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The 13 Things You Need to Produce an Engaging Annual Report

January 4th, 2011 :: Monika Jansen

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
Posted in Branding | 1 Comment »

Logos: Yes, You Need One

July 19th, 2010 :: Monika Jansen

Logos are a very important, powerful part of a company’s branding. We mostly associate them with large companies:

Nike with their swoosh
NBC with their peacock
Louis Vuitton with their elegant brown interlocked L and V

Some company’s names are also their logos:

IBM’s crisp striped letters
Yahoo’s uneven letters, punctuated with a !
Coca Cola’s red and white script

Even my kids recognize McDonald’s arches, and they’ve never been inside a McDonald’s let alone eaten the food. (Come to think of it, they don’t watch commercial TV either, so I have no idea how they know about McDonald’s.)

Just because you’re a small business owner, it doesn’t mean you don’t need a logo. It’ll become your symbol, your badge, a memorable part of your company’s identity. A good graphic designer will put one together for you when they create your stationery, business card, website, and any other marketing materials you might need.

As your company grows and times and tastes change, your logo will evolve. It should be tied into what you do, though, and not just be some random, pretty picture that has nothing to do with your company or industry (I see this a lot on business cards that people have slapped together themselves).

I get comments on my logo all the time, which incorporates my middle initial “c” into a cog wheel, thus pulling double duty: my logo both imitates the copyright symbol and effectively illustrates that I’m an important part of the marketing process.

Here are other considerations when putting together a logo:

Color. Greens, blues, and other muted colors are relaxing and soothing, while oranges, reds, and yellows are exciting and energizing. Black, white, and gray are timeless. Purple stands out, as most people shy away from it.

Style. Elegant, simple, bold, modern, gothic, Italianate…the choices are endless. If you’re a high-tech start-up, you’d obviously go with something modern. If you are a coffee shop, you can play around a little more, but you’d ultimately want your logo to appeal to your target demographics.

Tag line. A lot of companies include their tagline in their logo. If it’s short and only adds to the logo, go for it.

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Tags: Branding, graphic design, logos, Marketing, tag line
Posted in Branding, Marketing, small business | No Comments »

Women in Business: Turning a Layoff into a Golden Opportunity

May 17th, 2010 :: Monika Jansen

I first met graphic designer Margo Wolcott in September 2009 at a weekly meeting of the Business Network International (BNI) group that she belongs to in northern VA. Though I disappointed her a bit by not joining the group, she and I have collaborated on several projects together, and it has always been a pleasure. She is creative, responsive, versatile and flexible, so it’s no wonder that her company, MW Studio, has been growing at a quick clip for over a year now. She started her company during a recession and has weathered this recession very well. A key to her success? Networking!

Margo Wolcott

I was part of a layoff in mid-2003 – another recession. I started freelancing while I was looking for a full-time job and after a few months realized that I really enjoyed working for myself. So I made a website for my business and printed up some business cards. By the end of the year, I stopped looking for full-time work. My husband realized that I was doing well with finding clients, and told me “If this is what you want to do, then I’m behind you 100%”. That’s all I needed. I officially launched MW Studio in January of 2004.

Being my own boss is very rewarding and empowering. I am able to talk directly to my clients without having to get feedback filtered through an account executive. This allows me to provide better service and design. I can do things the way I want to without having to answer to anyone other than my clients. However, being the only person responsible for the success or failure of this business is intimidating! The key is to use that fear to drive me to do the things that scare me, like public speaking.

[I have grown my business through] networking, word of mouth and referrals from clients, friends and my network group members. I have done very little print advertising, only a couple of ads. I’m starting to get into social media and will be volunteering with some organizations to get my name out there to new markets.

Lessons Learned

There are plenty of things that I could have done better, but in doing them, I learned, so I don’t regret any of it. I do wish that I had sought out more mentors though. Many times, I felt as though I was in this all on my own.

Looking Ahead

MW Studio is entering a major growth mode. I want to grow the business so that it can provide the sole source of income for my family. Then maybe I can convince my husband to come work for me! I see the company expanding into new target markets and taking on larger projects.

Advice for a New Business Owner

Figure out what you want, stay focused and don’t give up!

As told to Monika Jansen via email.

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Tags: graphic design, Marketing, networking, small business success, women in business interview, word of mouth marketing
Posted in Interviews, Marketing, small business | No Comments »

How to Kill Your Business, Or Lead Generation Gone Awry

April 29th, 2010 :: Monika Jansen

During this past month, we, the Network Solutions bloggers, have been relentlessly driving home the fact that inbound marketing is vital to any business. The whole point of inbound marketing is to continuously drive leads so that your sales funnel, and by extension, your back account, is always full.

So, I have to ask: Once you get those leads, what are you doing with them? This is where you say, “I’m talking to them via email, Facebook, and Twitter and answering their questions. I’m also gently feeding them our value proposition while finding out what their needs are. As a result, I’m converting them to new business.”

