A great "action" photo!
If you are involved with a non-profit organization as a board member, volunteer, or paid staff, you are acutely aware that is once again time to put together an annual report. As your organization’s highest profile marketing piece, you should be proud of its ability to tell your story and attract new members, volunteers, and supporters. If you are not happy with it in its current format, you are probably missing a few crucial elements.
I have been working with non-profits for nearly 10 years, and if there is one thing I have learned about annual reports, it is this: keep it short! People have so little time to read your report that they will probably only skim it.
Based on my experience, here are the 13 things you need to produce an engaging annual report:
1. Message from the President: Highlight the organization’s biggest accomplishments of the past year, new initiatives you are taking in the new year, and a thank you to members, volunteers, staff, and donors. Keep the letter positive and forward-looking, and include a photo of the president in the field, if possible.
2. Program/Project Overviews: Though this section is the heart of the report, keep it brief. Include the program/project goals; how the goals were met; what work remains to be done and/or new goals; and the next steps you are taking to continue or finish the program/project.
3. Programs/Projects for New Year: The year’s new and continuing projects can be briefly summarized in a table to make the information easy to skim. Include as many projects as possible, even the ones that are not confirmed (label them as such), as it gives your financial supporters a reason to continue to provide support.
4. Board of Directors, Advisors, and Staff: Include brief biographies of officers and board members, advisors, program/project leaders, and staff (can limit to senior staff). By brief, I mean 2-3 sentences that include their current title and organization, responsibilities, and previous job.
5. Operations: Introduce your organization to new members, volunteers, or financial supporters with background information on how you operate. You can include a history of your programs/projects and how they have evolved; how the programs/projects are chosen, organized, and managed; and any restrictions your organization has relating to types of programs/projects, their scope, who they benefit, etc.
6. Supporters: List donors and in-kind donations, and include 501(c)(3) information, as well as how supporters can donate.
7. Special Thanks: If any supporters, partners, program/project leaders, volunteers, or staff went above and beyond this year, recognize them in this section.
8. Financial Report: A must! The report should be professionally compiled by an accounting firm.
9. Testimonials: Quotes from program/project leaders, participants, volunteers, and those who were positively affected by your organization’s work are powerful ways to show how critical your work is to the communities you serve. Sprinkle them throughout the annual report and set them apart in a different font, font size, and/or color.
10. Keep in Touch: Include a brief section on how to keep in touch with your organization via social media and/or your newsletter and what kind of information people can expect to receive from you.
11. Photographs: Photos are another must, as they show rather than tell. Include as many “action” shots from the field as possible (rather than posed/group photos).
12. Graphic Designer: A good graphic designer is worth his or her weight in gold. They will help you choose an overall look for the report that reflects your organization. To provide some guidance, show your graphic designer examples of past annual reports and explain what you do and do not like about them.
13. Social Media: No need to print and mail your annual report any longer. It can be uploaded to your website, emailed as a pdf, and shared via social media—in full color.
Image by Flickr user A Broader View Volunteers Corps (Creative Commons)
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Tags: Branding, graphic design, non-profit organizations, writing annual reports
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