In health and medical research, and in purpose-driven organisations more broadly, the distinction between campaign urgency and campaign readiness is one that boards and executive teams rarely get right, and rarely get a second chance to correct.

Getting it wrong is not merely a fundraising setback. It can damage institutional credibility, exhaust leadership, and erode donor trust in ways that take years to repair.

The retraction of American foreign aid, the dismantling of USAID, and the United States' withdrawal from the World Health Organization have not merely created funding gaps, they have fractured the institutional scaffolding that the world built, over decades, to protect human health. For Australia, this global crisis arrives at a moment when our own domestic research funding is under quiet but serious pressure. The confluence of these forces makes one thing clear: philanthropy in health and medical research is no longer a generous supplement to government investment. It is an urgent necessity.

Understanding and articulating your Case for Support to donors can be challenging—we can suffer the curse of too much knowledge or, alternatively, be too close to the coal to see the broader scope of our vision. Yet getting this step right is not only critical to our fundraising success but can make our role as fundraisers so much easier.