I started my career many years ago as a composition and rhetoric teacher for AP students at the high school level. One of my favorite lessons to teach was the ‘Modes of Persuasion’, coined by Aristotle himself. As a fundraiser, I still use these concepts everyday when talking to donors, and they are truly the cornerstone of an effective case statement.
A well-articulated and persuasive case statement is a powerful tool in every fundraiser’s toolkit. Most organizations recognize the case statement as an important pillar to any capital campaign or major fundraising strategy.
Read below to learn how to craft a persuasive case statement that appeals to even the most discerning donors.
What is a Case Statement?
In a nutshell, a case statement is a lengthy document, often several pages, that clearly articulates to your donors who you are, what you do, why its important, and what you need funding for. The content included in the case statement serves as the foundation for all language used by staff, board, and volunteers throughout the campaign process.
A case statement is more than just a marketing document for your project. It is a powerful piece of persuasion that lays out a compelling argument for donors, community members, and stakeholders to contribute a major gift to your campaign.
When should you write a case statement?
Your case statement is an important process in campaign planning that should follow the results of your feasibility study. It is important that the content in your case statement is informed by, and derived from, the feedback of your donors and stakeholders.
Ideally, your feasibility study uncovered important feedback from your donors about what compels them to give to your organization, how they feel about your campaign project and its proposed goal, and how they perceive the impact of their gifts. In other words, your donors are telling you what they like about your organization and what motivates them to give. You can then use this information to craft a compelling and persuasive argument in your case statement.
What should a case statement include?
Your organization probably has hundreds, if not thousands, of donors, and the reasons that each of those individuals donate to your organization are all very different.
The key to writing a truly compelling case statement is understanding what motivates your donors to give, and furthermore, how to appeal to those motivations.
This is where we can borrow some help from our friend, Aristotle, and his three Modes of Persuasion: pathos, ethos, and logos.
Pathos means to persuade your reader by appealing to their emotions. Use pathos in your case statement to invoke an emotional response from your donors. You can appeal to a wide range of emotions: pity, fear, anger, love, sympathy, etc. Pathos can be accomplished by using inspiring language, emotional tones, and anecdotes and stories of people and events.
Ethos means to persuade your reader by convincing them of your organization’s credibility. Ethos is the Greek work for ‘character’ and refers to your ethics. Ethos can be accomplished in your case statement by introducing your organization’s expertise, track record of success, and articulating your impact. These appeals convince your donors of your credibility as an organization.
Logos is an appeal to logic, and means to convince your reader through the use of logic and facts. You can accomplish logos in your case statement by citing facts, statistics, and data, or by citing and referring to certain authorities or experts on a subject. Logos is particularly effective at appealing to analytical donors who tend to view their donations as ‘investments’.
This next part is important. In order to build a compelling and persuasive case statement, you must use all three modes of persuasion because they all work together to build an argument.
Often times, we find that appeals to emotion are the most effective mode of persuasion, but the least reliable for the donor. Appeals to logic are the most reliable, but less effective on their own.
Skillful writing is an acquired and honed skill, like any other. Engage the help of a trusted consultant who has experience in capital campaigns to help you articulate your goals to your donors and engage a skilled graphic designer to finish off the process!
Good luck building your case statement!
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