nonprofit annual report cover letter

6 Ways to Motivate Readers'>Your Annual Report’s Opening Message: 6 Ways to Motivate Readers

I harbor no ill will toward opening messages. In fact, I believe they can be an important component of a nonprofit’s annual report. When done well–well being the operative word–they provide context for the rest of the publication. They personalize it and make it more immediate, and they help point readers to key information and calls to action.

That said, most opening messages, those “letters from the executive director,” make me want to get out my figurative red pen and edit away (at best) or, at worst, put the publication down or close my browser window. Of course you want your annual report’s welcome to excite readers and motivate them to read from cover to cover. Here’s how:

1. Keep your opening message short

I can’t emphasize this enough. Short is a few succinct paragraphs, a half page, 200-300 words. Short is not asking your graphic designer to “make it fit,” leaving audiences to squint at six-point font. Assume your reader is scanning. Make it easy to read. Use subheadings and bullet points. Hit the high points and move on.

If this sounds impossible–if you feel like it’s your one chance to say everything to everyone–then it might be a good time to revisit your communications plan. That feeling, and the resulting letter that goes on forever, could be a clue that you’re not regularly and consistently talking with all your constituents the rest of the year.

2. Open your annual report with a simple salutation

“Dear Friends”–or something similar–is great. You don’t need to spell out each audience, unless you want to waste several lines of valuable real estate (your letter is brief, remember?).

3. Keep the tone conversational

Keep it professional and formal, yes, but not stilted or distant. Somewhere between, “Hey, what’s up?” and “Dear Sir or Madam.”

Don’t be afraid to let some personality shine through either. Conveying the director’s sincere excitement about a particular accomplishment, his or her sense of humor, or a personal note or observation–these all make your opening message and, as a result, the whole report more engaging.

4. Show awareness of the year’s challenges

I once edited a “letter from the director” for a client who had a fantastic year. Unfortunately, though, colleagues at similar organizations did not fare so well. Talking about all the great things that happened without acknowledging others’ challenges during the long, hard recession felt wrong. It was nearly a missed opportunity to show camaraderie and gratitude. Phrases such as “In spite of difficult economic times, we were fortunate to … ” can go a long way.

5. Report candidly and transparently

Not a good idea to say how great the year was if it wasn’t. You can highlight the good while still being honest about areas you know need addressing. Your donors and other supporters want to know that you’re working to improve and that their time and/or money isn’t being wasted.

6. End with a positive note and call to action

Hint at a few things you’re excited about for the coming year, keep your ending hopeful but not artificial, and invite readers to do something–join you on social media sites, sign up for your newsletter, make a donation before the year ends, volunteer at an event, respond to a survey. Instead of making them drowsy, get them engaged–not only in reading your annual report but supporting your cause.

What techniques do you use to engage readers with your annual report’s opening letter?

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Nonprofit Annual Report: Creating Your Best One Yet! (+ 15 Examples!)

Imagine: it’s the end of the year and you’re celebrating all you’ve accomplished with your team. You sit down at your desk, do a couple of good chair stretches, get ready to write up your nonprofit annual report and… you blank.

So much has happened this past year, so where do you even start? What should you include? What should you leave out? How should you structure the document? 

Making a nonprofit annual report can feel like a big undertaking! After all, it highlights all of your organization’s success, celebrates donation impact and lays out all the numbers to promote transparency. Plus, the story an impact report tells is key to promoting donor stewardship.

But don’t panic—we’ve got the answers and the tools to make it simple! 

Here’s everything you need to know about writing an annual impact report, complete with a nonprofit annual report template.

What is a Nonprofit Annual Report and What’s its Purpose?

A nonprofit annual report is an end-of-year document that highlights your organization’s achievements from the past year. From celebrating campaign success to sharing benefactor stories to producing financial transparency, your annual report is a snapshot of how you’ve supported your mission.

This document also serves as a great big thank you for donors and volunteers! After all, your successes would not have been possible without them. Highlighting what you’ve achieved together is key to fostering donor stewardship.

A nonprofit annual report is similar to an impact report or donor report, but there are a few key differences:

• Annual reports lay out your accomplishments from the past year. They’re sent a couple of months after the financial year ends and provide a full overview of how you met your goals.
• Impact reports are typically sent out quarterly and are somewhat less common of a practice than annual reports. An impact report example could be highlighting the success of each quarterly campaign, which motivates your donors to support the next one.
• Donor reports are shorter, more frequent and very personalized. A donor impact report highlights—you guessed it!—donation impact and keeps your donors in the loop about what their support is helping you achieve.

Nonprofit annual reports aren’t technically required—an Annual Filing or filling out Form 990 are the only end-of-year documents you need to produce. However, that doesn’t mean annual reports aren’t important!

We won’t deny that making your annual report is a time commitment, which can feel difficult to spare during the rush of the end of year giving season. But with the way these reports build trust, donor stewardship and excitement for the year to come, you’ll feel the impact in both your wallet and your community.

10 Key Elements to Include in Your Nonprofit Annual Report

A year is long, and no doubt you’ve achieved all sorts of wonderful things! Here are some tips on distilling that information into what’s most useful for an annual impact report.

On a broad level, consider:

• Tone. Nonprofits typically benefit from being warm and personable—but they also need an element of authority! Your audience should trust that you know what you’re doing.
• Audience. Consider who you’re talking to. For example, if your demographic of donors are typically younger, they might prefer something more informal.
• Branding. Lay out your report in your organization’s branded fonts and colors. The document is celebrating your nonprofit, so it should wear your nonprofit’s clothes!

Now, the details! Here are 10 key elements to include in your nonprofit annual report:

1. Start with a table of contents

If this list includes 10 elements, you can probably imagine that there’s quite a bit of information your annual donor impact report will include! Make the reading experience smooth by including a table of contents.

Some of your dedicated supporters will want to read through the report front to back. Others might have specific areas of interest. For example, if one reader donated a huge sum to a specific campaign, they might just want to see how it played out.

A table of contents lets your readers know how to find the information that’s most interesting to them personally!

2. Add a letter from the President or Board Chair

Letters or messages from the Executive Director and Chair of the Board are standard fare in an annual report! After all, it’s super important for those leading the organization to sign off on the state of affairs and share their own pride in your accomplishments.

The opening letter can introduce the theme, summarize the content and give a personal touch to the report.

Your introduction should be:

• Short. A few succinct paragraphs will do the job. You don’t have to fill a page.
• Conversational. Don’t be afraid to let some personality shine through! Aim for a professional, but warm and friendly tone.
• Self-aware. If significant events are impacting your audience, organization or cause, briefly acknowledge that they’re there. Even a short nod to difficult circumstances, like, “Losing our building to a fire was incredibly challenging, but we’re still fighting the good fight,” can assure your audience that you’re in touch. 
• Candid. It’s okay to acknowledge setbacks and challenges. In fact, it’s not a good idea to say how great the year was if it wasn’t! Your donors and supporters don’t expect perfection, but they do expect transparency.
• Positive. Be honest, but project a hopeful, positive attitude. Hint at a few things you’re excited about for the coming year. Stay upbeat!

Short and sweet gets the job done in this executive message from Sarnia-Lambton Rebound .

3. Put the mission front and center

Your annual report is, above all, an opportunity to showcase your mission. 

It might feel redundant to emphasize your mission to people who’ve already supported it, but your supporters spend much less time thinking about the details of your mission than you do! They joined your organization for a reason—remind them what it is.

Include your mission statement in the report so the contents can directly show how your work is actively pursuing it.

The Voluntary Sector Reporting Awards (VSRAs) established Best Practices in Charity Annual Reporting . They recommend:

• Clearly stating the organization’s mission and tying it back to your activities throughout the report.
• Linking performance objectives and targets back to the mission.
• Disclosing your organization’s risks, issues and challenges in the context of the mission.
• Telling the reader how your organization governs itself and how that governance structure reflects your mission.
• Skipping out on individual committee reports in favor of a broad-based report that tells the organization’s story as a whole! The committee reports can be posted to the website if they are considered important disclosures.

Sarnia-Lambton Rebound reminds their supporters of their mission right from the beginning.

4. Highlight your major achievements

Don’t overwhelm your readers with every single detail—instead, choose your absolute highlights to celebrate in your annual impact report!

Gather a committee (or work with your board of directors!) and ask yourselves:

• If we could only tell donors about one thing we accomplished this year, what would it be? Don’t worry, you’ll be able to tell them about more than one! But see where the consensus is about your greatest successes.
• What are our key messages? The accomplishments you choose tell a story. What is it? 
• Is there a theme that might be fitting? How do your key messages relate to each other? Is there a theme, like growth, perseverance, hope or family?
• How do these accomplishments relate to our mission? Spell it out, even if it feels very obvious! Again, clarity is key so that your supporters know exactly how you’ve helped support your constituents.

Navos shares their year’s accomplishments with quick facts and engaging graphics.

5. Drive more impact with storytelling

The best way to showcase your accomplishments is through storytelling . A long list of achievements or collection of facts might be exciting to you, but it won’t necessarily capture your donors’ hearts.

Telling a story helps associate emotions to events . Choose which stories best highlight your accomplishments and your overall mission.

A good nonprofit annual donor impact report story:

• Tells the truth. You can simplify a story and change details to protect privacy. However, the bones of the story should be true. After all, you’re using it as proof that you deserve support!
• Focuses on a central character. As I mentioned before, it’s easier to connect with the story of one person than a group. Use one named person as the subject of your story.
• Uses the person’s own words as much as possible to tell the story. Quotes and first-person narratives are most compelling.
• Shows a change as a result of the nonprofit’s action and the donors’ gifts. Use a storytelling structure with a beginning, middle and end to show what changed.

If you created a new program, introduce readers to the problem it solved via one person’s story. A great example is this one from Nuru-International , which focuses on the story of Josphat, a single farmer. 

6. Present data in a visually appealing way

Nothing makes peoples’ eyes glaze over like a long block of text! If you want to engage your readers, it’s essential to present your data in a way that’s visually appealing.

Your nonprofit annual report could include:

• Attractive infographics. This will help your readers take in data at a glance! For example, breaking where your fundraising money went into a pie chart lets your readers see their donation impact without needing to dig.
• Compelling photographs. A picture’s worth a thousand words, right? With the right photo, all you need is a simple caption to get your point across.
• Consistent fonts. Don’t make your readers dizzy with a bunch of cluttered fonts! Stick to your branding all the way through to guide their eyes.
• Headings and subheadings. These features keep your impact report accessible and easy to scan. Make it easy for your readers to find what they’re looking for.

While the data itself is super important, how it’s laid out has an equal impact! If you know all the data but aren’t sure how to make it pretty, consult with your marketing or design experts.

7. Be transparent with a financial statement

It’s important to share your financial information in a way that makes sense to your audience. Give them an overview of where the revenue comes from and how it is spent.

You could do this with traditional financial statements, visual charts and graphs or infographics. By using plain English and clear visuals, your readers should understand the meaning behind the numbers in your annual impact report. Most importantly, they should always connect back to your mission, vision and values!

Aurora Cultural Centre promotes accountability, but doesn’t overwhelm their audience with their financial statement.

They also demonstrate what your numbers mean with visual organizers like charts and graphs.

8. Celebrate your donors

Many organizations decide to print the names of the year’s donors and the levels of their gifts in their annual report. This is a way to say thank you and show donors that they’re part of a large community of supporters!

Still—it’s a list of names, which means it’s likely to be skimmed. People look for their own names, but rarely read the entire list. Consider interspersing quotes and photos to get more value out of the pages.

And of course, make sure all spelling, titles and giving levels are correct. Double and triple check!

9. Recap events and milestones

Think of your nonprofit annual report as a celebration of your year’s greatest hits. What were the events you’re still talking about? What campaign moments had your whole team cheering?

Your members, donors and supporters have not had the same inside look into the organization as you. No matter how much they care about your mission, it’s very likely that they missed something during the year!

Brag away, and really lean into the impact these milestones had for your community. If these milestones link back to fundraising, lean into talking about donation impact.

10. Call to action: Keep the party going!

The work doesn’t stop with the annual report—in fact, it’s just beginning! The best impact report should inspire your donors to keep getting involved with your nonprofit.

Give them a next step with a strong call to action, reiterated throughout your report. 

For most organizations, this will be an ask for donations, but don’t limit yourself! Inviting people to volunteer, follow your social media or advocate for your cause is just as good of a way to help your organization grow.

SC Thrive closes their report with more ways to get involved.

A Sample Annual Report Table of Contents  

Setting up a table of contents is a great way to lay out expectations for readers—and to give you some structure starting out!

Annual reports are structured differently depending on the format and your organization’s goals. A traditional, printed report typically looks something like this:

• Welcome Letter/Introduction
• Summary of Highlights
• Financial Information
• Multiple Stories of Accomplishment

When it comes to your table of contents, you can either keep things simple and straightforward or get creative. Check out this annual impact report example from Feeding America .

This beautifully branded table of contents is attractive while also being super informative! You can easily see how long each section is at a glance.

How To Choose an Annual Report Format

With all of the room here for creativity, you might be wondering how to begin structuring your annual donor impact report.

Should it be printed and mailed? What images should you include? Is it really necessary to have every donor’s name listed? 

While the answer to a lot of these questions will depend heavily on your organization, here are a few things to consider throughout the process. 

Online Vs. Printed?

Before the age of the internet, annual reports were documents to be printed and mailed.These days, simply going digital is becoming more popular.

This is because posting your annual report online:

• Is more environmentally-friendly
• Saves you admin time
• Makes them easier for prospective members to read

If you have a group of donors who expect to receive a printed piece, feel free to make that option available upon request. It might also help you to conduct an online survey to get an idea of what your audience is looking for. After all, these reports are meant to connect you with your supporters!

What About Visuals?

As we mentioned earlier (and demonstrated in the Feeding America example!), visuals can be incredibly beneficial to your annual report. They keep the report dynamic, accessible and skimmable. Plus, who doesn’t love a good branding opportunity?

Note that digital annual reports also make it possible to use as many full-color images as you like! Another benefit to taking the online route.

15 Nonprofit Annual Report Examples to Get You Started

Want a little inspiration? Here you’ll find examples from charities, membership organizations and chambers of commerce. We’ve included organizations big and small, so there’s something for everyone! These are 15 of our favorite annual impact report examples:

1. Feeding America

What we like (again!):

• This annual impact report example is beautifully designed with a cohesive and engaging motif throughout. Text and easy-to-read visuals alternate.
• Real photos accompany the stories of people who benefit from the organization’s work, with a “special thanks” section which acknowledges the people who made it possible.
• Financials are creatively done with stacked plates.
• Lots of space is used to display the logos of corporate partners—they’re not squeezed onto one page, but spread over 23 pages.

2. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

What we like:

• This annual impact report example has viewing options for either a pdf or interactive report hosted on issuu.com.
• Striking visuals of scientific accomplishments, complete with comprehensive explanations for supporters who might be less familiar with scientific terminology.
• The financial section is done with engaging, branded visuals and graphs.
• The impact is broken down by the scientific field it is relevant to.

3. Buffalo Niagara Partnership

• This annual report is a slideshow embedded on the organization’s website.
• Sponsors and partners are given priority by placing their gratitude content on the third page of the report. There is also recognition space in the last few pages.
• Lots of photos with brief but descriptive captions, avoiding lengthy blocks of text.
• The webpage where the annual report slideshow is embedded also houses a summary video and yet another list of key sponsors.

4.  BC Cancer Foundation

• Instead of making a webpage, The BC Cancer Foundation has created an entirely separate website just for the annual report. Different sections of the report are accessible through links in the header, which stays in place as site visitors scroll through.
• The website is full of moving photos and animations, creating an engaging experience for the visitors. 
• A large “Donate” button is always present in the top right corner, inviting people to donate as they read the inspiring stories within the report. 
• Each section is collapsed to save scrolling space, but visitors can expand content if they’re interested in reading it in full. 

5.  Save the Children

• This annual impact report example is done as an interactive online slideshow. Viewers can not only click through slides, but also click to read captions, play video and audio content or click through mini galleries of photos. 
• The report is full of moving stories and powerful photos. Because this is a report from 2020, the lead page shows a child with a mask, marking the way COVID shaped the year for the mission.
• Statistics are displayed over photos rather than just as graphics. 
• Messages from the organization’s advocates are recorded as audio and can be played by clicking on their photos.

6. Florida Farm Bureau Federation

• This annual report is hosted on issuu.com.
• The annual report is framed with the theme “Rooted in Resilience,” with each section broken down into what that means. For example, being rooted in policy, community, membership, leadership, etc.
• There is a consistent plant-based theme and branding strategy.
• The report ends with photos of people working in grassroots initiatives.

7. American Dance Festival

• This annual report is hosted on issuu.com, with the option to download the slides. The link can be easily accessed from their About page on the main website.
• The numbers and stats are broken down in an attractive and readable graphic.
• Stunning images of the dancers in action are highlighted throughout the report.
• ADF Fund contributors are listed at the end, broken down by their level of giving.

8. It Gets Better Project

• The It Gets Better Project has an attractive branded annual report with optimistic messaging that reflects the organization’s mission, vision and values.
• A media representation timeline shows the full year’s reach and impact in an easy-to-understand visual.
• The financials are broken down into straightforward numbers in a colorful chart, and include a pie chart to further represent what it looks like.
• The report ends with a Year Ahead section which expresses hopes and plans for the future of the organization.

9.  Salt Lake Chamber

What we like:  

• This annual impact report example is housed on a dedicated page on the organization’s website.
• It starts with a video message from leadership.
• The “Highlights” section contains brief paragraphs, with links to read more. 
• The report contains lots of embedded videos from events and award presentations. 
• Public policy and membership statistics are clearly represented with engaging graphics. 

10.  Raising Readers in Story County

• This annual report has a unique infographic format. It’s very concise—only three pages!—but still showcases just as much impact as more lengthy reports. 
• It includes achievements from the past year, program highlights, impressive statistics, quotes from parents and list of supporters. 
• The design of the report is visually appealing and is representative of the community this organization serves: young children and their parents. 

11.  Greater Chicago Food Depository

• This annual impact report example is housed on its own website, with a bar on the right hand side to show visitors’ progress through the homepage. Plus, the homepage ends with a call to get involved. 
• Many video elements: a welcome video from leadership, a video background on the homepage and video snippets to accompany impactful stats.
• Stories are presented as headlines and brief descriptions, with links to read them in full on other pages of the website. 
• Sections like “About Us”, donor lists and financials can be found on other pages of the website through links in the header.

12.  The Humane Society

• This annual report includes lots of large, impactful photos.
• Because this report is from 2020, it highlights the impact of the initial COVID-19 outbreak on the mission.
• It contains a spread summarizing the organization’s top achievements from the past year.
• Every story reminds us of both the short- and long-term visions that the story supports. 
• There are lots of interesting facts and statistics throughout the report.
• The last page of the report is a brief summary of financials (a more detailed version can be downloaded from the organization’s website). 

13.  ChildFund

• This annual report is full of impactful stories about donors and people who have benefited from the support. 
• It has lots of powerful photos and mini stories in their captions.
• Engaging graphics showcase statistics and impact.
• Colorful fonts reflect the fact that the beneficiaries are children.

14. Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce

• This nonprofit annual report contains a page with a summary of key objectives and achievements from the past year, as well as how they align with the organization’s mission. 
• There are lots of statistics and photos to accompany them.
• The report provides statistics about important areas of the organization such as membership, events, communications, resources, advocacy and partnerships.

• The report starts with the organization’s reach and scale, their mission and values and their code of conduct and policies. 
• Each impact story is accompanied by a few key statistics and a quote from someone who’s seen the organization’s impact first-hand. 
• Worldwide impact is shown by visually connecting each country’s story to where it is on the world map. 
• Full spread photos divide the report into sections. 

Your Annual Report Checklist

Before you get started on your annual report, it can be majorly helpful to create a checklist of everything you need to know to make it happen.

Your checklist should help you determine your:

• Team members: Is there a project leader, committee or board support?
• Objective: Who’s your key audience, and what action do you want your report to inspire them to take?
• Format: Digital, print, video? A bit of everything?
• Outline: What do you want to include, and what will your Table of Contents end up looking like?
• Key messages and themes: Which accomplishments do you want to highlight? What is the story that this report tells?
• Budget: How much do you want to put into expenses like content development, graphic design and distribution?
• Production schedule: What’s your target release date, and what workback schedule do you need to hit it?

For more detail on what you might need, we’ve made an easy-to-follow annual report checklist to take away the guesswork!

Nonprofit Annual Report Template to Get You Started!

Don’t fear your annual report.

Creating an annual report can feel like a big task, but remember that all the information you need is already available! You already know how to tell a good story, communicate impact and show gratitude to donors. All that’s left is to follow a structure and get creative.

(And download our annual report checklist if you want a little extra help!)

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How to Create a Standout Nonprofit Annual Report + Template

For nonprofits like yours, a thoughtfully written and well-designed annual report can be an invaluable fundraising tool. It can be used to cultivate new relationships with donors, sponsors, volunteers, and other community members. Plus, it helps recognize and  retain  those who have helped you make progress toward your goals over the past year.

With so much at stake, it’s critical to take the creation of your annual report seriously and seek guidance on how to make it a useful resource for your organization’s community. To help you get started, this guide will cover all you need to know about nonprofit annual reports, including:

What is a nonprofit annual report?

Nonprofit annual report template & elements to include, choosing a format for your annual report, nonprofit annual report best practices, our favorite nonprofit annual report examples.

These tips and strategies will put you well on your way to creating a digestible, engaging annual report that inspires your audience to continue supporting your organization’s work. Let’s dive in!

An annual report is a document designed to highlight your nonprofit’s major accomplishments, build confidence in your organization, inspire readers to support your mission, and thank the donors and volunteers who make your work possible. 

Nonprofits typically compile and release these reports every year, although they aren’t always mandatory. On a national level, the only document you’re required to file to maintain your organization’s 501(c)(3) status is an annual tax return via  IRS Form 990 . However, some state governments request a copy of nonprofits’ annual reports to maintain their charitable solicitation registration in that state, so make sure to stay up-to-date on  your state’s filing requirements .

Benefits of Creating an Annual Report

Even if your nonprofit isn’t required to file its annual report with your state, there are advantages to compiling one.  For most nonprofits, the ultimate goal—and the ultimate benefit—of their annual report is simple: retaining current supporters and acquiring new ones.

To accomplish this goal, your annual report must fulfill several smaller purposes, each of which benefits your organization’s long-term health:

• Educate your audience about your mission.
• Demonstrate the impact your organization has made.
• Build trust through financial transparency.
• Show appreciation for your current supporters.

Additionally, although annual reports reflect on the past year, they can also establish a framework for your nonprofit to move forward and achieve more in the year to come!

Annual Reports & Prospect Research

It’s common for nonprofits to include the names of their major donors and the projects they contributed to somewhere in their annual reports. This information can help feed charitable giving databases that you can use for prospect research.  DonorSearch , for example, culls hundreds of annual reports to collect data on major donors’ giving history.

While your annual report can cultivate better relationships with existing donors and encourage others to support your cause, you can also use the information from other nonprofit reports to fuel your prospect research. Prospect research professionals can find a wealth of ideal prospects for your nonprofit just by looking at the annual reports of similar organizations. 

Let’s say that your nonprofit works to reduce food insecurity for children in your area. If a local hospital highlighted a major donor in their annual report who contributed to the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit, your organization might want to target that person as a potential major donor, since you can infer that they’re likely interested in helping children.

If you’re creating your nonprofit’s first-ever annual report or looking to switch up your format, it can be useful to work off of a template. The template below is a representation of a page of your annual report or a shortened digital version you can deliver via email. The use of graphics and images provides a suggestion for how to effectively divide up the space and produce a more visually appealing layout:

This template includes the four most essential elements of a nonprofit annual report, which we’ll discuss in more detail in the following sections.

1. Clear Mission Statement

Dedicated, long-time supporters and individuals who are brand new to your organization’s community will both read your annual report. Each of these groups of readers should be confident in their understanding of your organization’s mission before diving into the data, which is why you should write out your mission statement at the beginning of the report.

Keep your mission statement to one or two sentences to help it stick in readers’ minds, and ensure it includes the most important details about why your organization does what it does every day. One nonprofit that does this particularly well is the  American Red Cross , whose mission statement reads, “The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.”

You can also include your vision statement alongside your mission statement. Your vision statement is a sentence that describes the future state your nonprofit is working toward—i.e., what you hope the world will look like when your mission is accomplished.

2. Major Achievements From the Past Year

The majority of your annual report should focus on the activities and projects your organization completed over the past year, from hosting fundraising events to coordinating volunteer efforts to delivering services in your community. Reflect on your organization’s audience and what would be most interesting to them, but make sure to share your biggest accomplishments!

First, use your  fundraising tools  to break down your achievements into statistics your readers can easily understand. You might report the total amount your donors gave, the number of hours your volunteers worked, or how many social media followers you gained. Then, format that data using graphs and visualizations to make it easier for readers to understand, and supplement the numbers with photos and true stories about your work to further emphasize your impact.

3. Financial Information

It’s no secret that your donors want to know how your nonprofit is using their money to further your mission. Being honest and transparent about your spending and fundraising builds trust with your existing supporters. Plus, it shows potential donors that your nonprofit can manage funds responsibly and effectively, which can make them more likely to give.

