Are you planning on writing a nonprofit annual report but don’t know how to? Annual report writing can be daunting for a novice, yet, as a nonprofit, you can not do without one. This article will shed light on the six steps you can take in creating your nonprofit annual report design.
Executive director’s speech
Most annual reports start with an executive director’s message. Let your readers get to know your organization’s executive director and brand identity. Bring to remembrance the significant events from the previous ones. Hint your readers on the critical aspects of the report, and let them know what you have in store for them for the following year. Your executive director should address all this. However, you can ghostwrite it and add his signature.
Board of directors
Introduce those that have been instrumental to the growth and success of your organization. This includes your executive director, grants director, projects manager, communication manager, financial secretary, and many more. Let your readers know who they are, the position or role they play, as well as their qualifications.
Communicate your Mission, Values, and Visions.
What’s a nonprofit annual report without your mission, values, and visions? This section answers your goals as an organization (Mission), what you seek to achieve(Vision), and what drives you(Values). These are very important because apart from setting the voice for your report, they also help as a reference as you progress in your writing.
Programs and events
Here, you don’t need to cram in every single event and happenings over the past year. Choose the prominent and successful projects that will stir your readers. You can include failed projects if it communicates a need for the upcoming season. You don’t need to include your administrative activities as they are unnecessary. If you have to, place it where attention is less. Make your programs exciting and engaging enough without forgetting to link each of them to your mission, vision, and value statement.
Financial statement
As a nonprofit organization functioning on the proceeds from donations and grants, you owe the public financial transparency to some extent. You can gain the trust and respect of your donors and funding sources when they can tell you how you spent the money given to you. Financial statements include the organization’s revenue, expenditures, overhead, etc. The contents of your financial information lie in your hand. You can choose to give a detailed account, and you can pick only vital figures. The most important thing is that you justify the statistics you provided. You can also use some reporting and analytic tools to that effect. This section allows you to share your financial goals and maybe solicit more donations.
Recognition and appreciations
Your annual report gives you a chance to give honor to whom honor is due. There is no better way to appreciate your donors and partners than to have their names mentioned in your annual report. Suppose you have many names to mention; narrow it down to include only major and recurring ones. That way, you can give tribute to them and maybe, share how they’ve contributed to your projects. So as not to exclude your minor donors, create a list of all your donors in a section.
What’s next?
It is only reasonable that after telling your audience what you have done, you also tell them what is to be done. This section focuses on your goals and plans for the following year, including new changes to your visions and dreams, if there are any. You can as well subtly ask for donations here.
There is no hard and fast route to writing your nonprofit annual report writing. Many nonprofit annual report examples include all or most of these sections. For more marketing tips, subscribe to our newsletters and follow @socialsrunway on Instagram.