The impact report structure, slide by slide
Borrowed from Florence Nightingale's impact report structure. Each beat is one slide, three at most.
- 01CoverThe result and the ask in one line, with your strongest chart as the art.
- 02The problem in numbersOne total, split by cause, so the preventable share is impossible to miss.
- 03The baselineYour worst measured period at poster size, so every later number has something to beat.
- 04What we didThe intervention on a dated timeline, and the first results as they landed.
- 05Outcome against the baselineSame measure, same season, before and after, with the population size shown.
- 06The one chartThe single chart that proves it, interactive, with a plain view beside it for skeptics.
- 07Cost and what it boughtItemize what you spent, then convert it into the outcome the funder cares about.
- 08What remains undoneThe gap that is still open, in the same units as your results.
- 09The askWhat you want funded, the lead item first, and what it will change.
What good proposals and business cases do
- Start with their goal in their words, not your company.
- Check off every requirement in the brief, visibly.
- Put the decision on the first slide: what you are asking them to approve.
- Show the options you considered and why this one wins.
- Cost, phasing, and terms in one place; risks each with an owner; next steps with a date.
Where they usually fail
- A credentials deck instead of an answer
- Missing a requirement from the brief
- Price hidden or vague
- No decision asked for
More impact report examples
Impact report: questions
What goes in an impact report?
The problem you set out to change, the outcomes you achieved with numbers, how you measured them, the stories that make the numbers real, what you learned, and what the next round of support will make possible.
How do you show impact with data?
Pick the one chart that makes the case at a glance, as Nightingale did with deaths by cause, and label it in plain words. A wall of metrics hides the result you want remembered.
Who reads impact reports?
Funders, donors, boards and partners deciding whether to keep supporting the work. Write for someone who will skim it once and has to explain it to someone else.
Make yours with this structure
Type your site and we'll write the prompt for your deck, in your brand, built on Florence Nightingale's impact report structure.