However, some high-impact donors who are very financially literate will want to see detailed records of your nonprofit’s financial status, while others would prefer an easy-to-follow, summarized version of the data. To accommodate both of these preferences, include graphical representations of key financial information in the body of your annual report, then attach detailed  financial statements  as appendices for donors who want to learn more.

4. List of Major Contributions

In addition to showcasing your nonprofit’s success, your annual report is also about thanking those who helped you achieve those goals. The best way to do this is by listing out and thanking your  major donors , board members, and organizational leadership.

Additionally, include a general statement of thanks to your volunteers and donors at all levels. Although you should have a more personalized thank-you cadence for each supporter when they contribute, a general shoutout will make them feel appreciated and seen by your organization!

Once you add each of the elements listed above to your annual report, you’ll need to decide how to present the information to your nonprofit’s community. While most organizations publicize their annual reports on a dedicated page of their websites, how you further publicize it will depend on your audience’s preferences.

A combination of hard-copy and digital annual report materials will generally reach the widest audience. Here are some popular formats in each category to consider:

Hard Copy Annual Reports

• Traditional bound book:  These can be anywhere from a few to 100 pages long and are great for compiling a large amount of information in a substantial, tangible way. No matter how long your report is, make sure to keep the content engaging and break up the text with plenty of visuals.
• Postcard:  If you’d like to maximize digestibility, postcards are a good choice. With well-designed infographics, pictures, and statistics, supporters can very quickly understand how your organization did last year. Because of space limitations, you’ll have to sacrifice some copy, so if you want to tell detailed stories or include a long list of donors, choose a longer-form option.
• Brochure:  Still considered a quick read, brochures are a middle ground between a postcard and a book. The folds in a brochure create natural divides to easily section your information and design.

Digital Annual Reports

• PDF:  If you want the space that a book offers but don’t want to spend the money or use tons of paper to print it, PDFs are a good solution. You can make them as long or short as you like, embed other digital content like links, videos, and PowerPoint presentations, and easily upload them to your website or attach them to an email.
• Video:  Video annual reports show, rather than tell, your audience what your organization has accomplished. Make sure your final video comes across as professional in its editing and  production , and recruit outside help if necessary.
• Interactive website:  Consider building a webpage or mini-site that houses an interactive version of your annual report. Your audience could click through a photo gallery, expand graphs for a more detailed view, and play multiple short videos, making for an immersive experience.

If you use multiple formats, think about who the primary audience is for each type. Newer, lower-level supporters will likely be happy with condensed versions of your annual report like videos or postcards, while important stakeholders will want to see more comprehensive information in a book or PDF.

Now that you know what to include in your annual report and your options for formatting it, you’re likely ready to dive into creating your own. As you compile the report, keep these six best practices in mind.

1. Start With a Clear Plan

The first step for every successful project at your nonprofit is creating a plan, and your annual report is no exception. You’ll likely need the help of multiple team members or departments to assemble all of the information, as well as compile and design the document. 

First, determine your report’s audience. This will likely include your current supporters as well as prospective donors,  corporate sponsors , and grantmaking foundations. If you have to file your annual report with your state government, they’re also part of your audience.

Then, consider your purpose and strategy. At its core, your annual report should persuade your audience to support your cause. However, you might have smaller objectives, such as highlighting a new project or attracting more local sponsors, that align with your nonprofit’s strategic plan. Because it’s difficult to cover everything your organization has done in a year in a single document,  focus your report on three to five core themes that point readers back to your objectives.

Finally, turn to the action aspect of your plan. This part of your strategy may include: 

• Delegating responsibilities and creating timelines for team members.
• Interviewing supporters, leaders, and beneficiaries.
• Compiling and formatting financial data.
• Collecting  key metrics  from fundraising campaigns.

When your nonprofit has a clear plan, the process of creating your report will go more smoothly, and the end result will be more impactful.

2. Highlight Your Supporters

As we’ve mentioned before, your annual report is a chance to showcase the good your nonprofit has done. That being said, it’s easy for nonprofits to simply celebrate  their  accomplishments and forget to mention the support that made them possible.

Rather than focusing solely on your achievements, highlight how different projects and programs were realized because of your supporters’ contributions.  Every form of support your organization received was essential to your success, so thank them for their monetary gifts, in-kind donations, volunteer time, event participation, advocacy for your cause, and more.

By showing donors and volunteers that your accomplishments were possible because of their support, they’ll know that you’re aware of everything they do. Plus, it demonstrates to potential donors that your nonprofit is built on the support of passionate people and encourages them to join that community.

3. Recognize High-Impact Contributors

In addition to discussing your supporters’ accomplishments generally, set aside space in your annual report to draw extra attention to the supporters who went above and beyond for your cause. Besides the customary list of major donors and the initiatives they supported, consider including stories about some of these donors or other individuals who have been especially impactful to your cause, such as a loyal volunteer or a long-serving board member.

High-impact supporters like this deserve much more recognition than a simple, generic thank-you message, and your annual report is a great place to publicly show your gratitude. When donors feel appreciated and valued in this way, they’re more likely to continue engaging with your nonprofit long-term.

4. Engage Readers With Compelling Visuals

Compiling all of your efforts and data from the past year and condensing them into a single document provides a lot of information for current and prospective supporters to read! This is where strategically placed visuals come in.

Along with capturing and keeping readers’ attention, annual report visuals have many benefits, such as:

• Breaking up blocks of text to make the report more skimmable.
• Transforming complex data into easy-to-understand graphs.
• Translating your mission statement into a tangible need that your audience can develop a passion for.

Incorporate a combination of graphical data visualizations and relevant photos into your report, and make sure to get subjects’ consent if the pictures include any people. For online reports, make some of your visuals interactive for increased engagement.

5. Be Truthful & Transparent

While your annual report is primarily about highlighting your success, it’s important to be honest about your organization’s progress. Sometimes your projects won’t go as planned—and that’s okay! 

By briefly mentioning your missteps and how you plan to correct the issue in the future, you’ll show your audience that you’re proactive in solving problems.  Make sure to address:

• The causes of your setbacks (if you know what they are).
• The changes you plan to make in the future based on the information you currently have.
• How you’ll gather and incorporate feedback from your supporters as you address these issues.

Touching on setbacks will paint a full picture of the previous year’s progress and demonstrate to donors that despite your challenges, you were still able to make significant strides in furthering your mission.

6. Inspire Your Audience to Take Action

Once you’ve effectively conveyed your mission and achievements in your annual report, many readers might be wondering, “What’s next?”

Dedicate space in your annual report to let readers know how they can support your cause. At minimum, include a link or QR code to your online donation page depending on what format you choose. You might also direct readers to other ways they can get involved, such as:

• Signing up to volunteer
• Registering for the first fundraising event of the new year
• Taking advantage of  corporate philanthropy programs  like employer matching gifts or volunteer grants

Additionally, mention other places where readers can learn more. Include your organization’s website URL, phone number, mailing and email addresses, and social media handles so your audience can stay in touch with you.

To show you these strategies in practice, we’ve compiled a list of our top five nonprofit annual reports. If you still aren’t sure where to start with creating your organization’s annual report, these examples might just spark some inspiration!

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy  (TNC) describes itself as “a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature can thrive.” For their 2022 annual report, they chose two eco-friendly formats: an interactive website and a PDF that their international community of readers can download in English, Spanish, or Mandarin.

Some highlights of TNC’s report include:

• A concise explanation of their “2030 Goals” strategic plan with accompanying graphics.
• Articles on each of their key projects that highlight their donors and partners, along with relevant photos and opportunities to learn more.
• Multiple formats for their financial data, including a summary bar graph, a letter from the CFO, and a detailed accounting report.

Read The Nature Conservancy’s full annual report .

National FFA Organization

The  National FFA Organization  (FFA stands for Future Farmers of America) is “the premier youth organization preparing members for leadership and careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture.” FFA compiles a digital annual report that can be viewed as a downloadable PDF or on a dedicated mini-site.

Some highlights of FFA’s 2022 annual report include:

• An organized three-part structure based on the pillars of the nonprofit’s 2022-2025 strategic plan: Evolve, Engage, and Empower.
• A timeline highlighting the most important activity or achievement of each month.
• Branded graphics that compile and summarize statistics about all of the nearly 9,000 local FFA chapters.

Read the National FFA Organization’s full annual report.

World Vision International

World Vision International  (WVI) is a faith-based nonprofit organization that works to respond to poverty, provide emergency relief, and promote social justice around the world. Its eye-catching 2022 annual report is available as a downloadable PDF on their website.

Some highlights of WVI’s annual report include:

• Large photos of smiling beneficiaries—several of which are accompanied by testimonials—to put a face to the impact data featured.
• A strong emphasis on the impact of supporters’ participation in the child sponsorship program.
• Graphs showing the organization’s increase in total revenue over the past six years and a detailed but easily readable summary of annual expenditures.

Read World Vision International’s full annual report .

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution’s  mission is to promote “the increase and diffusion of knowledge,” which it does through the 21 museums and one zoo under its control. Because there are so many cultural organizations within this one nonprofit, it produces an extremely comprehensive annual report book each year.

Some highlights of this organization’s 2022 annual report include:

• The statistics in the first spread of the book that highlight the audience’s impact right off the bat.
• First-person perspectives from staff members at many of the Smithsonian’s cultural organizations.
• A thorough and well-organized list of corporate sponsors and major donors.

Read the Smithsonian Institution’s full annual report .

Boston Children’s Hospital

Some large nonprofits, such as higher education or healthcare organizations, may benefit from producing multiple annual reports each year that each focus on one of their areas of work.  Boston Children’s Hospital , one of the largest pediatric hospitals in the United States, creates separate reports for each of its individual programs to better highlight the progress and supporters of each one. A few examples include:

• Neighborhood Partnerships
• Family Advisory Council
• Office of Community Health

Not only do all of these reports include high-quality data presentations and storytelling, but their visual design appeals to each program’s audience. For example, the Office of Community Health uses a dark color scheme when discussing serious health data, while the bright colors in the Neighborhood Partnerships report give it a welcoming feel. However, all of the reports still feature the Boston Children’s Hospital logo to unify them.

Final Thoughts

An annual report is an effective tool for closing out your nonprofit’s year. It empowers you to highlight your achievements and recognize everyone who has helped you along the way. With the tips and strategies in this guide, you can create an effective annual report that donors look forward to receiving every year.

Remember that annual reports from other nonprofits also provide value to your work. The information within those reports can offer deeper insights that you can use to identify and build relationships with prospective donors.

To learn more about boosting your nonprofit’s fundraising performance, check out these resources:

• Major Gifts: A Guide to Securing Large Donations . Dive deeper into the process of securing major gifts from the donors you’ll feature in the list of major contributors in your annual report.
• Your Annual Fund: A Definitive Guide to Boost Your Strategy . Your nonprofit’s annual fund provides a financial foundation for all of the initiatives you report each year. Discover the best strategies to fill this fund.
• Fundraising Intelligence: Using AI to Enhance Philanthropy . Explore how to leverage AI-powered tools to fundraise and report on your organization’s activities more intelligently.

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Nonprofit Annual Report Guide: Examples & Tips for Creating an Impactful Design

Nonprofit annual report examples.

• Tips for Creating Your Report
• Impact Report Checklist
• Copywriting
• Visual Design

Is it impact report time already?!

If you need to create your nonprofit annual report (and you’ve somehow found your way to this blog post), I’m assuming you could use a little inspiration. No worries; I’ve been there, too, and I’ve got ya covered! In this post, I’m sharing my favorite nonprofit annual report examples—along with some very specific pointers about what makes each one so effective.

This list contains some of our favorite nonprofit annual reports, ranging from quick four-pagers to online-only landing pages to full printed reports of 80 pages and up.

Wild Montana

A gorgeous magazine spread worthy of your coffee table

Wild Montana’s 2020 Annual Report  makes use of gorgeous imagery—and for a conservation organization, pictures really do speak volumes! This report clearly showcases what’s at stake and what needs protection.

Here are a few highlights from this report:

• It has a very polished design with thoughtful use of colors, photos, and layout.
• It uses repeated motifs to tie the report together visually, such as the chalk-style divider line, the paper-textured background, and images with the background cut out.
• It uses the landscape orientation, which is uncommon in nonprofit annual reports and works well with the stunning imagery and wide landscape shots.
• They use very short headlines to keep the text easy to read and visually simple.

The only thing that’s missing in my opinion? A table of contents. Because this report is over 15 pages long, I would expect to see a table of contents to help readers understand and navigate it better.

AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC)

The (all-online) impact report with the splashiest and snazziest animation

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago is the perfect example of a growing trend: nonprofit impact reports that are all online. This organization takes it one step further by featuring a creative animation at the top of their  2020 annual report . (I will say that some people might find the animation difficult to read—but it’s definitely professionally done!)

