In Securing Your Organization's Future, Michael Seltzer defines the case statement in the following way:

"A case statement is simply a written document that states the most important facts about an organization. It can range in length from a wallet-size card to twenty pages or more. Preparing such a statement provides the opportunity to amass data that will best illustrate the competence of your staff and the effectiveness of your work."

The case statement, also called the case for support, is the core document of any fundraising campaign, especially for specific fundraising initiatives such as capital or endowment campaigns. The case statement should include your mission, vision and values statements, and should set out to clearly answer the who, what, and why of your fundraising efforts. Some questions that an effective case statement might seek to answer:

- How does this organization help people?
- Who do we help?
- What vital services do we offer?
- What is our organization's track record?
- What are our plans for the future?
- How do we use our money?
- Why do we deserve support?

There are of course many other questions that might be answered in an effective case statement. For examples of actual nonprofit case statements, Google is a good starting point.

See also our related Knowledge Base articles:

- Where can I learn more about fundraising planning?
- Proposal writing articles

More articles about the funding research process

Have a question about this topic? Ask us!

Candid's Online Librarian service will answer your questions within two business days.

Ask us

Explore resources curated by our staff for this topic: