1. Case for Support:
the heart of a
strategy that
really works

2. Purpose of Case for Support
To win
hearts
minds
$£€
of your donors

3. To Win Support from Donors...
Be clear
Tell them your ‘story’ – make sure
it has a beginning, a middle,
and an end.
Be compelling
Tell the parts of your ‘story’ that
are most interesting, attractive
and emotionally powerful for
supporters.

4. To Win Support from Donors…
Be comprehensible
Speak the language your supporters
understand.
Be consistent
Same story,
same tone of voice,
for all media.

5. Internal External
The Case for Support ‘translates’ your
organisation to your supporters:
Vision
Mission
Values
Work
Strategy
Etc.

6. Your Role as A Fundraiser
To achieve a balance between:
what you want language you
people to know use internally
and and
what your language your
audiences find audience
interesting understands

7. Most Important...
Your ‘story’
must
attract
your donors’
attention

8. Even More Important…
Your ‘story’
must be
MORE ATTRACTIVE
than your
competitors’ stories

9. Case
for
Support
Framework

10. Nine Questions
1. What is the problem?
2. What drives you to try to help?
3. What will change?
4. Who are you?
5. What makes you special?
6. What do you actually do?
7. What sort of people are you?
8. How have you spent donor money in the past?
9. What will you spend my money on?

11. Case for Support
The Need What problems are we trying to solve?
Our Core Belief What are we passionate about?
Our vision for When the problems have been solved, in what way
the future will the world be a better place?
Who we are What is our role? What ‘type’ of organisation are we?
What makes us Why you should choose to support us, rather
Special than other organisations.
Our Personality How we will behave in all that we do.
Our Work Who we work with, where we work, the threats/issues
we tackle, the services we deliver, how we work
How your support What your support has helped us achieve in the past,
makes a difference what we need you to help us achieve in the future.

12. Who are you talking to?
Donors
Members
Major donors
Trusts, foundations
Companies
Grant-making donors
Volunteer fundraisers
and groups
Campaigners, activists
General public
Young people

13. 1. Need

14. Need / Cause
Defines the problem,
threat or issue that the
organisation fundamentally
exists to deal with.
Organisations often have
difficulty describing the need:
– Implicit
– Lost in the mists of time

15. Need
What can you write or say
that is as powerful
as these pictures?

16. INSERT YOUR OWN POWERFUL NEED
IMAGES HERE

19. David Walton/PIH

20. Need - examples
WaterAid:
Over a billion people don’t have safe water
and over two billion don’t have somewhere
safe and clean to go to the toilet.
As a result a child dies every fifteen seconds
from water related diseases. People’s
livelihoods, education and dignity are also
affected.

21. Need - examples
Merlin:
Millions of people die, and the lives of
hundreds of millions more are severely
damaged every year by natural disasters,
disease, conflict and the collapse of health
care systems.

22. 2. Core Belief

23. Core Belief
Drives the organisation
and the people who
work for it.
What we are passionate about.

24. Core Belief - examples
YWCA believes that young women enrich
the world; to discriminate
against them is to deny young women
their right to equality and social justice.

25. Core Belief - examples
In times of acute need Merlin believes in
striving to save lives while leaving a
legacy of improved health care.

26. 3. Vision

27. Vision
Inspirational change
- even if we are
contributing only
a small part.
When we have
put ourselves out
of business, in what
way will the world be a better place?

28. Vision - examples
WWF’s vision is of a world in which
humans live in harmony with nature.

29. Vision - examples
Amnesty’s vision is of a world in which
every person enjoys all of the human
rights enshrined in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and other
international human rights standards.

30. 4. Who We Are

31. Who we are
Our name
+
Our cause
+
The most important
thing we want to say
about our work

32. Who we are - examples
Guide Dogs provides guide dogs
to blind and partially sighted people.

33. Who we are - examples
Amnesty International is a worldwide
movement of people who campaign for
internationally recognized human rights.

34. Who we are - examples
Merlin responds worldwide with
vital health care and medical
relief for vulnerable people caught up in
natural disasters, conflict, disease and health
system collapse.

35. 5. What makes us Special

36. What Makes us Special?
Those attributes which are distinctive when
compared to your main competitors.
Enables you to stand out
in increasingly crowded
market places.

37. What makes us special - examples
WWF is the world's largest and most experienced
independent conservation organisation.