But if you’re not saying that, what’s going on? It can be easy to focus so intently on the needs of your current clients that you forget about cultivating potential clients. If you want to kill your business, here’s what to do:

Ignore comments and messages on social media. You already make time every day to reply to email, so set aside additional time to answer direct messages on Facebook and Twitter and reply to comments left on your blog.
Only market your business sporadically. To keep a steady flow of potential customers coming in the door, so to speak, you have to be consistent in your marketing efforts. That means setting up an online ad program, making sales calls and going to networking events even when you’re really busy, and so on.
Send out newsletters and blog posts randomly. As stated above, you have to be consistent. Publish your newsletter and blog at regular intervals. Your newsletter should go out at the same time every month and your blog posts should be published on the same day(s) every week.
Don’t bother with a mission statement. You need to know what problem(s) you solve for your clients, so potential clients will instantly understand why they need your product or service. You also need to have a concise elevator speech so you can quickly answer the oft-asked question, “What is it your company does?”
Confuse people once they’re on your website. Is your company’s mission statement front and center on your home page? Is your website easy to navigate? Do you make it easy for people to reach you by phone and email? Are the benefits of your product(s) and/or service(s) clearly stated? If people have to search for any of this information, kiss them goodbye. They’re busy, and they’re not going to bother.
Keep messaging inconsistent. Use the same language, industry terms, tone of voice, and style in all of your messaging, including on your website and in your marketing materials, newsletter, and blog.
Un-brand yourself. Not only does your messaging need to be consistent, so does your look. If your company looks sloppy and disorganized, potential clients might think your work is, too. Find a graphic designer you like, and use them for everything: logo, stationery, business cards, website, brochures, etc.

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Tags: Branding, elevator speech, graphic design, Inbound Marketing, lead generation, Marketing, messaging, mission statement, website content
Posted in Branding, Marketing, social media, Web Design | No Comments »

Should Direct Mail Be Part Of Your Marketing Mix?

January 13th, 2010 :: Monika Jansen

I have a new client who is the best client ever. In fact, she’s a dream client. She’s really nice, responsive, flexible, and best of all, has given me free rein to do what needs to be done. What’s not to love, right? I’ll call her Client A.

Client A designs and produces really creative, multi-media, multi-dimensional presentations and websites that incorporate video, original music scores, and graphics that leave you saying “wow!” Given her cutting edge, way out-of-the box business, you might be surprised to learn that I am helping her with a decidedly low-tech project: a direct mail campaign.

In the age of social media and networking when everyone is connecting online, should you even consider incorporating a direct mail campaign into your marketing mix?

The answer might be yes.

The size of the market must be pretty big, obviously, or the mailing will just be too expensive (economies of scale and all that). Client A’s list contains around 1500 contacts. If we were doing a national or regional campaign, it would be a lot bigger, but we’re focusing our efforts on the metro Washington, DC area, where she is located.

When you are pulling together a mailing list (a direct mail production and mailing house generated the list for us), you need to tailor the list specifically to your audience. No sense in sending a letter, brochure, introductory magazine, product sample, or whatever to the wrong demographic. Lists can be sorted by age, income level, education, zip code, industry, employee size, job title, etc. Narrow it down as much as possible! Client A is reaching out to two industries, and to ensure the mailer gets in the right hands of the person who needs to see it, it is going to people with one of two job titles. If a company did not have a name with the job title we are targeting, they were not included on the list (the list would have had another 1,000 companies on it had we not excluded them for that reason).

Whatever you are sending must be eye-catching. Whether it’s a letter, brochure, or packaging that contains a product sample, it must be well-designed and well-written. You need it to stand out when it’s sitting on the recipient’s kitchen counter or desk. When they open the letter or brochure, it should be immediately clear what the benefit of your product or service is. And watch the length of the letter or brochure! Have you ever read those two page (front and back) solicitation/fundraising letters you get in the mail from various non-profits? Me neither.

Last, but certainly not least, you should also include a special offer in your direct mail brochure or letter: a free one-hour consultation, a percentage off the first service or purchase, etc. You really want to give the person who received your mailing a compelling reason to visit your website, email you, or call you. I am not sure if what we are going to do for Client A’s mailing, to be honest. A fabulous graphic designer I know is only just starting the brochure design now.

If you are going to spend the time and money on a mailing, be sure to track the results by asking new clients how they found you: website, referral, direct mail? I am looking forward to the reaction Client A’s mailing gets once we get this out the door in a few weeks. My goal is to intrigue the mailing’s recipients enough that they jump onto her website. If we can get them to do that, Client A is halfway to a greatly expanded new client base.

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Tags: direct mail, graphic design, Marketing
Posted in Marketing | No Comments »