25 Aug Case Statement Clean Up, by Julie Assel, GPC

I like efficiency and one of the many things I like about case statements is the ability to efficiently use my time to align my high quality case statement language to the mission of funders.

But now it is August and I have been using the same base for my program  language for eight months. Even if it isn’t getting stale to my funders because they haven’t seen it, it is getting stale to me. So what can I do?

Look at each paragraph independently and see if tells a story. All stories have a beginning, middle and end. Does the opening sentence catch our attention? Do the middle sentences support the opening sentence, yet make you want to keep reading? Does the closing sentence summarize the paragraph and either leads you to the next paragraph’s thesis or to a compelling action?

Look at your data. Are you just presenting it in a purely factual way in a paragraph by itself? Try framing your data. At the beginning prepare the data with a sentence of why the data is related to the situation. At the end, tell why the data is impactful.

Client stories. Many grant writers thrive in nonprofits due to the impact they are having on their community. When the grant narrative seems stale, take a visit to your programs. Watch, listen, experience. Try to describe what you are seeing. Listen to client stories from your program staff. Ask clients about their experiences in your program and the impact on their life.

Ultimately, these strategies don’t change the facts and details about your program. They do freshen up the narrative and improve the overall quality one paragraph at a time.

Happy late summer writing! If you need someone to take a close look at your case statement to freshen us up, give us a call. We’d love to tell your story with a new voice.

This BLOG is aligned with the Grant Professional Certification Institute’s Competencies and Skills

Competency #4: Knowledge of how to craft, construct, and submit an effective grant application

Skill 4.5: . Identify appropriate, sequential, consistent, and logical presentations of grant-narrative elements and ideas among or within proposal components

Skill 4.6: Identify proposal-writing approaches, styles, tones, and formats appropriate for proposing organizations and
various audiences.