Making the Case

"Administrative details" may include your list of board members, a detailed history of your nonprofit or even the logistics of how you carry out your work. These may come up later in conversation, but your case needs to whet a supporter's appetite, not give her indigestion.

Tip No. 2: Prove you're doing a great job without getting too statistic-heavy
I love numbers and statistics, but I realize that they often are pretty boring dinnertime conversation. Don't fill your case statement with bullet-point lists of stats. After a few, it's hard to wrap your mind around the message they are meant to make clear.

Instead, find a way to make your statistics mean something. Use illustrations, or break a big situation down into a smaller, representative explanation. Not sure how? Check out this classic explanation of how the world would look if it were a village of only 100 people.