Submission Pitfalls

National Standards reviewers have compiled a helpful list of common mistakes made by community foundations during the confirmation or reconfirmation process. While the resulting tips below do not represent all National Standards requirements, following them in conjunction with the full confirmation or reconfirmation processes may simplify your experience.

Submit with care

  • Supply only final, approved documents—drafts are not acceptable
  • Include a strong narrative to tell the story and fill in the gaps between documents—missing or weak narratives raise lots of reviewer questions
  • Ensure important documents such as IRS Form 990 and conflicts of interest disclosures are signed by the appropriate parties
  • Complete cover sheets fully and include careful references to documents supplied

Don’t miss these standard-specific requirements

Governance & Mission

  • Include governing board demographics with area comparables, as well as community demographics
  • Ensure your board nomination process is clear and substantiated by appropriate key elements
  • Review the variance power requirement closely to ensure you document this in standard acceptable terms
  • Provide meeting minutes to show evidence of mission statement or strategic direction—make sure these topics are part of your meeting conversation sometime in the last 12 months
  • Similarly, provide minutes that give evidence of your Pension Protection Act provisions for scholarship funds

Finance & Legal

  • Supply evidence of audit and of your board’s receipt and acceptance of the audit
  • Ensure that your IRS Form 990 is included, signed, and completed with respect to donor-advised funds; either this form or an accompanying narrative should also describe any relationship your organization has with related entities
  • Cover IRS Form 990-T in your public disclosure policy
  • Include a clear and specific investment policy, financial benchmarks, asset allocation and spending policy

Policies

  • Ensure your conflict of interest policy covers volunteers and committee members and that it includes disclosures for staff, volunteers and board members
  • Have a board member sign your CEO evaluation
  • Include disclosure statements by staff and board members with your confidentiality policy

Gifts

  • Understand excess business holding rules and include your foundation’s policy in this regard
  • Avoid sending a sample gift letter states the value of stock

Funds

  • Review the variance power requirement closely to ensure you document this in standard acceptable terms
  • Avoid fund agreements that allow for amendments
  • Ensure scholarship funds address Pension Protection Act provisions and that they do not imply that a donor may control the selection committee
  • Avoid incorrect statements indicating that grants to academic institutions for specified individuals are considered grants to the institution (in fact, such grants are grants to individuals)

Grants

  • Supply sufficient evidence that donor intent is followed for grants from all types of funds
  • Ensure due diligence policy includes procedures for determining the status of grantee and exercising expenditure responsibility

Education & Community Leadership

  • Understanding and clearly documenting your communication with donors and the community about needs in the community, grants, etc. (submitting a presentation about how the foundation works does not meet the requirement)