A few other notable points about this online impact report:

• Because everything is on a single web page, there’s no need to view a PDF through a separate website or worry about downloading anything.
• The organization makes great use of design motifs, including hand-drawn decorative marks, organic cut-out shapes, and colored photo overlays.
• This nonprofit annual report displays  tons  of statistics throughout the page.
• They keep the page easy to scan and well divided by using large headlines and alternating various background colors.

If I had to be picky about anything, I’d say that the body font could be a little thicker. It’s so thin (and uses such wide-set letterforms) that I doubt this would pass accessibility checks. People with low vision might not be able to read this report.

Mayan Families

A multilingual nonprofit impact report with an awesome cover

Does your nonprofit serve speakers of different languages? Then take a page out of the Mayan Families book and create an annual report in all of the languages you primarily serve!

This organization has compiled  one annual report in English  and  one annual report in Spanish —both designed to match the nonprofit’s brand and share the wonderful work they’re doing. If you have the resources to do so, multilingual support is a wonderful way to meet your audiences where they are.

Some other things I really like about these annual reports include:

• Really nice use of color palette, incorporating bright colors drawn from traditional fabric without becoming overwhelming
• Vibrant and engaging cover photo featuring four smiling women
• Nicely organized content sections including summaries of 2020 and plans for 2021 in each of their programming areas
• A map at the very beginning of the nonprofit annual report, making their work more tangible

If I were to make one recommendation for this organization from a graphic designer’s point of view, it would be to switch away from justified text and toward left-aligned text (also called “ragged right”). This would prevent some of the awkward text spacing that you can see in the example image below.

Native Governance Center

A simple, easy-to-read online report with a very powerful cover photo

The Native Governance Center is another example of an online-only nonprofit impact report. Compared to the extremely long report from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, I’d say this version is a bit more realistic for many nonprofits. It’s detailed and information-rich but not so long and complex that it couldn’t be done in house.

Other things that are awesome about  the Native Governance Center’s 2020 annual report :

• Amazing  choice of cover photo—powerful, serious, professional, and still friendly
• Great use of statistics
• Simple but well-implemented color scheme
• Includes embedded explainer videos
• Includes a call to action button at the end (one of the great things about having a web page version of the annual report)

Community Foundation of Louisville

A beautiful nonprofit annual report design without a single photograph

Alright… so your nonprofit doesn’t have the stunning images that Wild Montana does? Have no fear! The Community Foundation of Louisville does an excellent job with their  2020 annual report —without a single photo to be had.

Instead of images, this organization uses a series of illustrations with a quirky, hand-drawn style that adds plenty of character. If you don’t have many photographs to use, this is a great example to follow.

Other points I love about this nonprofit annual report:

• Bright and varied color scheme, implemented well
• Excellent use of large statistics—12 different stats in just 8 pages
• Lots of white space in the design with plenty of room to breathe
• Creative use of textures, such as the bars in the bar chart shown below

Center for Urban Families (CFUF)

Powerful color scheme and typography with awesome focus on personal stories

The Center for Urban Families shows that nonprofit impact reports can be just as visually impactful as the work they do. I mean, couldn’t you see the cover image above as a Nike ad? It’s powerful, friendly, and empowering—plus the writer in me loves the play-on words.

What else is great about this  CFUF nonprofit annual report ? Lots of things, but here are some highlights:

• Clean layout with plenty of white space and easy-to-read columns
• Consistent use of color, type, and brand messaging
• Fantastic use of stories from all kinds of people: members, alumni, partners, board members, and staff
• Focus on including the reader in the message with key headlines like “Together we can do more”

A great example of a very long impact report that’s still easy to read

If you’re a large nonprofit with many distinct geographic locations and programming initiatives, then Cycling UK is the perfect example to follow. This nonprofit annual report is a whopping 81 pages long—probably because it combines the typical annual report information with financial statements and notes required by UK law.

Despite the length, the impact report is still very easy to read and well organized overall. I especially love the:

• Table of contents—definitely necessary for such a long report!
• Page for organizational values, featured prominently in the inner cover
• Excellent use of branded color scheme throughout the document
• Great use of statistics with icons for easy scanning
• Good incorporation of COVID-19 and the unique challenges of 2020
• Creative use of maps, which are important to a group of cyclists

100 Black Men

The perfect way to show appreciation to sponsors (plus excellent storytelling!)

Do you have a lot of sponsors to include in your nonprofit impact report? 100 Black Men of America, Inc. has taken a fantastic approach.

Instead of listing sponsors in a basic list at the end of the report, they’ve highlighted sponsors  within  the stories they tell (see the screenshot below for an example). This is a great way to show sponsors just how much work they’re helping you accomplish—and to give them a place of prominence that makes them feel appreciated.

Here are a few other things that this impact report example does well:

• Tons of testimonials, stories, and case studies sprinkled throughout the report
• Simple color scheme that’s on brand and easy to read
• Liberal use of bullet points for easy scanning of program activities and results
• Wonderful variety of photos including portraits, group photos, action shots, etc.
• Use of a logo cloud to show sponsors—more visually interesting than a list

Tips for Creating Your Nonprofit Annual Report

As you can see from the nonprofit annual report examples above, there are a million ways to design an awesome report—which I guess is part of the challenge, right? It’s hard to narrow down what your report should look like and what it should contain when there are so many right ways to do it.

As you design your impact report, keep these tips in mind:

• Spend some time choosing an impactful cover photo—you don’t get a second first impression!
• Weave high-quality photos throughout the report if you have them. You can also add some pizzazz by using royalty-free photos as background elements—try websites like  Pexels  or Unsplash.
• Don’t forget the table of contents if you’re creating a long report. (If you’re making an electronic version, you can hyperlink to the pages for even easier navigation.)
• If you’re making an online-only report, make sure that it’s easy to navigate in a browser. Make sure that the table of contents isn’t hidden, and there aren’t too many scrolling sections within scrolling sections, which can become frustrating to use.
• For an online nonprofit annual report, make use of the medium! Add animations, interactive maps, embedded videos, and links to really make the most of the digital format.
• Consider having your report translated if you serve multilingual audiences. This can really demonstrate that you value  all  of your people.
• When in doubt, add more stories! Personal stories are one of the most  effective ways to create a nonprofit brand that people remember . You can tell stories about your board, staff, volunteers, participants, and more.
• Not sure how to make your impact report cohesive? Try to create a theme! Choose a few words that really embody your nonprofit’s year—maybe  resilience  for 2020—and then use synonyms, idioms, and imagery around this theme.
• Make each report unique. Highlight what made this year different and what you’ve learned to take into the next year. You don’t want your nonprofit annual reports to sound the same year after year.
• Sprinkle statistics throughout the report. These not only provide easy scanning, but they can also break up a page visually.

Bonus tip : Once your report has been created, don’t forget to share it! You can send it out in your  nonprofit newsletter , share it on social media, and link to it throughout your website. (Since funders may look for your impact report along with your financials, it’s a good idea to keep these items in one easy-to-find place on your site, too.)

Annual Report Must-Haves: A Quick Checklist

Before I go, I want to finish this article with a quick checklist for your nonprofit annual report. Before your design is finalized and sent off to print (or to be posted on your website), make sure that it has these items:

✓  An opening message—often a brief letter from the ED or a short summary paragraph

✓  Summary/highlights of individual programs during the year

✓  Statistics or other information to express program results

✓  Stories, quotes, or case studies to connect with the audience

✓  Anything especially unique to happen this year—some interesting challenge, leadership change, global pandemic, etc.

✓  Some kind of vision, plan, or message for the upcoming year

✓  Summary of financials

✓  A thank you to donors—often listed out by name and/or giving level

✓  A call to action—how can readers learn more, donate, or join you?

Let’s see… what else? In terms of design, I recommend including as many photos as possible and adding even more white space than you think necessary. In terms of copywriting, try to make sure that you’re speaking in a reader-centric way, using “you” and making the reader feel  important  to your work. A good rule of thumb is start from a place of, “Here’s what we did together this year,” rather than, “Here’s what our nonprofit did for you.”

That’s it! With these nonprofit annual report examples and tips in mind, I hope you’ll feel a little more inspired to get started on yours.

How does your org create its nonprofit annual report? Do you have any tips to share?

Andrea is Creative Lead for Pixel Lighthouse, where she helps nonprofits better tell their stories through the right combination of design and content. Outside of work, Andrea is a hand embroidery artist, a mom, and a lover of all things literature. Her favorite spot in the world is her grandmother’s table in Tokyo.

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The Ultimate Guide to Creating an Impactful Nonprofit Annual Report [+Examples]

Embarking on the journey of crafting your nonprofit’s annual report may seem like a monumental task, but fear not – you’re about to delve into a comprehensive guide that will demystify the process and set you on the path to creating an impactful report.

Annual reports serve as a vital window into the heart of your organization. They encapsulate a year’s worth of progress, challenges, success stories, financial updates, and the transformative impact you’ve had on lives. It’s a powerful tool for communicating your mission and achievements to donors, volunteers, supporters, and board members.

Understanding the significance of a well-crafted nonprofit annual report is key. It not only showcases transparency and accountability but also reinforces trust and fosters deeper connections with your stakeholders. This document is a testament to your organization’s dedication and the positive change it brings to the community.

To simplify this process, we introduce Keela, a donor management and fundraising software designed to streamline the creation, design, and distribution of your annual reports. With Keela, you’ll have the tools you need to present your organization’s story in a compelling and visually engaging manner.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the essential elements of an annual report, share invaluable best practices, and provide you with curated examples to inspire your own masterpiece. Let’s embark on this journey together and elevate your nonprofit’s annual reporting to new heights.

Understanding Nonprofit Annual Reports

Now that you’re ready to embark on the journey of crafting an impactful nonprofit annual report, let’s start by breaking down what exactly it entails.

Defining the Nonprofit Annual Report: At its core, a nonprofit annual report is a comprehensive document that encapsulates your organization’s activities, achievements, and financial status over the course of a year. It’s a detailed account that goes beyond mere numbers, aiming to tell the compelling story of your nonprofit’s impact on the community and the world at large.

We Made Nonprofit Annual Report Writing Easier for You!

We’ve compiled a sure-fire annual report template and a guide to ensure you pull together a document your stakeholders can get inspired about. 

Key Components of an Annual Report

To create a compelling report, you’ll need to understand its key components. These typically include:

• Mission and Vision : Clearly state your organization’s mission and vision. This sets the stage for the entire report and serves as a reminder of why your work is so crucial.
• Message from Leadership : Allow your board members or executive team to share their perspectives on the year’s accomplishments and the vision for the future.
• Program Highlights : Showcase the projects, initiatives, or programs that made a significant impact during the year. Use stories, photos, and data to bring these efforts to life.
• Financial Overview : Provide a transparent breakdown of your financials. This includes revenue, expenses, and any noteworthy financial achievements or challenges.
• Impact Metrics : Quantify your organization’s impact . This can include the number of lives touched, communities served, or any other relevant metrics that demonstrate the difference you’ve made.
• Acknowledgements and Thank Yous : Recognize and express gratitude to your donors, volunteers, and supporters. Their contributions are vital to your success.

The Dual Purpose: Showcasing Achievements and Transparency

A well-crafted annual report serves a dual purpose. Firstly, it’s a celebration of your achievements. It’s an opportunity to highlight the positive change you’ve brought about in the lives of those you serve. This isn’t just about numbers; it’s about the stories and faces behind the statistics.

Secondly, it’s a beacon of transparency. It’s a promise to your stakeholders that you’re committed to openness and accountability. By providing a clear view of your finances, operations, and outcomes, you build trust and confidence in your organization.

Remember, an annual report isn’t just a document—it’s a reflection of your organization’s heart and soul. So, as we delve deeper into this guide, keep these principles in mind.

Preparing to Create Your Nonprofit Annual Report

Now that you have a solid understanding of what goes into a nonprofit annual report, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and start the preparation process. This phase is crucial as it sets the foundation for a report that truly shines.

Setting Clear Goals and Objectives

Begin by defining your goals for the report. What do you want to achieve with this document? Are you aiming to showcase the impact of a specific program? Do you want to attract new donors or strengthen relationships with existing ones? Establishing clear objectives will provide direction and purpose to your report.

Identifying the Target Audience

Consider who will be reading your annual report. Tailoring your content to resonate with your specific audience is key. Donors may be interested in different aspects compared to volunteers or board members. Understanding their priorities will help you craft a report that speaks directly to their interests and concerns.

Leveraging Keela’s Tools for Efficiency

Here’s where Keela comes into play. This all-in-one nonprofit management software is a game-changer when it comes to creating annual reports. With Keela, you have access to a suite of tools designed to streamline the process.

