Case Studies Essay Sample

Case Study One: Mrs. Smith

I would like to agree that Mrs. Smith qualifies to be a potential prospect for this project. She is a very old lady who must have accumulated a lot of wealth. Being a university graduate she must have been employed. At the same time, she was married to a very rich and successful husband who owned a medical device company. She also has a lot of money in her bank account. Lastly, she is a philanthropist with a lot of interest in basketball because she had donated $500,000 to the ladies team for their excellent performance.

After deciding to consider Mrs. Smith to donate $500,000 for our project, I would look for the best strategy to ‘cultivate’ her. Moves management tools will help me to prioritize her over other prospects. However, before approaching her, I would ask several questions to guide me on how to achieve my goal. Some of those questions to be asked in this category include why we are looking for the prospect, what kind of projects she will support, and how much money to request for. Hence, I would approach her to ensure that I establish a personal rapport with her.

All of that would begin by sending her an email to book for an appointment either in her office or at home. Later, I would make a lot of visits to familiarize ourselves. This will give me an opportunity to learn a lot of things about her and explain the benefits of my project. Later, I would maintain a close contact with her through the emails, phone and courtesy calls. All of that would be done in a regular manner to ensure that our relationship is strengthened.

After the ‘cultivation’ process, I would look for the best way through which I would engage her for the rest of the days. The stewardship exercise is very important because it would help to restore the donor’s confidence and appeal to her to continue supporting this project. In order to do this well, I would use a variety of approaches including presenting the gifts, formal recognitions, making the phone calls, organizing constant personal visits and sending the emails and letters by post to her. All of that will mean informing that her funds were used correctly to fulfill the delivery of the promises made. If that is done, Mrs. Smith will feel appreciated for her contributions. In fact, this would make her realize that she has supported a project, which would help to change the life of many people. In the long run, she would be motivated to continue supporting the project as much as she possibly can.

Case Study Two: Max and His Father

In my opinion, Max is not a good prospect. Even if he is a former base ball player and has a lot of interests in sports, I consider him less qualified for being considered as a potential prospect to support any project. Apart from being younger, he does not have a lot of wealth. Just like many other young people, I believe he has a lot of expenses to meet. Therefore, his job at the XYZ Enterprises can not provide him with enough funds to meet his personal expenses, save some money and use the rest for philanthropy. Furthermore, his past donations have been done under the umbrella of his father. Meaning that, he must have been sponsored by his father.

At the same time, I would like to qualify his father as a potential prospect. He is a very rich man having a multinational company with many branches in different states including Minnesota and Arizona. Besides, he has a lot of interest in basketball because he had even purchased the tickets for the men’s basketball tournament. At the same time, he has some history of philanthropy: he had organized a fundraising campaign, in which around $13,000 were raised to support gofer athletics. In other words, he gives a better chance of supporting such a project, and it should be brought to him.

Hence, I would cultivate Marx’s father and approach him to support an athletic project. In doing this, I would involve all the concerned members of my team to help raising questions about the kind of project needed, total amount of money and who to approach for funding. Then, I would approach Max’s father to contribute $10,000 for us, which is an equivalent of what he contributed to the gofers. When doing this, I would use Prospect ratings tools to help in coaxing him to support this project. Later, I would strengthen our relationship by using emails, phone calls and personal home visits. This is a very peaceful place, which would give us an opportunity to interact without ant barriers.

In case I succeed in acquiring that support, I would ensure that the money is used for the project it was meant. Therefore, I would engage in the provision of annual reports and constant follow ups as my steward strategies. This would help in permeating into the project and drawing the donor closer to our organization. As a result, he would feel appreciated and delighted to continue supporting our development projects. After all, sport is a very expensive activity, which needs a lot of funds to support. All of that can not be met by a single individual or organization and without any philanthropists.