis. We are facing an everything crisis. There’s virtually no aspect of our lives left untouched, and we will be navigating the consequences for a very long time.
Early on, your relevancy came from having a COVID-related program or two.
Today, your relevancy comes from who you are.
To rebuild your case for support, we are not going to change your mission, we are going to look at it through a new lens.
Make a list. What are all the challenges and opportunities facing your community? Imagine yourself in your clients’ shoes. What has life been like? What has changed? What do you hope for? Do the same exercise for your donors and volunteers. For your city, state, country, or world.
Now ask: How does our why speak to this list? What is the connection about why we exist and what our community is experiencing?
There’s your relevancy.
To be relevant, you don’t have to respond to everything we are facing. But you have to respond to something. And it can’t be your side program. It has to be who you are.
How to build your case
Once you find your why and connect it you can start building the case. Here’s a snapshot of the process.
To go deeper, check out our Case Development Workbook.
Describe your how
As Simon Sinek explains, our how is our set of differentiators, or our value proposition. For a nonprofit, it’s how you manage to be particularly effective at working toward your why—in other words, why a philanthropic dollar invested with you goes especially far.
Here are questions that can help you describe your how:
What is the ‘secret sauce’ of your impact as an organization?
What is unique about your approach?
Jot down all the ideas that come to mind. Once you’ve filled up a page, consolidate your answers into short lists. Explore a few options. Look over your options and pick the set that inspires you most.
You should end up with 1-3 how statements of no more than 3-5 words each.
You should be able to list them quickly and simply. Your donors should be able to remember them.
Package your what
Now we get to the step most of us find most comfortable: Talking about what we do.
Here are the questions to ask:
What are the main areas of your work?
What do you do?
What you’ll notice is, we didn’t ask for a comprehensive list of every single one of your programs.
In fact, we didn’t ask about your programs at all. We asked about what you do.
When you do this exercise, force yourself to skip the jargon and the fancy program names. Use words that anyone could understand—no definitions required.
‘Bucket’ your programs by impact or type of work.
You should end up with 3-5 what statements of no more than 3-5 words each.
Again, you should be able to list them quickly and simply. Your donors should be able to remember them.
Pull it all together with a call to action
So far, what we have been doing is assembling ingredients. We can drop them into this chart as a cheat sheet for when we start writing pieces and talking points.
1 why
1-3 hows
3-5 whats
And now, we add…
A call to action
And, if needed, a couple of proof points to keep in our back pocket
When it comes to calls to action, you have many options:
Join us…in supporting our neighbors
Lead…our community out of this crisis
Donate to…end hunger
Make possible…a new type of education
Transform…the lives of children in our community
Accelerate…cures for cancer
A strong call to action connects to your why.
Consider removing the word ‘help’. A donation to your work is the work. Give your donors the full credit of their investment. They are not helping to cure cancer. They are curing cancer.
With all your ingredients assembled, try writing out your case for support in a paragraph or two, weaving together the elements in your chart.
Note: It may help to first develop your Case Story that distills the problem, the solution, your organization’s role, and your donor’s role. Check out the step-by-step guide in our Case Development Workbook.
Avoid common mistakes
Once you’ve assembled your ingredients and put your thoughts on paper, it’s time to look over what you’ve done and correct for common mistakes.
Consider the pointers below general guidance, rather than hard and fast rules. What’s most important is that you use your voice to inspire.
Important note: these pointers apply to relationship-based fundraising. We suggest always starting your case development focused on the top of your donor pyramid. From there, you can version it for other audiences—such as direct mail, which works slightly differently. It’s easy to version a transformational case for other audiences. It’s difficult to version a transactional case for transformational giving.
Mistake #1: Making it all about you
Your case should share your vision and celebrate your achievements. But it shouldn’t be all about you.
After all, you are not the story. You are the vehicle for the real story: Neighbors helping neighbors. Your donors, volunteers, staff, and clients working together to make the world a better place.
Tell the story from the point of view of your community. Put the people in your community front and center. This includes the subjects of your sentences. Rather than… “XYZ Food Bank served hundreds of meals” say… “XYZ Food Bank volunteers served hundreds of meals to their neighbors.”)
Avoid talking about your fiscal year or your financial goals on their own. Instead, talk about the impact that additional funds can make.
While a handful of board members or major donors might be willing to give to help you meet your fundraising targets, your finances are not terribly interesting to most donors.
Neither are your programs.
What is interesting is your why—how a donation goes right to the heart of your mission to touch the cause you serve.
Mistake #2: Selling a sinking ship
Last week a major donor said to me: “What my fellow philanthropists and I are worrying about right now is the risk of years of giving going down the drain. As I consider where to give, I’m looking for organizations that are going to survive—who know where they want to go and have a plan to get there.”
We are all burnt out on crisis. We are not hard-wired to sustain this kind of adrenaline-fueled response for this long.
As much as we want to respond urgently, what we want more is hope.
Relevancy, you see, doesn’t come from crisis messaging. It comes from your why. Donors are eager to support a future backed by a plan that creates opportunities – they want to be part of making the world a less crisis-ridden place.
Don’t threaten your donors with language such as, “If we don’t raise enough, we won’t be able to…” Inspire them with hope: “If we raise enough, we will be able to…”
Communicate the fundamental ‘problem’ your organization is working to solve, but use most of your real estate in collateral, proposals, and marketing to share your vision and the difference a donation can make.
A few donors may give to save your organization. Many donors will give to invest in something that lasts.
Mistake #3: Being boring
Your case for support should be easy to understand and compelling—even before a donor knows anything about what you do.
Avoid lots of facts, jargon, acronyms, and branded program names.
Instead, use intuitive language that resonates with any audience.
If donors want more detail, they will ask for it. Use your case to spark curiosity.
Don’t force donors to learn everything about your organization. Make it simple to be inspired.
How to put your case to work
So far, what we’ve been working on is a case ‘boilerplate’—a paragraph or two that summarizes why you exist, how you work, what you do, and how donors can join you.
Write a few versions of your boilerplate until it feels right.
Once you’ve got it, start replicating it everywhere. And by replicating it we mean: Use the exact same words.
In some cases, you may add a little more detail. In others less. Sometimes you may feature a client story to bring it to life. Sometimes you may use just one line at a time. In all cases, use as much of your boilerplate language exactly as you wrote it.
In a noisy world, repetition is the only way to cut through the clutter.
Build out a toolkit for yourself that includes:
Collateral to share with donors, such as one-pagers, a case statement, template proposals, template letters, etc.
Talking points for conversations with donors and volunteers
Public messaging, such as your website, email, direct mail, social media, advertising, etc.
Even before you build out all your tools, put your case into practice—and watch it inspire new conversations, new giving, and new loyalty to your mission.