• Gathering Essential Data : Keela makes it easy to collect and organize the data you need for your report. Whether it’s donor information, program statistics, or financial data, Keela’s intuitive interface ensures you have everything at your fingertips.
• Managing Financial Statements : With Keela, generating financial statements becomes a breeze. You can generate reports, track income and expenses, and ensure accuracy and transparency in your financial reporting.
• Measuring Impact Metrics : Keela’s reporting features allow you to easily quantify and visualize your organization’s impact. You can track metrics such as the number of beneficiaries, success stories, or any other data that demonstrates the effectiveness of your programs.

By utilizing Keela’s powerful tools, you’re not only saving time and effort, but you’re also ensuring that your annual report is based on accurate and up-to-date information.

As you embark on this journey, remember that preparation is the key to success. With clear goals, a deep understanding of your audience, and the support of Keela’s tools, you’re well on your way to creating an annual report that will leave a lasting impression.

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Crafting Compelling Content

With your goals set, your audience identified, and the tools at your disposal, it’s time to dive into the heart of your nonprofit annual report: the content. This is where you’ll weave together the narrative that showcases your organization’s impact and the incredible work you’ve accomplished throughout the year.

Writing an Engaging Executive Summary

Start strong with an executive summary that encapsulates the year’s most significant highlights. This is your opportunity to grab your reader’s attention and give them a snapshot of what’s to come. Be concise yet impactful, providing a compelling overview of your organization’s journey over the past year.

Showcasing Program Accomplishments and Impact Stories

Next, dive into the heart of your organization’s impact: your programs. Share success stories, testimonials, and case studies that illustrate the tangible difference your organization has made. Humanize the data by putting faces and stories behind the numbers. This not only resonates emotionally but also provides concrete evidence of your effectiveness.

Impact Storytelling Toolkit

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Incorporating Quantitative Data and Metrics

While stories are powerful, don’t forget the importance of numbers. Incorporate quantitative data and metrics to provide a clear and measurable representation of your impact. Whether it’s the number of individuals served, hours volunteered, or percentage of goals achieved, these statistics bolster your narrative and demonstrate the concrete results of your efforts.

Highlighting Donor Contributions and Expressing Gratitude

Acknowledge the invaluable support of your donors. Highlight their contributions and express heartfelt gratitude for their role in making your achievements possible. Whether through individual stories or a dedicated section, show donors the direct impact of their generosity. This not only fosters a sense of connection but also encourages continued support.

Remember, your content is the vehicle through which your organization’s story is told. It’s the bridge that connects your achievements to the hearts and minds of your audience. By crafting content that is engaging, informative, and heartfelt, you’re not only informing but also inspiring those who read your annual report.

Design and Visual Elements

Now that you have compelling content in place, it’s time to bring it to life through thoughtful design and visual elements. A well-designed annual report not only enhances the reader’s experience but also reinforces your nonprofit’s brand identity.

Choosing a Cohesive Theme and Design

Begin by selecting a theme and design that aligns seamlessly with your nonprofit’s brand. This consistency in visual elements helps reinforce your organization’s identity and builds recognition among your audience. Whether it’s colors, fonts, or overall style, ensure it reflects the essence of your mission.

Incorporating Images, Infographics, and Visuals

Visual elements are powerful tools for enhancing storytelling. Incorporate images, infographics, and other visuals to provide context, evoke emotion, and illustrate your achievements. A well-chosen image can convey a message more effectively than words alone. Infographics, on the other hand, can simplify complex data, making it more accessible to your readers.

Ensuring Readability through Proper Formatting

A beautifully designed report is only effective if it’s readable. Pay attention to formatting details such as font size, line spacing, and margins. Ensure that your text is legible and that there’s a clear visual hierarchy. This makes it easier for your readers to navigate and absorb the information.

Balancing Text and Visuals

Strive for a harmonious balance between text and visuals. While compelling content is essential, a report overloaded with text can be overwhelming. Visual elements provide breathing room, engage the reader, and break up the information into digestible chunks. This balance ensures that your report is both informative and aesthetically pleasing.

Remember, design is not just about aesthetics—it’s about enhancing the user experience and making your content more accessible and engaging. By thoughtfully selecting a theme, incorporating visuals, ensuring readability, and striking the right balance, you’re creating a report that not only informs but captivates.

Nonprofit Brand Guide

A brand guide provides a roadmap for your visuals and messaging—does yours accurately express your organization’s mission and story?

Examples of Effective Nonprofit Annual Reports

After all that learning, it’s time to get inspired. We’ve chosen three beautiful and unique reports to get you started on your path toward annual excellence.

We only selected digital reports; we recommend going digital for a few reasons:

• Lower cost of production: printing is expensive
• Shareability means digital reports reach more people, which creates a better perception of transparency
• Save trees 
• Easy linking: provide context with links to your website
• Digital reports can be interactive and engaging for readers.

1. National Park Foundation

Created in standard software like Adobe InDesign, this PDF report looks impressive and takes advantage of this organization’s incomparable access to incredible outdoor photography. Plus, a PDF is easy to print if they need to have copies in meatspace.

2. National Gaucher Foundation

This report makes excellent use of the tools offered by Yearly , including significant inclusion of multimedia like video, maps, charts, and more.

3. Girls Who Code

It makes sense that a nonprofit that teaches girls to write computer code would have an annual report that takes full advantage of modern web technology. The dedicated landing page for this nonprofit annual report is lower on text than National Park Foundation, replacing it with animated content, mouse-over video, images, color blocks, and more, all on a single long-scrolling page.

Consider Yourself Primed

Well, you’ve made it through our quickstart guide to annual reports. But if you’re looking for a more in-depth look at how to write your nonprofit annual report, you will undoubtedly be interested in our comprehensive guide to annual reports. We dig deep into the nitty-gritty of keeping your supporters informed and engaged every year—and the template features puppies!

Showcasing Transparency and Accountability

One of the key elements of transparency is providing a clear view of your organization’s financials. Break down your income sources, expenses, and any notable financial achievements. Use charts, graphs, and concise explanations to make this information easily digestible.

Show your stakeholders that you’re a responsible steward of their contributions. Highlight how you’ve managed resources efficiently and allocated funds effectively towards achieving your mission. Transparency in financial matters builds trust and confidence among donors and supporters.

Discussing Challenges and Lessons Learned

Transparency isn’t just about sharing successes—it’s also about acknowledging challenges. Reflect on any hurdles your organization faced throughout the year. Be candid about the lessons you’ve learned and the steps you’ve taken to overcome these obstacles. This demonstrates resilience, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Addressing Goals for the Upcoming Year

Looking ahead is a crucial aspect of accountability. Clearly outline your goals for the upcoming year. What do you aspire to achieve? How will you measure success? Whether it’s expanding programs, reaching new communities, or increasing fundraising efforts, articulate your vision for the future.

Strategies for Improvement

In addition to setting goals, discuss the strategies you’ll implement to achieve them. This could involve new initiatives, partnerships, or improvements to existing processes. Demonstrating that you have a well-thought-out plan in place shows that you’re proactive and committed to making a meaningful impact.

By addressing these aspects in your annual report, you’re not only providing a comprehensive overview of your organization’s performance but also upholding the principles of transparency and accountability. This reinforces the trust and confidence of your stakeholders, solidifying their support for your mission.

6 Best Practices for Creating Your Annual Report

Now that you’ve laid the foundation, let’s explore some best practices that will elevate your nonprofit annual report to the next level. These practices ensure that your report is not only informative but also engaging and impactful.

1. Ensuring Clarity and Simplicity in Language and Design

Simplicity is key. Use clear, concise language that can be easily understood by a wide audience. Avoid jargon or technical terms that might be unfamiliar to your readers. Similarly, in design, maintain a clean and uncluttered layout. A simple, intuitive design allows your readers to focus on the content without unnecessary distractions.

2. Balancing Quantitative Data with Qualitative Impact Stories

Strike a balance between numbers and narratives. While quantitative data provides measurable proof of your impact, qualitative stories add depth and emotional resonance. Use stories to humanize your achievements and provide context to the statistics. This combination allows your readers to connect on both intellectual and emotional levels.

3. Using Visuals Effectively to Convey Complex Information

Visuals are powerful tools for simplifying complex information. Infographics, charts, and images can distill intricate data into easily digestible visual representations. This not only enhances comprehension but also adds visual interest to your report. Make sure visuals are relevant, clear, and align with your overall design.

4. Creating a Narrative that Resonates with Your Target Audience

Tailor your narrative to your specific audience. Consider their interests, concerns, and motivations. Speak directly to what matters most to them. Whether it’s donors, volunteers, or other stakeholders, show them how their support has directly contributed to the impact you’ve achieved.

5. Incorporating Calls to Action for Increased Engagement

Don’t let your report be the end of the conversation. Encourage further engagement with clear calls to action. Whether it’s inviting readers to attend events, volunteer, or donate, provide tangible ways for them to get involved. This not only deepens their connection to your cause but also helps drive continued support.

6. Reviewing and Proofreading to Maintain a Professional Standard

Before finalizing your report, dedicate time to review and proofread. Typos or inaccuracies can detract from the professionalism of your report. Ensure that all information is accurate, consistent, and presented in a polished manner. This final step is crucial in presenting a report that reflects the professionalism and dedication of your organization.

By incorporating these best practices, you’ll create an annual report that not only informs but also captivates and inspires.

Tools for Creating Your Nonprofit Annual Report

Now that you’re equipped with best practices, let’s explore some practical tools that will help bring your nonprofit annual report to life. These user-friendly platforms and software will make the creation process smoother and more efficient.

1. User-Friendly Design Software

Canva : Canva is a versatile graphic design tool that’s perfect for creating visually appealing and professional-looking reports. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, you can easily customize templates, add visuals, and format text to match your nonprofit’s brand.

Adobe InDesign : If you’re looking for more advanced design capabilities, Adobe InDesign is a powerful desktop publishing software. It offers a wide range of tools for precise layout, typography, and graphic manipulation, allowing you to create highly customized and polished reports.

2. Online Tools for Data Visualization and Infographics

Piktochart : Piktochart is an online tool that specializes in creating infographics, presentations, and reports. It provides a user-friendly interface with a library of templates and customizable elements, making it easy to turn data into engaging visuals.

Venngage : Venngage is another excellent platform for creating infographics and reports. It offers a variety of templates designed specifically for annual reports, along with a user-friendly editor for customizing layouts, colors, and content.

Visme : Visme is a versatile visual content creation platform that allows you to design reports, infographics, presentations, and more. It offers a wide range of templates, icons, and data visualization tools, making it easy to convey complex information in an engaging manner.

By leveraging these tools, you’ll be able to streamline the design process and create a visually compelling nonprofit annual report that effectively communicates your organization’s impact. Whether you’re a design novice or an experienced creator, these platforms provide the flexibility and functionality you need to produce a report that truly stands out.

Distribution and Engagement

With your nonprofit annual report ready to make its debut, it’s time to focus on how you’ll share it with your audience. The distribution phase is crucial in ensuring that your report reaches the right people and makes a meaningful impact.

Choosing the Right Distribution Channels

Consider the preferences and habits of your target audience when deciding on the distribution channels for your annual report. Here are some options to consider:

• Print : A physical copy of your annual report can have a powerful, tangible impact. Consider mailing copies to major donors, board members, and other key stakeholders. You might also distribute copies at events or conferences.
• Digital : Sharing your report online ensures easy access for a wider audience. Consider uploading it to your website, making it available for download, or sending it via email to your mailing list.
• Website : Dedicate a section of your website to host the annual report. This provides a permanent, easily accessible location for stakeholders to review it.

Utilizing Social Media and Email Campaigns

Leverage your online presence to reach a broader audience. Share snippets, key takeaways, or compelling visuals from your report on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Craft engaging posts that link directly to the full report. Additionally, consider sending out targeted email campaigns to your subscribers, including a link to the report.

Encouraging Feedback and Engagement

Invite your stakeholders to engage with the report. Encourage them to share their thoughts, questions, and feedback. This not only demonstrates a commitment to transparency but also provides valuable insights into what resonates with your audience.

Consider hosting a webinar or virtual event to discuss the report’s findings and answer any questions. This interactive approach fosters a sense of community and allows for deeper engagement with your stakeholders.

Remember, distribution is not the end—it’s the beginning of a conversation. By choosing the right channels, utilizing social media and email campaigns, and actively seeking feedback, you’re ensuring that your nonprofit annual report has a far-reaching and lasting impact.

Promoting Long-Term Impact

Congratulations on completing your nonprofit annual report! Now, let’s explore how you can leverage this valuable document for long-term impact and growth.

Leveraging the Annual Report for Donor Retention and Acquisition

Your annual report is more than a one-time publication—it’s a dynamic tool for donor engagement. Use it strategically to retain existing donors and attract new ones. Highlight the impact of donations from the past year and emphasize how ongoing support will contribute to future successes. Consider sending personalized copies to major donors, along with a heartfelt thank-you note.

