A Primer on Legacy Case Statements
How to Have an Effective Case Statement
A legacy case statement is one of the underutilized but important elements of a legacy program. Step back and think about why you need a legacy giving program and what your goals are. Going through the exercise of crafting your case statement will allow you to set your goals and keep you consistent and focused.
What do I mean by that? Well, when you start your legacy case statement, think about why you want legacy gifts. What does the organization need? How are you growing? What kind of challenges do you face in the future? Do you need more staff? Do you need more facilities? Are you having a growth spurt? Whatever it is that you need, put that in the case statement.
Having this legacy case statement will keep everyone on staff and your leadership focused and consistent about what you need to raise for the future to keep your organization fiscally stable and viable. You want to increase revenue through a legacy giving program to stabilize and enable growth for the future. The work you're doing now will pay off for the future.
Defining Your Case Statement
Your case statement is not your mission statement. Your legacy case statement is why donors should give a legacy gift to the organization. The legacy case statement is a cornerstone of your program. You need to have it in order to have a really strong marketing campaign and messaging.
Your case statement is an internal document. It could be part of your strategic planning process. If you're working out a plan, it is part of your strategy. You can attach your goals and objectives to it.
Your legacy case statement can also be an external document. Using it in this manner, you can create a brochure or a leave-behind for your donors.
Start with a Story
The best thing that you can do is to start off with a story, and draw your donor into that story. They need to identify themselves in that story of the organization or of that donor. Tell them what they need to know for the future. Maybe the story is about a particular gift or a particular person that your organization helps, and why the organization does what it does. It needs to be different and a little unique, but understand that someone is going to identify with it.
Articulate Your Importance
Clearly define what is important about supporting your organization for the future. This is critical to separate you from other organizations and show why you are unique. Then you are going to get into what you have done successfully. Talk about what you've done successfully already, and why it's important.
Marketing
You will be able to derive so much marketing content from your legacy case statement. You will be able to take out your legacy messaging and use it for your e-signature and your marketing materials. You can use the story as part of a direct mail piece. You can create a brochure out of it. There are so many ways that you can slice and dice this legacy case statement. When you have the case statement, all your marketing for the year is that much easier.
Next Steps
You're going to use this document for everything that you do in your program. A legacy case statement keeps you focused. It also creates a message that everyone in your organization can rally behind.
