Sector Share: Your “Feel Good Story” – The Annual Report

A well-written annual report will help you demonstrate your accomplishments to current and future donors, cultivate new partnerships, and recognize important people. We have reviewed a number of articles about common questions raised by nonprofit leaders.

Drawing from the websites below, we have generated the following list of what an annual report should include.

  • Summarize your organization’s mission statement in one or two short sentences.
  • Share your organization’s accomplishments over the last year; do not simply list the activities you carried out. What did you do and why did you do it? What were the results? Why did you spend your time and money the way you did? What difference did it make? We can’t assume that our donors and readers understand why we do what we do to achieve our mission, so this section should connect the dots for them.
  • Tell the story of your accomplishments or impact using real people:
    Supporters want to hear powerful stories about the impact of your work and that feature real people, so include people pictures, profiles, testimonials, and little anecdotes to let those voices shine through.
  • Share your financials: The financial section of your annual report needs to tell the story too. There is no need to overwhelm readers with full financials, but provide them with a snapshot of how you raised and spent your money, using graphics and short narratives. The financial section of a nonprofit annual report should clearly explain where revenues come from and how they are spent. It’s also helpful to include pie charts, bar graphs, or other visuals that help readers see the big picture and understand financial trends. A short narrative description is also essential, explaining in plain English the meaning behind all those numbers.
  • Include a list of donors. You can include all or some of them, it is up to you. Organize your list of donors by what makes sense for your organization – program categories, contribution level, alphabetized, or maybe just a few key ones who have sustained you this past year.
  • Make sure to give ample thanks. Give your community of supporters the sense that you are embracing them as partners in bringing about all of the year’s accomplishments.
  • Give a call to action: “Tell your readers exactly how they can help you.” This includes all the ways—time, talent, or treasure—that they can help. In the very least, you can highlight key ways to support you with a link to your website for more information.

Amalgamated sources for text in the list above include: