Starting a Charity? What is your Case for Support?

Our third objective is that we want to help ensure that prospective donors in the community have reasonable clarity about the mission and accomplishments of the charities they are asked to support.

Part of the strategic plan of any new or continuing nonprofit organization is its mission statement, its case for support, and its method of disseminating that case for support among its constituents on a regular, frequent, persistent and consistent basis. So these will be good ingredients to give to the organization that is certifying the new charity start-up.

1. There should be a mission statement developed for the organization, so that should be shared with the start-up certification panel. Along with that mission statement there would also be the plan of mission accomplishment, or service delivery. That would describe in some details the scope of service delivery and the methods the founder envisions being used. It will also need to include anticipated outcomes so that there is something to measure effectiveness from the very beginning. These items should also be part of the certification review process.

2. Instead of waiting several years until a convenient time presents itself (or even never getting around to it), the organization's case for support should be developed and written down right at the beginning. The case for support is basically a list of reasons why anyone should give any money to this new charity. This document will contain a complete and detailed set of reasons why anyone should or would give any money in support of the organization's work. It should state the set of features offered to individual, foundation and corporate donors, as well as the benefits to be derived from making a contribution. This is going to include the schedule of benefits for corporate sponsorships, and the recognition system, along with any naming opportunities that can be devised. We'll explore the case for support more thoroughly tomorrow.