FROM OUR DATA DESK
Welcome to the new format of the Community Foundation Survey.
Over the past year, many of you have asked for a cleaner, more flexible way to explore and share this report. We listened. Now you can view trends by peer group, more easily compare performance and allocations across time horizons, and download only the visuals you need.
It’s the same data you’ve come to rely on, just easier to work with. No PDF skimming required.
We’ve also made space for fresh insights and quick takes throughout, helping you spot shifts faster. The features we’ve prioritized reflect what we’ve consistently heard from you and your peers: make it simpler to benchmark, easier to pull what matters, and faster to turn data into action.
This is just the start. Thank you for your engagement and input, which will continue to shape what comes next.
Jay Burke
Crewcial's Director of Information Management
Longtime steward of the Community Foundation Survey
FEATURED POLL RESULTS
Each quarter, we spotlight a timely pulse-check from your peers, offering a window into how fellow community foundations are planning, adapting, and executing in real time.
Which area of your foundation’s operations could benefit most from automation?
Respondents identified grants management and investment performance reporting as top priorities for improved automation.
The responses reinforce a broader and growing focus on data transparency, workflow automation, and reporting efficiency. Community foundations appear to be in a consolidation phase, with many institutions seeking tech solutions to reduce manual reporting and better integrate grant-making with financial and investment operations, prioritizing operational agility.
Meanwhile, budget forecasting, donor communication, and administering outside funds received comparatively less focus. This may reflect a deliberate narrowing of strategic scope as foundations consolidate around core infrastructure and mission delivery, suggesting a preference for depth over breadth in the current operating environment. These lower-priority areas may re-emerge as strategic focuses once primary functions are satisfactorily updated.
SHORT TERM PERFORMANCE
This section surfaces near-term shifts across peer groups and portfolio types, helping you track momentum, volatility, and divergence before they show up in long-range trends.
For Q3 2025, participating community foundations posted a median return of 5.5%, slightly outperforming the 5.2% return of the 60/40 benchmark. Portfolios remained well-positioned amid a moderate equity rally and stable interest rates.
Improving inflation data and early signals of monetary easing supported risk assets, underscoring the value of maintaining balanced exposure to global equities and fixed income. Year to date, community foundations delivered a strong aggregate return of 13%, driven by favorable markets and disciplined portfolio management.
PERFORMANCE TEARSHEETS
Explore performance and allocation trends by peer group, size, and strategy; then download only what you need. The new middle section surfaces relevant insights across peer groups, setting the stage for future surveys where you can help shape and unpack the most pressing questions.
- MEGA
- X-LARGE
- LARGE
- MEDIUM
- SMALL
- MICRO
- ALL
- BALANCED
- ESG
Median Performance by Strategy
Relative to last quarter’s median foundation return of 7.1%, performance moderated but remained consistent with long-term objectives. The majority of respondents continue to operate diversified portfolios aligned with investment policy targets, with dispersion primarily driven by equity exposure and rebalancing timing.
Foundations maintaining higher allocations to global equities and real assets generally achieved above-average results, while those emphasizing fixed income or cash modestly lagged .
This quarter reinforced the value of balanced exposure across both traditional and alternative assets. Larger foundations with broader private market allocations saw returns cluster around the median, while smaller peers benefited more directly from public equity gains.
HISTORICAL ASSET ALLOCATIONS
This long-view snapshot highlights shifts in asset allocation, revealing trends in equity exposure, diversification into alternatives, and capital preservation across market cycles.
Understanding the Allocation Gap Between Top and Bottom Performers
Top-performing community foundations in Q3 2025 maintained higher exposure to global and US equities, which aligned well with the quarter’s risk-on environment and improving liquidity backdrop. In contrast, foundations with greater allocations to fixed income and cash equivalents saw more muted results; declining yields provided less opportunity for upside participation.