38. What makes us special - examples
Guide Dogs is the only UK charity that provides guide
dogs to blind and
partially sighted people.

39. 6. Our Work

40. Our Work – 5 Questions
Who do you work with? (beneficiaries, those
you help)
Where do you work?
Which issues do you address?
What services do you deliver?
What methods do you use?

41. Who we work with
ActionAid works with the world’s poorest
people experiencing the
worst injustices.

42. Where we work
Oxfam works with partners in over
70 countries worldwide.

43. Issues we tackle
WWF focuses on six globally important issues:
• Climate change
• Forests
• Freshwater
• Marine
• Species
• Toxics

44. Issues we tackle
Merlin responds worldwide to emergencies
and crises caused by:
Natural disasters
Conflict
Disease
Health system collapse

45. Threats/Issues we tackle
Internationally, ActionAid
focuses on six urgent priorities:
The rights of women and girls
Food and hunger
Conflict resolution
Access to education and the opportunity to
develop a livelihood
Healthcare, especially HIV and AIDS
Fair and just governance

46. Services We Deliver
WaterAid provides:
Safe water
Effective sanitation
Hygiene education

47. Services We Deliver
Merlin’s emergency medical
relief work focuses on:
Preventing and treating epidemics
Distributing emergency drug supplies
Operating mobile clinics
Providing safe drinking water, food and
shelter

48. Methods of working
YWCA works through:
• Educational group work.
• One to one support and information
services.
• Local and national campaigning.
• Research into young women’s issues.

49. How we work – examples
WWF works through a combination of:
• Action on the ground
• National and international advocacy work
to establish appropriate policies
• International campaigns to highlight and
demonstrate solutions to crucial
environmental problems

50. 7. Our Personality

51. Personality
People give to people.
Need to create a “personality”
for your organisation.
How each member of staff or volunteer can be
recognised as being part of that organisation,
through his or her behaviour.

52. Personality - examples
ActionAid:
In all that we do, we are brave, modern and
honest.
Dimensions:
We are friendly, enthusiastic, honest, reliable,
committed and caring.

53. 8. How your support has made a
difference

54. What Your Support has Achieved
How has your supporters’ money been spent to
best effect in the past?
How have your supporters’ voices been used most
powerfully in the past?
What are your Top 10
all-time best achievements?

55. What Your Support has Achieved
Merlin touched down in Sri Lanka less
than 48 hours after the Tsunami disaster
on December 26th, 2004, and was the first
international NGO to plan a co-ordinated relief effort
with the Ministry of Health.
In 2004, Merlin mobile clinics gave medical aid to
around 50,000 people fleeing their villages to escape
the violence in South Darfur.
In the Takhar Province of Afghanistan, Merlin runs a
community midwife training programme to combat
the high death in childbirth under the Taliban.

56. 9. How your future support will
make a difference

57. Why Your Future Support is needed
What will supporters’ money be spent on in the
future?
How will supporters’ voices be used in the future?
Does your organisation’s
strategy have clearly
defined outcomes?

58. Why Your Future Support is needed
ACTIONAID
By supporting ActionAid you are supporting the poorest
people in the world.
You are giving them vital services like clean water, education
and healthcare. You are enabling them to gain knowledge of
their basic human rights – so they are equipped with the
information, skills and confidence they need to change their
lives themselves.
Above all your support will help poor people throughout the
world fight poverty and build a better future.

59. Why Your Future Support is needed
Take action with UNICEF
By becoming a member of UNICEF UK’s Campaigns Network you
will join thousands of people across the UK who are all working
to achieve change. Campaigning for children's rights is at the
very heart of UNICEF UK's work. However, the challenges facing
children exceed the capacity of any single organisation – by far.
That is why your support is invaluable. Only with your help can
we make a positive difference and build a world that is fit for
children.

60. Case for Support
The Need What problems are we trying to solve?
Our Core Belief What are we passionate about?
Our vision for When the problems have been solved, in what way
the future will the world be a better place?
Who we are What is our role? What ‘type’ of organisation are we?
What makes us Why you should choose to support us, rather
Special than other organisations.
Our Personality How we will behave in all that we do.
Our Work Who we work with, where we work, the threats/issues
we tackle, the services we deliver, how we work
How your support What your support has helped us achieve in the past,
makes a difference what we need you to help us achieve in the future.