Additionally, share excerpts or key insights from the report in your regular donor communications. This keeps your mission top-of-mind and reinforces the vital role donors play in your organization’s success.

Nonprofit Strategic Plan Template

Download this Nonprofit Strategic Plan template  to start building the plan that will lead you to fundraising success!

Using Report Insights for Strategic Planning

The data and insights gathered in your annual report are gold mines of information. Use them to inform your organization’s strategic planning and decision-making processes. Identify trends, areas of growth, and potential areas for improvement. This data-driven approach ensures that your organization remains agile, responsive, and focused on its mission.

Consider convening a meeting or workshop with key stakeholders to discuss the findings of the report. Engage in a collaborative conversation about how the insights can be translated into actionable strategies for the upcoming year.

Exploring Ways to Repurpose Report Content

Don’t let the valuable content of your annual report gather dust after it’s been shared. Repurpose it to extend its impact. Here are some ideas:

• Blog Posts : Create blog posts that dive deeper into specific sections or stories featured in the report. This not only provides fresh content for your website but also allows you to reach a wider online audience.
• Social Media Campaigns : Share snippets, infographics, or key statistics from the report on your social media channels. Use them as conversation starters to engage with your audience and direct them to the full report.
• Impact Stories : Transform individual success stories from the report into standalone content. Share them through various channels to highlight the tangible difference your organization makes.

By repurposing your report content, you extend its reach and ensure that its impact is felt long after its initial release.

Your annual report is a powerful tool, not only for showcasing past accomplishments but also for setting the stage for future success. By strategically leveraging the report, you’re positioning your organization for sustained growth and impact.

Your nonprofit annual report is far more than a mere document; it’s your opportunity to showcase the incredible impact of your organization and foster trust among your stakeholders. It’s a testament to your dedication and a powerful tool for growth.

As you’ve journeyed through this guide, we’ve explored the essential elements of creating an impactful annual report. We’ve discussed transparency, storytelling, design, distribution, and how to make your report an ongoing asset.

In the world of nonprofits, an annual report isn’t just a report; it’s a catalyst for long-term success. So, embrace it as an opportunity to inspire, engage, and lead your organization towards a brighter future.

Ready to take the next step? Book a demo with Keela, and discover how their nonprofit management software can streamline your annual report creation process. Your impact begins here: Book a Call with Keela Fundraising Expert today !

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Nonprofit Annual Reports

Annual reports can be used to highlight a nonprofit’s mission and impact, thank volunteers and supporters, and make a case for donating to the organization. What makes a nonprofit annual report compelling?

Today, more and more nonprofits are going paperless with their annual reports. Should your organization do the same? And here's an idea: the  Living Annual Report,  updated weekly by the Tableau Foundation.

For Starters

Here are two questions to help focus your annual report:

• Who is your audience?
• What do you need to accomplish?

Your annual report will probably be geared towards individual donors, foundations, and perhaps other audiences, so consider the best ways to reach each of them. The contents of your annual report should be visually compelling, underscore your nonprofit’s commitment to  transparency , and explain your organization’s mission, progress, and outcomes.  

Annual reports usually document what your nonprofit has accomplished in the past year, but consider including a vision of what lies ahead. Most annual reports feature photos and financial reports (illustrating the nonprofit’s revenue and expenses), and acknowledge contributors. Annual reports are an opportunity to be candid and transparent about your nonprofit’s finances and outcomes and build trust with your audience.

Paper vs. Paperless

When you are thinking about ways to increase efficiency, whether reducing cost, reaching a wider audience, or attracting more attention, think about whether going paperless is the right choice for your nonprofit. Many organizations have cut back on paper copies or supplement their print material with online resources. Others opt for a completely paper-free path, releasing their annual report as an infographic, a video, or even a Zoom meeting.

Also consider including:

• Interviews (recorded or transcripts)
• Photo galleries
• Screen shots or links to presentations (Prezi, PowerPoint, e-zines)

Practice Pointers

• Be honest and acknowledge both the highs and the lows
• Direct quotes and first person narratives draw the reader’s attention
• Keep it short, simple, and  easy-to-read
• Technology doesn’t always save money or time. Employees need to learn the software and spend time developing the product, which may take just as long as creating print materials.
• Paper copies have their advantages: they can still find their way to influence donors. (Even famous investor Warren Buffett  has been influenced by annual reports! )
• Consider providing paper copies upon request or distributing smaller, more condensed versions of your full annual report. Even a postcard could find its way to the right audience.

Above all, remember that nonprofits are  required to disclose certain information when requested by the public .  Annual reports are not usually the place to disclose that required information, but are  another tool  to help build donor trust, which is important to maintain and easy to lose.

You won’t always have a donor’s ear at just the right moment, so let your nonprofit’s annual report do some of the talking for you!

• Video (examples using  Youtube , etc.)

Sample Annual Reports from the Experts - State Associations of Nonprofits

• CalNonprofits’ Impact Report 2021
• Colorado Nonprofit Association  (2021, infographic)
• Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement  (2021, animated)
• Florida Nonprofit Alliance  (2021)
• Maine Association of Nonprofits ’ 2021-2022 “Impact Snapshot”
• Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits ’ 2021-2022 Annual Report, presented in Flipbook 4, can be easily shared, saved, or opened as a PDF

Disclaimer: Information on this website is provided for informational purposes only and is neither intended to be nor should be construed as legal, accounting, tax, investment, or financial advice. Please consult a professional (attorney, accountant, tax advisor) for the latest and most accurate information. The National Council of Nonprofits makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein.

How to Write the Perfect Annual Report For Your Nonprofit

Nonprofit annual reports are more than just a performance review of campaigns held within a year; they are an effective tool for developing donor relationships and earning donors’ trust. 

With a well-crafted annual report, your nonprofit can demonstrate its impact, practice transparency, restate its commitment to doing good, and thank its donors, supporters, and stakeholders all at once. As such, you need to be strategic, thoughtful, and intentional when preparing your nonprofit’s annual report. 

To help you get started, this article will discuss the following:

Use this FREE Template to Get Started on Your Nonprofit Annual Report

With this template, you can highlight the yearly metrics that matter and communicate your nonprofit’s progress to donors and stakeholders., what is a nonprofit annual report.

A nonprofit annual report is a document that outlines the organization’s most relevant takeaways from the past year. Pertinent topics like major accomplishments, successful  fundraising campaigns , and financial standing over the past year are detailed in the annual report.

Annual reports are usually written, designed, and shared with board members, donors, and other stakeholders at the end of the  fiscal year . Here are three benefits of sharing your nonprofit’s annual report.

1. Annual Reports Underscore Your Nonprofit’s Commitment to Being Transparent

Every  nonprofit should prioritize being transparent with their donors , and annual reports are one of many ways to do just that. By reading your organization’s impact stories and observing charts, graphs, and summaries about your campaign performances, stakeholders can understand the process behind  critical decisions made  and strategies implemented over the past year.

2. Annual Reports Showcase Your Nonprofit’s Progress

With an effective annual report, nonprofits can highlight their progress over time, let stakeholders know the outcomes of the efforts made in the past year, and reaffirm their commitment to achieving their organizational goals and fulfilling their  mission . These statements can assure supporters that everything’s running smoothly.  

3. Annual Reports Can Be Used to Steward Donors

Every donor wants to know that their money is being put to good use. By clearly detailing the outputs, outcomes, and impacts created over the past year, nonprofits can showcase the value of each donor’s contribution. More so, you can use your report as a tool to encourage previous donors who have been on the fence about making more donations to recommit to your nonprofit’s cause or  make larger contributions .

What to Include in a Nonprofit Annual Report?

Annual reports are like snowflakes: no two are alike. However, some standard components need to be included to paint the complete picture of your nonprofit organization’s past year. 

Here are five essential components of a nonprofit annual report.

1. Cover Page

The first page should set the tone for the entire report and tell the reader exactly what they’re looking at. The text on your cover page should stand out and detail your organization’s name, the phrase “annual report,” and the year you’re reporting on. Also, don’t forget to include your organization’s logo. 

For an excellent example of a cover page, look at the Toronto International Film Festival’s  2019 Annual Report . Their cover page contains all of the elements listed above and a simple yet attractive design.

2. Message From the ED(s) or CEO(s)

One of the first pages in an annual report should include a message from your organization’s Executive Director or Chief Executive Officer. This message should recap how the year has gone for the organization and show appreciation for donors’ support and the  nonprofit’s team ’s work.

TechnoServe’s  2020 Annual Report  has a fantastic example of a CEO statement (pg. 1). Pay attention to how TechnoServe personalizes the message with their senior leadership team’s headshots, titles, and signatures.

3. Impact Summary

Your nonprofit’s annual report is another opportunity to recount each of your programs’ outputs, outcomes, and impact. Try to be as specific as possible when describing the progress made. This detail helps donors, staff, and volunteers associate a quantifiable outcome with their contributions. 

Check out  the impact section  (pg. 9-11) of DREAM’s 2016 Annual Report. DREAM effectively describes its impact on childhood development through  engaging data visualizations , simple text, and emotionally evocative images.  

Monitor Your Fundraising Performance with this FREE Dashboard

Use this template to record your fundraising metrics so you can better communicate your progress with your team., 4. financial statement.

Stakeholders want to know  how organizational resources are being managed . Within your financial statement, outline your nonprofit’s revenues, expenses, and assets. For example, Team Rubicon’s  2016 Annual Report  has sleek condensed financial statements (pg. 40), which clearly and concisely provides an overview of the organization’s finances.

5. Thank Yous

Don’t forget to use your annual report as a medium to express your gratitude to donors, supporters, and stakeholders. In the “ thank you ” section of your report, you can show your appreciation for specific donor segments similarly to how Girls Who Code did in their  2020 Annual Report .

Best Practices for Nonprofit Annual Reports?

Follow the following five best practices to create the perfect annual report for your nonprofit organization.

1. Develop A Theme

A relevant theme can tie your report’s individual sections together and provide it with an increased  emotional resonance . Consider using a theme centered around a commitment made in the previous year or a different uniting topic. For example, during the pandemic, many nonprofits went with the theme ‘resilience’ to assure their stakeholders that they were weathering the storm.

2. Gather Input From Stakeholders

To paint a complete picture of your organization’s past year, it’s crucial to receive input from a representative group of stakeholders. Consider asking your donors, volunteers,  staff , and especially your beneficiaries for what they think should be featured in the report.

3. Keep It Simple

Don’t feel like you have to touch on every single thing that happened over the past year. Doing so would lead to an overly long report that no one would finish. Instead, listen to your stakeholders to understand what people want to read about most. 

Additionally, when writing each section, limit your words and try to convey impact, finances, and other sections through infographics like pie charts.  Data visualization tools  can help you simplify complex data and create an easy-to-understand annual report.

4. Tell Impact Stories

While it’s great to take a step back and reflect on the totality of your work, showcasing a few  impact stories  is a fantastic way to contextualize your progress. Consider including some heartwarming donor, staff, and volunteer stories to exemplify how your work helps those in your community.

5. Publicize Your Annual Report

Make sure to publish your report on your website,  share it on your social media channels , and share it with your mailing list and social network. You should be proud of all the fantastic work you’ve done over the past year, and now it’s time to show off a little!

Measure Your Nonprofit’s Performance with KIT

Using kit, you can automatically track your nonprofit’s goals and kpis all in one place. you can also create easy-to-understand graphs and customize your dashboards so you can understand how each metric impacts your fundraising strategy..

Annual reporting is all about telling the story of your nonprofit’s performance and progress over the past year. While every organization’s story will be different, each will need its main characters, compelling plot, and visuals to tie everything together. Follow this guide, and you’ll leave your stakeholders with the most heart-warming story they’ve read all year!

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Jack Showers

Nonprofit Research Analyst at KIT When Jack isn’t cheering for the Raptors or watching an 80s action movie, he’s studying the social sector and producing content for nonprofit professionals. As a Nonprofit Research Analyst at KIT, an AI-powered insights and reporting toolkit, he is especially passionate about helping fundraisers save time and raise more money for their cause.

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Nonprofit annual report examples (+7 best practices).

An annual report is a standard practice and quite often a legal requirement for nonprofit organizations.

But an annual report is so much more than just a financial report. It tells the story of your mission, highlights your achievements, thanks to your donors and builds trust and transparency with your supporters.  It’s a great opportunity to showcase your organization!

Writing an annual report may seem like a daunting task, but it does not have to be. With the right plan in place, it can be an inspiring activity to undertake. Don’t worry about being modest – this is the time to celebrate your successes and promote your organization through all the wonderful things you have achieved in the year.

To help you get started, we’ve broken down the creation of an annual report into some easy to follow steps that will give you a solid plan and enable you to create your best annual report yet. 