This quarter’s results suggest that allocation outcomes were shaped less by extreme tilts and more by incremental positioning within diversified frameworks; even small shifts toward growth assets proved advantageous. The dispersion between top and bottom performers underscores how differing views on liquidity and market durability continue to shape relative performance as the rate-cutting cycle begins to unfold.
DOWNLOAD PREVIOUS REPORTS
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2025
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2024
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2023
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DISCLOSURESThe analysis and performance information contained herein reflects that of participants of a performance survey requested by Crewcial Partners, LLC (“Crewcial Partners”), a Securities and Exchange Commission Registered Investment Advisor, and the Fiscal and Administrative Officers Group for Community Foundations (“FAOG”). Peer benchmarking provides important information for foundation boards, investment committees, staff, consultants and donors. This is the only community foundation investment performance survey that Crewcial Partners, LLC is aware of that provides timely quarter-end data across all foundation sizes. For these reasons, and to ensure representation across different portfolio sizes and strategies, participation was encouraged.This information should not be relied upon for tax purposes and is based upon sources believed to be reliable. No guarantee is made to the completeness or accuracy of this information. Crewcial Partners shall not be responsible for any trading decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from, or related to, the information, data, analyses or opinions contained herein or their use, which do not constitute investment advice, are provided as of the date written, are provided solely for informational purposes, and therefore are not an offer to buy or sell a security. This information has not been tailored to suit any individual. Crewcial Partners does not guarantee the results of its advice or recommendations, or that the objectives of a strategy will be achieved. Portfolios offered by Crewcial Partners may not have contained and/or may not currently contain the same underlying holdings and may have been and/or may currently be managed according to rules or restrictions established by Crewcial Partners. All data presented is based on the most recent information available to Crewcial Partners as of the date indicated and may not be an accurate reflection of current data. There is no assurance that the data will remain the same.The presentation contains performance data reported to us. Median returns reflects the approximate deduction of advisory fees, brokerage or other commissions, and any other expenses that a client would have paid. All investments involve the risk of loss, including (among other things) loss of principal, a reduction in earnings (including interest, dividends, and other distributions), and the loss of future earnings. You should consider these risks prior to investing.Benchmark returns are used for comparative purposes only and are not intended to directly parallel the risk or investment style of the accounts included in the composite. The volatility of the indices compared herein may be materially different from that of the compared Crewcial Partners strategy. There is no guarantee that the strategies will outperform, or even match, benchmark returns over the long term.No graph, chart, or formula in this presentation can be used in and of itself to determine which securities to buy or sell, when to buy or sell securities, whether to invest using this investment strategy, or whether to engage Crewcial Partners’s investment advisory services. Performance is calculated on a total return basis and does not include reinvestment of income. Actual fees will vary depending upon, among other things, the applicable fee schedule and portfolio size. These performance presented is based upon survey information that was provided to Crewcial Partners, LLC, and Crewcial Partners, LLC consolidated the information in to this presentation. Overall returns may be reduced by expenses that an investor may incur in the management of the investor’s account, such as for custody or trading services, which will vary by investor. Investments in securities are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of principal. Prices of securities may fluctuate from time to time and may even become valueless. Securities in this report are not FDIC-insured, may lose value, and are not guaranteed by a bank or other financial institution. Before making any investment decision, investors should read and consider all the relevant investment product information. Investors should seriously consider if the investment is suitable for them by referencing their own financial position, investment objectives, and risk profile before making any investment decision. There can be no assurance that any financial strategy will be successful.
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CREWCIAL INSIGHTS
These short reads—complete with optional audio—offer perspective on the investment dilemmas, philosophical tensions, and evolving capital strategies shaping today’s nonprofit landscape. Future editions will continue to reflect the questions and quandaries you raise through our surveys, so if there’s a topic you want us to unpack, speak up. We’re listening.
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DOES CHINA HAVE ITS SWAGGER BACK?
Michael Miller: Nov 11, 2025
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THE PROXY PARADOX
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