How can we write case studies that show the difference our work makes?

Choose a case that answers a reader’s question

When writing charity case studies, start with what readers need to understand. Someone considering your service may want to know what support involves. A funder may need to see how a particular activity helped people. Choose an experience or project with enough detail to answer that question. Consider whether it reflects what commonly happens or an exceptional result. Evaluation Support Scotland’s case-study guidance recommends making this distinction clear. A modest improvement or mixed outcome can still reveal something useful. Choose the case for what it can explain, and confirm that anyone whose experience you want to feature is willing to discuss taking part.

Agree how people will take part

Before gathering someone’s story, explain why you want to share it, where it may appear and who could see it. Give them time to decide, and make clear that declining will not affect the support they receive. Discuss identification, what they are comfortable sharing and anything they want left out. Changing a name may not protect someone’s identity if other details make them recognisable. Follow your organisation’s safeguarding procedures where relevant. Agree how they will review the account before publication and who they can contact with concerns. Bond’s ethical storytelling guidelines provide further guidance on helping contributors make informed choices about sharing their experiences.

Gather the details that explain the change

Establish the starting situation, what the person or project hoped to achieve, what happened and over what period. Explore what changed, what helped and what remains difficult. Use open questions such as “What, if anything, became easier?” If someone describes feeling more confident, ask what they now feel able to do or approach differently. Let their response provide the detail rather than suggesting an answer. Record where each piece of information comes from. Someone’s account explains their experience, while records and observations may establish other facts. Attendance records confirm participation, for example, but do not by themselves show improved wellbeing. Make clear what supports each claim. Personal experience does not need to become a numerical measure to be useful evidence.

Write a clear account of what happened

Open with the person or project, the situation they faced and what they wanted to achieve. Include the background readers need, keeping unrelated personal history and organisational detail out. Then explain what your organisation did and how it helped. Replace phrases such as “tailored support” with specific actions, any adjustments made and what the person found useful. Include their own decisions and efforts, alongside contributions from others. Describe the outcome using the details you gathered. Choose quotations that explain the experience, such as what enabled someone to take a particular step. General praise tells readers less about how the support worked. Finish with where things stood at the time of writing. Include continuing difficulties or mixed results where they are needed to give a fair account.

Check the claims and the portrayal

Check dates, figures, service details and quotations against your notes and records. Ask a colleague familiar with the work to review factual accuracy. Make clear when a statement describes someone’s reported experience. Consider other influences on the outcome, including their own actions, support from others and changes in circumstances. Describe your organisation’s contribution in terms the evidence supports. Invite the contributor to review their words and how their experience is presented. Check that editing has preserved their meaning, address concerns about sensitive details or identification, and confirm that the intended use is still what they agreed to.

Explain what the case illustrates

Explain what this experience helps readers understand about your work, such as how a service responds to a particular need or supports someone towards a goal. Where wider findings are available, show how the case relates to them. One account can illustrate how support helped someone; it cannot establish what most people experience. For help bringing individual stories and wider evidence together, see our guide to communicating your social impact more clearly. Finish with a next step suited to the reader, such as exploring the service, discussing a referral or finding out how to support the work.