1. Create A Plan For Your Nonprofit Annual Report

It sounds incredibly obvious but ‘annual’ means that you need to create this report once a year – so try to plan ahead, especially if you know it needs to be written at the same time every year.

Creating an outline for your report is the first step. Annual reports all shared a common outline, so take a look at similar organizations to see what they include in theirs. Do your research and see what information organizations include.

You should be able to find an annual report on every organization’s website. Here’s one from Charity:water to get you started.

The good thing is that the outline of your annual report should be consistent from year to year. So if you have a good format in place you will be able to reuse it. Once everyone understands what information they need to provide they too can plan to prepare it in advance.

If you rely on other teams or staff members for information about financials, programs or beneficiaries, let them know well in advance what your requirements are, so that you all have enough time to compile that information. It can also help them ensure that they collect information effectively throughout the year so that reporting is easier at the end of the year.

Best practices for your nonprofit annual report:

• Put together a committee of staff who will be required to provide information for the annual report. Give staff tasks for gathering content so that the responsibility is shared and plan to meet at regular intervals to ensure everyone is on track.
• Put the annual report on your communications calendar, and treat it as an organization-wide activity.
• Make a plan to send a copy of your annual report to your donors, especially your mid and high-value donors. This could be combined with end of year receipt and/or sent via email – think of using it as a donor retention activity.
• Plan to publish your annual report on your website – in fact, this should be a default and you should store every annual report there. This way anyone can access information about your organization whenever they need and it increases your trust and transparency for new and existing donors.

2. Ensure Your Essential Reporting Information Is Included

At the very least, your annual report should include the below essential information:

• A statement from your CEO and/or chairman of your board
• Information about your organization including your mission, where you work, your goals and your progress towards achieving your mission
• Information about how your organization is governed
• A financial report about your annual income, expenditure and funding sources
• Information about where your funding was spent, including program information and the outcomes of those programs. 
• Beneficiary stories, or stories about who/what benefited from your organization’s programs – include lots of images.

During your planning process make sure all of these sections are addressed in your report and people know who is responsible for gathering the corresponding information.

Once you have your information, and your plan, you can decide on things like layout and format, number of pages and design. 

3. Report On Your Finances

Donors want to understand where their money has gone, and what it has helped to achieve. Transparent financial information builds trust and helps prospective donors and partners see that you can manage your funds effectively. 

Neverthirst and World Help both have sections on their website where they report on their annual financial statements. They have included previous financial statements as well as new ones, which helps to build credibility and trust

You should include all of your financials in this report, in particular, a breakdown of how much information was spend on key areas such as programs, administration, and fundraising

Best practices for your nonprofit’s financial annual reporting:

• Include information about any independent audits that your organization has undergone.
• Include information that demonstrates the impact fundraising has on your organization. For example, we can justify fundraising expenses by quantifying the return on investment towards programs –  “for every $1 spent in fundraising, we were able to restore sight to 3 people”
• Use graphs, visuals or infographics to condense and display complicated financial information – your readers might not be able to read and understand tables of numbers
• State any information regarding how you use your finances, in particular your commitment to transparency and financial responsibility. World Help has done a great job of this on their website.

4. Make It Personal And Recognize Your Donor’s Contributions In Your Annual Report

An annual report is a time to bond with your donors and to recognize their contributions and achievements. While it is about your organization it is also about them, and how they have helped create change.

Include information about any major donors and corporate partners, as well as take every chance to thank all your staff, volunteers and donors for their contributions – both financial and non-financial. In Amigos International’s annual report, they have dedicated a page to calling out and thanking all of their corporations and foundations, as well as donors who have donated more than $1k. 

Best practices for acknowledging donors in your nonprofit annual report:

• Include some donor testimonials or stories, and/or a section where you showcase donor engagements
• Thank and call out the volunteers who contribute to your organization. 
• Highlight events or peer to peer fundraisers that were ran by donors in the year
• Call out donors or partners who have been giving for a long time and celebrate their involvement
• Profile and thank any major funders such as institutions and major donors 
• Use inclusive language such as “together we ,” “ you have helped” and “ your donations have” instead of just “our organization.” 

5. Show Progress Towards Your Goals and Missions

Your donors want to know that your organization is making a difference so there should be a section of your report that celebrates your wins and your progress towards achieving your goals.

For example, if your goal is to end homelessness, you should demonstrate how your programs and projects have contributed to ending homelessness – in facts and figures.

These should all be centered on the mission of your organization, and your reason for existing. Highlighting your mission, and your progress towards achieving it will help to inspire your donors and reaffirm your commitment to your cause.

Best practices for goal reporting:

• Put your mission statement front and center on the report
• Highlight the best wins of the year
• Highlight completed projects and their outcomes, as well as ongoing projects that will help achieve your goals
• Talk about any changes to your mission or your projects, if the needs of your organization have changed
• Use numbers, facts and figures that sum up your achievements and provide evidence about your progress

6. Demonstrate Impact Through Visuals & Stories  

There is a lot of information to convey, so use visuals such as infographics and pictures, so that your report is more engaging to your readers.

Stories are also a way for your supporters to connect with your beneficiaries , and to understand the real impact of your work on their lives. It’s important to have a mix of facts and figures alongside personal stories so that you are demonstrating both the rational and emotional impacts of your work.

Best practices for incorporating visuals into your nonprofit’s annual report:

• Use images of your beneficiaries and your programs in action
• Use quotes and interviews with beneficiaries 
• Use brand colors and an engaging layout so that there are not too many pages of long text
• Transform data into infographics, stats or other easy to understand information
• Use QR codes to link off to a video if you want to take people online
• Leave any boring, administrative information at the door – think about what will be of most interest to your donor
• Try not to use too much jargon, such as programs outcomes or acronyms, that your audience might not understand

7. Inspire Supporters To Take More Action

Finally, your annual report should inspire supporters to continue giving to you, as well as provide them with other opportunities for engagement.

Whilst it’s important to celebrate your wins, you should also talk about the road ahead. Highlight why your cause is still needed, what your plan is for the next 12 months and what problems still need to be addressed. 

Best practices for inspiring your donors to take action with your annual report:

• Have contact information inside the report where people can reach specific staff members or feel that they have someone they can contact with questions and more information
• Include information about events, your digital channels, community fundraisers, volunteering, and peer-to-peer fundraising opportunities where your supporters can have more interactions with your organization.
• You may even host an event to present your annual report, where you invite all of your supporters to present and celebrate your achievements.
• Talk about your plan for the next 12 months, the problems at hand and why their support is still needed 

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Many nonprofit professionals greet the annual reporting process with apprehension. This is because nonprofit annual reports have a bad reputation. They’re often seen as a drain on time and resources.

However, you don’t need to dread the creation of your annual report! When well crafted, this resource can be a vital tool to retain and grow donor support .

This post is designed to guide your organization through the nonprofit annual report creation process. We’ll walk you through tips to make your report as effective as possible (with helpful templates along the way to provide formatting examples). Here’s what to expect:

What is a nonprofit annual report?

Nonprofit annual report template, best practices for creating your annual report, tools for creating your nonprofit annual report, inspirational nonprofit annual report examples.

Ready to dive a little deeper into nonprofit annual reports and learn how you can craft yours to maximize the impact at your organization? Let’s get started.

A nonprofit annual report is an externally-facing resource that recaps an organization’s accomplishments and challenges within a year. The audience for this report is the donors, volunteers, constituents and other stakeholders who have been involved with the organization’s projects and programs throughout the year.

Traditionally, this report was a printed document or brochure shared with relevant stakeholders. Nowadays, annual report formats vary widely. They can be presented as PDFs, videos, interactive web pages, online booklets or in other unique formats.

Are nonprofits required to publish annual reports?

In short: no. You may be thinking of Form 990 — every year, nonprofits are required to submit a Form 990 to the IRS. This document contains information about your nonprofit’s revenue and expenses throughout the year. Because this information is publically available, supporters can use your nonprofit’s annual Form 990 to track your financial transparency.

Technically, Form 990 is the only required annual report for nonprofits. However, your annual tax form doesn’t thank your donors, make them feel proud or give them new reasons to engage and grow their relationship with you. A comprehensive annual report can fill this role. That’s why we highly recommend including a full-fledged annual report in your annual strategy.

So, what should a nonprofit annual report include? Here is a basic template that can provide a starting point for building your annual report strategy:

As shown in the template, your annual report should include the following elements:

• Your organization’s mission statement. Feature your mission statement at the very beginning of the document. This will provide context for those who may not be as familiar with your organization and serve as a reminder to those who are.
• Financial information. Again, be as straightforward as possible with these numbers for transparency with your supporters. Donors want to know how you used their funds, so show them that your nonprofit is a responsible steward of their donations by providing context behind major expenses. Get specific about what you were able to accomplish by including statistics about the total number of people you helped, animals you rescued, etc.
• Projects from the year. What projects did you start? What did you finish? Which digital fundraising campaigns were most successful? What still needs to be done in order to reach your nonprofit’s goals? Include photos or videos to show what your efforts looked like.
• Appreciation for your contributors. This is a great opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate your nonprofit’s donors. You can also thank other key stakeholders like volunteers, corporate partners and board members.

Since there is no legal requirement for nonprofits to publish annual reports, there are no specific guidelines for what you must include in your report. However, if you completely omit your financial information from your report, for instance, some supporters may consider it fishy. Promoting full transparency is key to maintaining donor trust and your nonprofit’s reputation.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the elements of an annual report, you can build on your approach to make the report as engaging and effective as possible. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind when developing your nonprofit’s annual report:

1. Incorporate your annual report into your larger strategy

Your annual report will provide the greatest long-term benefits when it supports a larger goal and strategic plan for your organization. You can recoup the time and resources spent creating the report by turning this report into a valuable donor engagement and retention tool.

For example, you can use your annual report to bolster your fundraising strategy . You can support your donor retention efforts by spotlighting top donors and partners in your report and highlighting exciting upcoming initiatives for supporters to get involved with.

You can also use the report to further your marketing approach. Consider the core messages your organization has pushed throughout the year. How can you incorporate those same messages, tone and visuals into your annual report?

Carefully thinking through the purpose of your annual report will help you create a resource that reinforces and supports your other strategic goals.

2. Create a donor-centric nonprofit annual report

Your annual report should be donor-centric to reach your audience on a personal level. Review these strategies for keeping your report centered on your supporter community:

Consider your audience

Your annual report’s format is a key decision to make and you can base the choice on what you anticipate your audience will read. Understanding your audience demographics and preferences is the first step to ensuring your annual report is designed for their needs.

You may have some donors who want all of the details about your organization’s efforts as soon as possible. They value and appreciate a book-style annual report with detailed stories, infographics and charts.

You may also have some donors who won’t sit down to read your newsletter, much less a lengthy annual report. You may consider sending a single page of infographics rather than a full report to these donors.

Apply a you-attitude throughout the document

A you-attitude is all about presenting accomplishments as your donors’ rather than your organization’s. Try to keep supporters centered at all times. For instance, compare the following sentences:

The second sentence uses you-attitude and is more likely to hold the attention of your supporters throughout a document like your nonprofit annual report. This subtle shift lets the donor know you’re truly grateful for their support.

Create visuals to feature important metrics and information

It can be overwhelming to pick up a large packet of information with pages and pages of text. Instead, break up the text with infographics, graphs and charts, images of supporters and volunteers and other interesting graphics.

Visuals make it easier for supporters to scan your nonprofit annual report and pull out the data that means the most to them.

3. Choose a nonprofit annual report format

The traditional nonprofit annual report is a book-length document. Since some donors prefer having extensive information about your organization, these lengthy reports aren’t a waste of time and energy.

Sending comprehensive annual report booklets to the right donors can pay off, like in the case of The Rhode Island Foundation . This organization published a well-designed, well-written report. They cut down on the number of reports they mailed directly (and made the report available online) but made sure to continue sending the paper version to some local lawyers.

An elderly man walked into the office of one of these local lawyers, prepared to write a will and get his affairs in order. While he waited to be seen, he picked up one of the copies of the Rhode Island Foundation annual report. He hadn’t quite known what to do with his sizable estate before that moment. Years later, upon his passing, the Rhode Island Foundation received a small fortune from that generous man, all thanks to a printed annual report.

This story illustrates the benefits of a traditional report format. However, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t adapt to the times. Analyze your audience and create your annual report according to what they’re most likely to respond to.

Remember that you can always post your full report online and use other formats to summarize information and invite your supporters to visit your website to view the entire document. For example, let’s review some other unique formats that you may use to convey your annual report:

Large Postcard

Postcards are designed to be brief so that supporters can quickly and easily skim the information rather than read a lengthy document (or book). Your goal shouldn’t be to jam-pack this postcard with all of the information that you would include in a traditional report. Instead, you should highlight only the most important details.

