Non-profit pitch deck primer. How to develop a pitch deck for your non-profit to share with funders and supporters.

1. Pitch Deck Primer
Instructions & Tips for Finalists
Fall 2017

2. Timeline
Contact us: (904) 990-4389 Info@thegreatersum.org
October 24th: Deadline to submit pitch deck
(PowerPoint or PDF) and financials (Excel or PDF)
to anna@thegreatersum.org with e-mail subject
line “Final Submission: (Your Organization)”
October 25th-27th: Greater Sum team will reach
out to schedule your virtual pitch
November 1st-14th: Virtual pitches and Q&A will
be scheduled via Zoom
January 2018: Announcement of Greater Sum’s
2018 cohort

3. Virtual Pitch Format
Contact us: (904) 990-4389 Info@thegreatersum.org
• Virtual pitches will be conducted as Zoom meetings.
• Expect to see 3-4 members of The Greater Sum
Foundation in attendance
• Attendees will be able to see both you and your pitch
deck
• Pitches are limited to 15-20 minutes. Q&A will be
limited to 15 minutes. HARD STOP at 35 minutes.
• Sessions will be recorded for review
• You will have an opportunity to practice with the
technology and set-up

4. Q: What is a virtual pitch deck?
A: A brief, compelling presentation of an organization’s objectives
Insights when building your pitch deck:
• Virtual pitches are standard practice in business and are seen more
and more often in the nonprofit sector.
• Advantages: concise, compelling, use graphs and charts to display
data and formatting/pictures to help tell story. Note: don’t drift into
storytelling format – stick to the pitch outline!
• Links to resources on pitch decks:
– https://piktochart.com/blog/startup-pitch-decks-what-you-can-
learn/
– https://basetemplates.com/pitch-deck-guide/pitch-deck-elements

5. Overview of your
pitch deck
Milestones
Measurement
Traction
Overview
Problem/Solution
Business Model
Market Size
Outreach/Marketing
Competition
Financials
Team
Your deck should be
organized into these 11
slides, in this order. Text
should be 28 point font or
higher. Add context and
detail verbally when you
present your pitch.

6. Traction
The best thing you have going for you. Early
yeses, big wins.
Demand side: # of people who have signed up
for your program, aid you’ve provided,
measurement of impact
Supply side: vendors who have signed on with
you, in-kind services or facilities you’ve
secured, partnerships with other community
organizations
This is also the place to mention fundraising
efforts, famous team members or fans.

7. Overview
Describe what your organization does.
• What do you provide?
• To whom?
• For what purpose?
Be specific! if I tell you that The Greater Sum Foundation
provides grants and volunteers to nonprofits, you get a bit of
an idea of what we do. If I tell you that The Greater Sum
Foundation provides grants in the range of $10-25k as well
as the services of volunteer subject matter experts to early-
stage nonprofits, to support innovation in the nonprofit
sector – that’s more robust & doesn’t take much more time!

8. Problem/Solution
What problem does your work
address?
Assume that reviewers aren’t
experts in your field, so you’ll need
to explain why this is a problem,
what the root causes of the
problem are, and who’s affected.
Explain your solution, along with
why it’s innovative. Why hasn’t
someone else solved it already?
Describe the most difficult part of
what you’re trying to do.

9. Business Model
How do you make this work?
• Cost per unit to implement
solution
• Revenue model
• Impact to recipients
Note: if your goal is to make your program sustainable
through increased revenue, this is the place to say so!

10. Market Share
Start with big picture, work your way
to your current service area. Be as
specific as you can.
For example, if you operate a program that works with
homeless veterans in Miami, start with the US homeless
population and the percentage who are veterans. Work your
way to the number of chronically homeless veterans in Florida.
Explain your decision to work in Miami, the number of
homeless veterans you currently serve, and your organization’s
capacity to expand.

11. Outreach/Marketing
What type of marketing do you utilize?
• Word of mouth
• Media
• Events
• Network
Who are you trying to reach and why?
• Donors
• Volunteers
• Clients
What’s your marketing budget and how does
that affect the cost of operating your
program?

12. Competition
Who else is working in your
sector, and how is your work
different/better?
Do you draw on similar work
being done in other sectors?
What’s difficult or not self-
evident about your solution that
stops others from doing it?

13. Financials
Current assets
Donations to date or annually
Operational costs
Fixed vs. variable costs

14. Team
Who’s on your team and what makes them
the best leaders in this effort?
What are their backgrounds, and why is that
relevant to your venture?
Why are you the best spokesperson for this
team?
Who’s on your board of directors?
Do you have additional experts serving in an
advisory capacity?

15. Milestones
• Timelines
• Steps toward goals

16. Measurement
What’s going to happen as a result of
your work? How will you know?
-Financial Measurement
-Impact Measurement
Include detail that gives potential
funders a sense of the impact you’re
trying to make & the value in
supporting your venture.

17. Next Steps
Contact us: (904) 990-4389 Info@thegreatersum.org
• Submit pitch deck
electronically by 10/24
• Schedule virtual pitch
• Contact us with questions
about the process or
technology