Annual Reports: Presenting Your Successes

1 Annual Reports: Presenting your SuccessesC O M M U N I C AT I O N SA Detailed Guide To Creating Professional Annual ReportsLaunched in 1982 by Jim and Patty Ro u s e ,The Enterprise Foundation is a national,nonprofit housing and community d e ve l o p-ment organization dedicated to bringing lastingi m p rove m e n t sto distressed communities. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT LIBRARY This book is part of the Enterprise CommunityDevelopment Library, an i n valuable re f e rence collectionfor nonprofit organizations dedicated to revitalizing andreconnecting neighborhoods to mainstream of many resources available t h rough Enterprise, itoffers industry - p roven information in simple, easy-to-read formats.

2 From planning to governance, fund rais-ing to money management, and program operations tocommunications, the Community De ve l o p m e n tL i b r a ry will help your organization ENTERPRISE RESOURCESThe Enterprise Foundation provides nonprofit organizations with expert consultation and training as well as an extensive collection of print and onlinetools. For more information, please visit our Web siteat 1999, The Enterprise Foundation, rights : 0-942901-39-8No content from this publication may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic ormechanical, including photocopying, recording or any infor-mation storage and retrieval system, without permissionfrom the Communications department of The EnterpriseFoundation.

3 However, you may photocopy any worksheets or sample pages that may be contained in this publication is designed to provide accurate and authori-tative information on the subject covered. It is sold with theunderstanding that The Enterprise Foundation is not render-ing legal, accounting or other project-specific advice. Forexpert assistance, contact a competent of ContentsIntroduction 2 Elements of a Good Annual report 3 Eight Steps to Success 4 Writing the Annual report 6 Design Elements 8 Using Consultants or Freelancers 10 Annual report Timeline 11 Distributing your Annual report 12 Sample Budget 13 Checklist From Start to Finish 15 Appendix: Sample Pages 161 About This ManualWhat is an Annual report ?

4 An Annual report is a credible, versatile document through whichyou can communicate the Successes of your organization. An annualreport authenticates your community development organization andshows that you are operationally and financially Re p o rts: Presenting your Successes g i ves you the tools to make yo u rvoice heard by organization supporters and stakeholders. It is designedto help the staff of nonprofit community development organizationsc reate effective Annual re p o rts and make the process less manual includes examples, checklists and information to help you: nUnderstand the elements of a good Annual the eight steps to creating a successful and design the consultants or the Annual a manual is part of the Communications series within The EnterpriseFoundation s Community Development Library.

5 This series providesdetailed information on all aspects of communications from devel-oping a central message to creating a comprehensive communicationsstrategy. Other manuals in the series provide information on:nCreating brochures and newslettersnDeveloping action alertsnWorking effectively with the medianWriting marketing sheets nOrganizing neighborhood toursnCreating a message for your organization and identifying an audienceIntroductionAs more and more nonprofits vie for the samepool of support and dollars, accountability ismore important than ever.

6 People are morelikely to support you financially when they seeconcrete evidence that their dollars are beingused wisely. your Annual report can be the determining Annual report familiarizes readers with yournonprofit on every level: objective, mission,financial status, projects, programs and its focus on financial information andyearlong accomplishments, this document sub-stantiates your nonprofit s contributions to the community and bestows instant photos and personal stories of your cus-tomers and supporters to illustrate your suc-cesses makes your story come an Annual report can be time-con-suming and expensive, but it is time and moneywell spent if it s well written and designed, andprovides appropriate information.

7 After all, it s adocument that will have a long life, stand as anintroduction to potential donors and serve asyour nonprofit s general marketing what if your nonprofit does not have theresources or a sufficient number of successfulprojects to justify producing a traditional annualreport? Change the name! Call it a communityreport or an Annual review. Do not let a titlestop you from touting your financial stabilityand are more likely to support you financiallywhen they see concrete evidence that their dollarsare being used wisely. your Annual report can bethe determining benefactors and others who read a lot of Annual reports expect to find information in a certain order within the document.

8 This makes it easier for you to organize the information for yourannual report . However, this also challenges you to make the text concise, conveying importantinformation in few words. Pictures, which create visual interest, must be selected carefully to deliverthe impact you want. Elements of a Good Annual ReportnFront cover title and theme plus theorganization s name and logo nLetter from the executive director or board president nMission statement one or two sentencesdescribing your nonprofit s goal and purposenOptional table of contentsnHistory of your nonprofitnThe organization s philosophy and beliefsnStatistics and profiles of the people you servenHighlights of accomplishments for the year projects, programs, servicesnOptional future plansnMap illustrating the geography of your pro-ject, the location(s)

9 Of your program andyour organization s sphere of influencenFinancial statements audited or notaudited is acceptablenAwards, grants, loans and donations yournonprofit has receivednRoster the executive director s name and board members names and affiliationsnOptional staff listingnAcknowledgments of all contributors, supporters and volunteersnBack cover your nonprofit s logo,address, phone and fax numbers, email and Web site addresses, any photographerand sponsor creditsTypically, an Annual report is organized in the following order:Tackling a project as important and encom-passing as an Annual report requires organiza-tion.

10 Use the following eight steps to ensurethe process moves forward and does notbecome an onerous burden to your T E P 1 KEEP GOOD RECORDSB ecause your Annual re p o rt chronicles a year ofh i s t o ry and accomplishments, your entire staffshould be able to contribute to the project. It isessential that each staffer keeps re c o rds to sup-p o rt your achievements dates, events, peo-ple, recognition, etc. Trying to backtrack andcollect year-old information is difficult, and theresults are too often incomplete or T E P 2 APPOINT A PROJECT LEADERA ssign overall authority to one person.