To repeat the key question from last week’s edition of Clear, Effective Communications:
Q: Do we really need an annual report?
A: Only if we want to raise money.
With a few exceptions, every nonprofit needs an annual report. And most nonprofit leaders know it. They just quail at the thought of spending all that time and money for a product they’re not sure will help them achieve their goals.
Last week, I told you how an annual report can help your nonprofit achieve your goals. That takes care of one side of the cost-benefit analysis.
Here’s the other side: Annual reports just don’t have to cost that much.
Gone are the days when a slick 20-page book was the only way to produce an annual report.
(I produced one of those exactly once, more than a decade ago – and then the organization had an Ideas That Matter grant from Sappi Fine Paper. As you might guess, the grant required that products be printed. On paper.)
Leave the big books to the big boys. There are lots of other options for smaller nonprofits:
- A four-page or two-page 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece
- An online report in an e-reader application
- A web mini-site
- A video report
- Even a postcard!
All of these options cost much less than the 20-page book.
A shorter format also means you spend less time developing content. You can focus on a single theme and a few great stories and photos that will connect your readers with the great work you’re doing.
The question of whether to print and mail or deliver only online has a lot of if-then scenarios I can’t cover here. The basic answer is “both, if humanly possible.”
Explore the nuances in Your Nonprofit Annual Report: The Basics and More! This four-week e-course I developed with Pamela Grow, author of Simple Development Systems, will walk you through the process of producing an annual report that will take your nonprofit to the next level.
You’ll get four weeks of great training, as well as resources you’ll use over and over again, for the low price of only $67. Sign up today.
To whet your appetite, in the next two weeks I’ll share two central themes of the module on writing a donor-centered (and donation-inspiring) annual report:
1. Tell stories.
2. Ooze gratitude.
Or is there something different you’d like to know about producing an annual report? Have an exemplary annual report you’d like to share?