Slide Deck for Community Foundations

Community foundations manage a complex set of relationships simultaneously: donors who hold donor advised funds, nonprofits who receive grants, investment managers who oversee the endowment, and community stakeholders who rely on the foundation to understand and respond to local needs. Each relationship requires a different presentation format — what works for a DAF onboarding session with a donor family would confuse a nonprofit grant applicant or alarm a board reviewing investment performance.

This guide covers the major presentation types community foundations produce and the specific content and structure each one requires.

Donor Advised Fund Onboarding Presentations

The donor advised fund onboarding presentation introduces new donors to the mechanism and culture of charitable giving through the foundation. It must be accurate about the legal structure (irrevocable gift, no guaranteed quid pro quo) without being so legalistic that it discourages the relationship.

How DAFs work: Three core mechanics that every onboarding slide deck must cover clearly:

Contribution: The donor makes an irrevocable contribution of assets to the foundation. The foundation is the legal owner. The donor receives a charitable deduction at the time of contribution, not at the time of grantmaking. This means the timing of the deduction and the timing of the charitable impact are separated — which is one of the primary financial planning benefits.

Investment: Assets in the fund are invested according to options the donor selects (or the foundation's default allocation). Growth in the fund is tax-free. Show the investment options available and their historical performance ranges — not specific return projections, which would be inappropriate.

Grantmaking: The donor recommends grants from the fund to qualified public charities. The foundation retains legal discretion over grantmaking (this is required for the tax deduction to hold) but in practice follows donor recommendations for grants to eligible organizations.

Minimum contribution: State your foundation's minimum opening contribution and minimum grant amount. These vary significantly — some community foundations accept DAFs with a $5,000 minimum; others require $25,000 or more. Be explicit so donors can plan their contribution.

Successor advisors: One of the significant estate planning benefits of a DAF is naming successor advisors — family members or organizations who continue recommending grants after the original donor's death. Include a slide explaining how successor advisor designations work and what options are available (individual family members, a committee, or conversion to a field of interest fund).

Fees: Disclose the administrative fee structure clearly. Community foundation DAF fees vary: some charge a percentage of assets under management (commonly 0.5–1.5% annually), some charge a per-grant fee, some combine both. Show the fee clearly on the slide — do not bury it in the footnotes.

DAF vs. private foundation comparison: Many donors coming to a community foundation are choosing between a DAF and establishing their own private foundation. A clear comparison slide helps them make an informed decision:

• Control: Private foundation gives more control; DAF gives advisory role
• Administrative burden: Private foundation requires significant compliance; DAF handles compliance
• Minimum distributions: Private foundations must distribute 5% of assets annually (excise tax on failure to distribute); DAFs have no legal minimum distribution, though most community foundations encourage active grantmaking
• Anonymity: DAF grants can be made anonymously; private foundation grants are publicly disclosed on Form 990-PF
• Cost: Private foundation requires legal setup, ongoing accounting, and IRS filings; DAF has only the foundation's administrative fee

Grantmaking Cycle Presentations

Grantmaking review presentations to the distribution committee or full board are internal documents — but they carry significant weight because the committee's decisions affect nonprofit organizations that depend on the grants to operate programs.

Grant application scoring structure: Present the scoring rubric used by program staff to evaluate applications: community need (does the application document a specific, quantifiable need?), organizational capacity (financial health, governance, track record), program quality (clear theory of change, realistic budget, measurable outcomes), and alignment with the foundation's grantmaking priorities. Show each application's score on each dimension so committee members can see how staff weighted the factors.

Site visit findings: For grants above your threshold for site visits, summarize site visit findings in a consistent format: who was interviewed, what you observed, any concerns or positive indicators that the application did not capture. Site visit summaries protect the committee from approving grants based solely on an organization's ability to write compelling applications.

Staff recommendation and motion format: Each grant recommendation should appear as a formal motion with the organization name, grant amount, grant period, purpose of grant, and any conditions (reporting requirements, matching gift requirements, grant agreement provisions). The committee should be able to move directly from reviewing the slide to voting without reformatting.

Competitive grantmaking RFP results: When the foundation has issued a request for proposals in a specific priority area, present the results showing all applicants (or all applicants above a quality threshold), scores, and staff recommendations. Show the total funding available, the total requested from eligible applicants, and how staff prioritized when demand exceeded available funding.

Field of Interest Fund Reports to Donors

Donors who established unrestricted or field of interest funds (rather than DAFs) may not direct specific grants, but they are entitled to information about how their fund is being used.

Annual fund report structure: Grants made from the fund in the past year (organization, amount, purpose, outcome if available), fund balance and investment performance, spending calculation for the year, and a narrative connecting the grants to the fund's stated purpose. For named endowed funds, include the fund's original gift date and cumulative grants distributed since inception — donors find it meaningful to see the long-term impact their gift has generated.

Scholarship Selection Committee Presentations

Scholarship selection presentations serve committees of volunteers reviewing student applications. Clarity and consistency are essential so that all committee members evaluate candidates on the same criteria.

Scoring rubric presentation: Before reviewing candidates, ensure all committee members have seen and understand the scoring rubric. Present each criterion, its weight, and what distinguishes a high score from a low score. FAFSA-based need criteria require specific EFC (expected family contribution) cutoffs — define these clearly.

Candidate presentation format: Present each finalist using an identical slide format: academic achievement data, financial need data, application essay summary (not the full essay — committee members should read essays before the meeting), and any additional materials (recommendation letters, activity list). Consistent formatting prevents bias toward candidates with more polished application materials.

Community Needs Assessment Findings

Community needs assessments are the most public-facing presentations community foundations produce. They are shared with nonprofit partners, government agencies, elected officials, and community members.

Quantitative and qualitative data by topic area: Organize findings by issue area (housing affordability, workforce and wages, health outcomes, K–12 education, early childhood, food security, transportation) rather than by data source. For each issue area: current status (key metrics with source and date), trend direction (improving, worsening, stable), disparities by race, income, or geography where data is available, and community voice (qualitative themes from focus groups or survey responses).

Data sourcing: Every data point in a community needs assessment should carry its source and data collection year. Assessment findings are often used in grant applications by local nonprofits — they need to be able to cite your sources accurately. A data appendix slide with full source citations is worth including.

Endowment Investment Committee Report

Asset allocation vs. policy: Show current allocation versus the investment policy statement target for each asset class (domestic equity, international equity, fixed income, real assets, alternatives, cash). Explain any significant deviation from target and the rebalancing plan. Investment committees need to see whether the portfolio is positioned within its policy bounds — not just whether it is performing well.

Manager performance vs. benchmark: For each investment manager, show the manager's return over 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year periods versus the relevant benchmark. Include a recommendation for any manager on probation or watch list.

Spending rate calculation: The most consequential annual decision for a community foundation's endowment is the spending rate. The typical formula is 5% of a trailing 12-quarter average of endowment market value — show the calculation explicitly. Show the resulting spending distribution amount for the coming year and how it compares to the prior year.

ESG/SRI screening policy: If the foundation has an ESG or SRI policy, include a slide showing which asset classes are screened, what criteria are applied, and how the policy affects manager selection. If the board is considering a new ESG policy, present peer institution practices and the expected portfolio impact.

IRS Filing Distinctions

Community foundations file Form 990 as public charities — not Form 990-PF, which applies to private foundations. This distinction has significant implications for disclosure. Form 990 requires disclosure of grants made (Schedule I) and compensation of key employees (Schedule J), but donor-advised fund grantors are not separately identified on the 990 by default. Private foundation 990-PFs disclose grantees publicly, and all officers and directors are disclosed by name and compensation.

This distinction matters in donor presentations: a donor considering a DAF at a community foundation versus establishing a private foundation should understand that the private foundation's grantmaking activity will be publicly searchable, while DAF grantmaking (with the foundation as the legal grantor) is not attributed to the individual donor by IRS filing.

Using slide-deck.io for Community Foundation Presentations

Community foundation presentations benefit from a clean, community-oriented visual style that reflects the foundation's local identity rather than a corporate aesthetic. slide-deck.io generates structured slides from content quickly — particularly useful for grantmaking cycle reports where the same format must be applied consistently across many applicants.

For investment committee reports, use slide-deck.io's table and chart features to display performance data clearly, then export to PDF for the board packet. Keeping the template consistent from quarter to quarter allows trustees to quickly identify what has changed from the prior report.