Unit 3: Case Statement
An effective family philanthropy program requires more than a strategy. It requires the support and buy-in from your community foundation’s executive leadership and board. This unit helps you create an internal case statement to build support for your program.
DO: Building Your Internal Case Statement
Peter Panepento from Turn Two Communications developed two pieces to help community foundations develop internal case statements for support:
- Philanthropic Services Case Statement Worksheet – a six-question worksheet to help frame your case for support. [members only]
- Using the Case Statement Worksheet – instructions and key questions for internal discussion. [members only]
BORROW AND ADAPT: Business Plans and Models [members only]
In this folder, you’ll find internal case statement materials from community foundations in Seattle and Oregon, and a case statement worksheet from the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Fore more generic examples of case statements, see The Case for Community Philanthropy by Global Fund for Community Foundations and Common Core Case Statement by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
“What we’re seeing here in Oregon is a transition now with the wealth earners, the business establishers, and they’re asking us to help them figure out a way to work as a family across generations as they’re looking at transferring either business enterprises, or in some cases, working through their donor-advised funds here at OCF, to find a way to have the family gel.” – Laura Winter, Vice President for Donor Relations, The Oregon Community Foundation (Aug. 2016 Spark Session)
READ: How to Write a Great Case Statement
Consultants Tim Jones and Rakhi Kasat developed this two-page overview for environmental nonprofits.
WATCH (8:33): Creating a Case for Support
The University of California, Davis Fundraising and Development Foundations course offers a useful 8-minute video on creating case statements for fundraising.
READ: Sample Case Statements E-Book [members only]
Kirsten Bullock, a fundraising consultant, created this resource containing a series of sample case statements for the Fundraising Academy that can serve as a blueprint for writing the text for your internal case statement. She donated the e-book to NCFP for community foundations’ use.
TUNE-IN (75 minutes): Spark Session—Community Foundations in the Evolving Landscape of Family Philanthropy Services
How do affluent families and their advisors view community foundations as potential partners? What are the trends in advisory firms building out their own philanthropic expertise or subcontracting with others? How can community foundations better define and communicate their value proposition in an increasingly crowded field of philanthropic and family advising expertise? Nick Tedesco, NCFP President & CEO, Jennifer Touchet, Vice President of Personal and Family Philanthropy of the Greater Houston Community Foundation, and NCFP Program Consultant Tony Macklin discussed these questions and more on this 2020 webinar.