Case studies

Nonprofit case studies

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Firstly, let’s define what nonprofit case studies are to begin with.

I like this definition from SWZD:

A case study is a detailed storytelling piece, showcasing what pain points and problems a customer faced, and how a company helped alleviate those pain points. Case studies show what solutions they used to address the customer’s problems, and the business impact of solving those problems. Case studies are filled with research and stats to back up the solutions offered, and present detailed results and findings.

In other words, case studies are compelling stories filled with research. They provide detailed information about customer problems and company solutions.

Sometimes, people use case studies interchangeably with success stories. However, case studies are not testimonials nor are they reviews. The main difference among all of them is that case studies include research while reviews and testimonials do not.

There are so many benefits to case studies, including:

• They show proof of the work you’re doing and the impact you’re making
• They demonstrate how you solve problems through your work, products or services
• They increase buy-in from potential nonprofit customers
• They can improve your fundraising efforts
• They boost your brand authority and lead generation
• They demonstrate what your mission, vision and values look like

Overall, case studies are a great way to show your key stakeholders that you really accomplish what you set out to accomplish. They demonstrate that your work is qualifiable and quantifiable without question. Personally, I think nonprofit case studies are the best kept marketing secret!

How do I know I need case studies?

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you easily get buy-in from your key stakeholders?
• Do other nonprofits purchase your products with complete certainty (i.e., complete the buyer’s journey without pause)?
• Do you have consistent social proof that your work makes the impact you say it does?
• Are you looking for new ways to engage with your donors?
• Are your case studies creating the engagement and conversion that you want?
• Do you have or use case studies?
• Does your target audience share/engage with your case studies regularly?

If you answered “No” to any of these questions, now is the time to get case studies!

What is this service ideal for?

This service is ideal for:

• Grant applications
• Sales collateral
• Blog content
• Conference/Event handouts
• Staff training and/or onboarding
• Webinars

This service is ideal for nonprofit organizations and businesses that:

• Are looking for new ways to engage their key stakeholders
• Consistently run out of impact-related content for their blog, donor communications, website etc.
• Need more social proof of their impact
• Want to persuade more key stakeholders to invest in their organization
• Want to increase sales
• Answered “No” to any of the questions in the previous section

Read about how I work on your project and what approaches and processes I take

Why are nonprofit case studies important?

Nonprofit case studies represent a win-win situation: Your target audience gets a specific glimpse into the work you do and the success you can create. You get the buy-in and trust of that same audience, whether it’s your donors, clients, participants or other key stakeholders. Ultimately, case studies demonstrate that you know how to solve problems that matter. That sounds like more sales to me!

Here’s the thing: Case studies are evergreen. This means that you can use them over and over again in ways that benefit your bottom line. Most importantly, they’re stories with purpose. Yes, some can read as boring advertisements with facts and research. But the best ones are compelling, insightful, relatable stories that centre the customer.

Case studies give you the opportunity to tell more compelling stories. Aside from strong visuals, you can include qualitative and quantitative data, customer quotes and relatable anecdotes. Additionally, they offer many opportunities to repurpose and repackage content. This will save you time and money figuring out ideas and filling up your content calendar.

One thing should be clear: Case studies are really nice to have for nonprofits and companies that sell to them. They take some time to develop but it’s totally worth it.

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