Your postcard should:

• Convey impact and results . Due to limited space, you may need to be selective about the most important metrics to incorporate. Remember, this is the opportunity for your nonprofit to show the world the good you’ve done in the last year.
• Visually display information. Make sure the information is easy to read. Charts, graphs and prominently-displayed statistics help draw attention to the most important aspects of the postcard.

While you may not have the opportunity to include every detail in this format, you can leverage additional platforms alongside your postcard. For example, you may leave out appreciation messages for major donors in your postcard, but include a QR code leading to a virtual donor recognition wall to show your gratitude in another way.

Here is a template for what your annual report postcard might look like:

This template includes financial information, a short summary of the accomplishments during the year and key statistics that reveal the organization’s impact.

Self-Mailer

Another option for sending your nonprofit annual report is creating a 2-4 page document self-mailer. Self-mailers can be incredibly useful because they bypass the issue of getting your supporter to open an envelope in the first place since the address and postage are printed directly on the document. It’s easy for your supporters to simply open the document and read what it says.

Follow these best practices when designing a self-mailer:

• Include clearly stated next steps. When you designate the next steps supporters should take to further engage with your organization, you ensure the mailer won’t just get lost with their junk mail. By incorporating a list of upcoming events or the URL for your donation page, you increase the likelihood that they’ll keep the report for a longer period of time.
• Incorporate plenty of images. Break up the text with images to engage your readers without distracting them from the copy. Be sure the mailer is visually compelling and not overwhelming for your readers.
• Keep your copy concise. You have more space with a self-mailer than a postcard, but it’s still somewhat limited. Condense your copy to make sure it’s short, sweet and to the point, but still cover all of the important aspects of your annual report.

While this type of nonprofit annual report is designed to be physically mailed, it’s also a good idea to send a PDF version via email to gain the attention of those who might have missed it in their mailbox.

Here is an example of what your self-mailer could look like. It contains the same information we highlighted in the postcard, but in a multi-page format:

A well-designed, compelling video is a great way to not only tell your supporters but also show them the impact they made on your organization’s mission. Follow these steps to create an effective video:

• Be picky about your videographer. Video annual reports need to be professional in order to make an impact on your supporters, and hiring a videographer is the easiest way to ensure this. As you review your top options, carefully examine their past videos. If they don’t inspire you, move on. Home movie quality just won’t cut it.
• Follow a prepared script. Gather your staff’s best writers to craft the script to discuss all of the important metrics and accomplishments that you want to highlight in your annual report. The other shots in the video will support the speaker’s words.
• Use relevant footage. If your organization focuses on reducing water pollution, then show footage of rushing rivers and streams. If you help abandoned animals find new homes, incorporate clips of dogs meeting their new families for the first time. Use the video format to its fullest potential by including maps when discussing location or by featuring videos of volunteers when you discuss their involvement.

You can share your video report on your website, social media and email newsletters.

4. Choose compelling visuals for your nonprofit annual report

Your report’s images and graphics should be thoughtfully chosen. Here are a few examples of the types of visuals you might include in your annual report:

• Brand the visuals to your nonprofit. Your entire annual report should flow together cohesively. This means you should make sure your logo is prominently displayed and that your usual colors and fonts are used in images and infographics.
• Diversify the type of images you use. Instead of only including photos of your constituents or staff, diversify your images to help convey more information. For instance, pie charts are a great opportunity to display financial allocations and statistics graphics help draw the reader’s eye.

• Keep donors engaged. Don’t overwhelm your readers with too much text or too many images. Rather, there should be a healthy balance of text and images.

Images should never be distracting. They should be helpful guides when it comes to conveying important information within your nonprofit annual report.

Ask for volunteers to review the document and provide feedback about the imagery used before you send your report out. Or, you might hire a professional graphic designer to help organize all of the information in a visually compelling way.

5. Be honest and appreciative in your nonprofit annual report

Honesty really is the best policy, especially in your nonprofit annual report.

Sometimes things don’t go as planned and you may not reach a specific goal or complete a certain project. However, if you try to cover up mistakes or missed opportunities, you can foster mistrust among supporters.

If you haven’t quite accomplished one of your goals within the last year, briefly mention it in the annual report. Then, follow it up with a game plan to adjust your strategy and show your donors that you’re taking a proactive approach.

Address information such as:

• What the setback was and what caused it
• Data-informed adjustments you’re planning to make to address the issue at hand
• How and when the setback should be addressed in the future

Stay transparent about all of your nonprofit’s activities, including finances, campaign results and external threats, such as any data breaches you may have experienced.

6. Use your nonprofit annual report to look forward

Providing information about your future plans and projects will get people excited about what’s in store for your nonprofit.

When looking forward, make sure to spell out the expectations regarding your organization’s future actions and goals:

• Remind supporters about goals in progress. For example, you might provide an update as to whether or not you’re on track for the capital campaign that you started in 2022 and will wrap up in 2025.
• Get donors excited about the next long-term project for your organization. What major changes are on the horizon for your nonprofit? Let donors know what opportunities you’ll be pursuing next year to show that you’re constantly seeking new ways to grow and evolve.

Forward-facing plans excite your donors and inspire them to continue contributing in the future.

Make sure that after you’ve provided insight about your future plans, you also provide opportunities for your supporters to get involved. Provide some action items that supporters can take part in right away, such as the URL to your donation page, meeting dates and upcoming event registrations so that they can show their support.

You don’t need to be a graphic design expert or set aside a large amount of your budget to build a compelling annual report. There are plenty of free and inexpensive ways to develop your report using user-friendly online resources.

A few helpful design tools for creating your annual report include:

• Yearly , which is an annual report design tool specifically made for nonprofits. You can use the user-friendly drag-and-drop builder to design a professional, mobile-friendly report customized to your nonprofit.
• Venngage , which is a visual storytelling design tool. Using this platform, you can create branded infographics for your digital report without having to consult a graphic designer.
• Canva , which is another free graphic design tool that can help you create your annual report in multiple formats. Canva offers templates for all types of printed and digital designs, including reports, postcards, social media graphics and more.
• Visme , which is a visual communication platform for developing presentations, infographics, data visualizations, videos and more. You can try this platform for free or upgrade to a starter plan to access a wider range of features.

Choose your annual report platform based on the report formats you’re looking to create. Also, take advantage of any free trials or demos before investing in paid plans.

It can be intimidating and hard to get started on a project when you’re just looking at a blank page. That’s why it can be so helpful to review examples to help get you started on your nonprofit annual report.

Here are seven inspirational nonprofit annual reports and the factors that make them so effective:

1. Feeding America 2023 Annual Report

Feeding America’s 2023 Annual Report is a classic example of the traditional PDF annual report format. However, the nonprofit elevates this basic format with eye-catching graphic design and engaging imagery.

In the screenshot above, you can see an example of the unique way the nonprofit depicts its annual financial statement. The organization cleverly ties in its mission with the use of food imagery, giving readers a more engaging way to explore the nonprofit’s financial situation.

Elsewhere throughout the report, images showing the smiling faces of supporters, volunteers, and beneficiaries help foster an emotional connection and provide greater visual intrigue.

2. Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 2023 Annual Report

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) 2023 Annual Report theme is “Transforming Lives.” The organization uses this theme to tell the stories of patients supported throughout the year, from a veteran who survived blood cancer to a student-athlete who received successful treatment.

The report accurately illustrates LLS’ approach to 360-degree support for beneficiaries. Through colorful graphic design and a cohesive theme, readers can get a complete overview of the organization’s successes and financials from the past year.

3. 2023 WWF-US Annual Report

The World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) 2023 Annual Report is rife with engaging imagery showcasing the organization’s conservation mission. The report switches back and forth between stories that highlight both global and local impacts of the organization’s conservation work. This format gives readers a better sense of the scale and scope of WWF’s projects and the different types of ecosystems they support.

At the end of the post, readers can dive into the nonprofit’s statement of activities, including a clear breakdown of operating revenues, expenses, and other financials. The report also includes a detailed list of ways to give, allowing readers who feel inspired after reading the report a clear way to show their support.

4. Rhode Island Foundation 2022 Annual Report

The Rhode Island Foundation annual report is a booklet document that takes a deep dive into the various projects and campaigns from the year. Primarily, they use pictures of supporters, beneficiaries and team members to bring their mission to life.

On the page above, we can see how the foundation used charts and spacing effectively. Rather than including these statistics in the paragraph-style text on the left side of the page, they’re pulled out and made larger and more prominent. This draws the readers’ attention to the most important data points and conveys the organization’s impact more effectively.

5. Georgia River Network Annual Report 2022 Video

The Georgia River Network is an organization that promotes the protection of Georgia’s rivers and watersheds. At the end of 2022, the organization released a brief Annual Report 2022 video with a few key statistics of the progress made throughout the year.

In the video above, you can see how the organization used bold text and lots of white space to make the numbers stand out. The video’s caption includes a call to action to support the nonprofit’s projects and programs in 2023 by donating. This gives supporters a clear way to stay involved in the organization’s future activities.

6. American Heart Association 2022-2023 Annual Report

The stand-out quality of the American Heart Association’s most recent annual report is its comprehensiveness. Anyone picking up this report, whether a donor, beneficiary, or community or corporate partner, is met with a thorough overview of where the organization currently stands.

The organization’s top priorities, from improving rural health to fueling scientific research, are detailed in-depth. Maps, charts, statistics, and images are available to enhance readers’ understanding of the issues.

The report also pays homage to one of the most important groups of nonprofit donors: corporate sponsors . Each major corporate sponsor is given a specific mention and description of how they’ve supported the mission.

7. CaringBridge 2022 Annual Report

CaringBridge is a nonprofit that helps people stay in touch with their loved ones during a health journey using websites and digital updates.

The organization’s 2022 annual report does an excellent job of combining images, text, statistics and stories. As you can see in the image above, they even provide QR codes throughout the report for readers to scan and get more information on stories that spark their interest.

This allows readers to engage with the parts of the report that matter most to them and interact with the report on their mobile devices.

8. Habitat for Humanity 2023 Annual Report

Habitat for Humanity’s 2023 annual report takes a unique spin on illuminating the organization’s mission to provide affordable housing for those in need. Rather than a traditional PDF format, the report is a compelling web page full of text, videos, images, and other multimedia elements that bring the organization’s mission to life. The page uses engaging elements such as bold statistics, pullout quotes, and parallax scrolling to draw readers into the content.

The report also includes a convenient, sticky top-level menu that allows readers to browse the page more easily and jump to different sections that interest them.

9. Girls Who Code 2021 Annual Report

Many nonprofits are taking a digital-first approach to their annual report, including Girls Who Code.

The organization’s 2021 annual report is an interactive, engaging web page that includes infographics and interactive maps, videos, photos, and news articles. The result is a visually delightful report that provides a well-rounded look at the organization’s mission to teach girls how to code.

10. Save the Children 2021 Annual Report

Save the Children’s 2021 annual report also takes an effective digital approach, with a robust web page that features financial information, a year-in-review video, and a link to the full 50-page annual report.

This gives supporters multiple ways to view the report based on their preferences. If they’re just interested in a quick overview, they can view the financial chart and watch the brief video. If they’re looking for a more in-depth review of the year, they can browse through the digital booklet.

Supporters appreciate having options when it comes to how they learn more about a nonprofit’s activities.

Your nonprofit’s annual reports will receive much more attention when they’re thoughtfully crafted, compelling, and well-designed. Ensuring that your report is engaging and educational for your supporters will go a long way in building stronger, long-lasting relationships.

The templates and annual report examples throughout this article should help your nonprofit get started making your annual report the best it can be. If you’re looking for more information about donor communications and effective nonprofit reporting, check out these additional resources:

• The Ultimate Donor Engagement Guide + Top Strategies . Your annual report should work in tandem with your donor engagement strategies to enhance your audience interactions. This guide offers top donor engagement tips and strategies.
• How To Develop A Successful Nonprofit Fundraising Strategy . As mentioned, your annual report must support your organization’s fundraising strategy and other strategic goals. Review this guide for more information about developing a solid fundraising plan.
• 16 Top Donor Management Software Solutions (+ Buyer’s Guide) . Your donor management software can generate reports on fundraising campaigns and donor engagement efforts to fill your annual report with rich data. Use this guide to explore top donor management solutions.

Discover How to Maximize the Lifetime Value of Your Donor Database!

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Nonprofit Annual Report: How to Write Your Best One Yet

by Kelly Medwick | Oct 6, 2020 | Solutions for Nonprofits

A nonprofit annual report can be seen as a necessary year-end box to check, but it can actually be a key donor retention and marketing tool . If you’re going to go to the time and trouble to create one, why not make it more of the latter? As a 501(3)(C), you may be required to submit an annual report with the IRS known at the Form 990—most are. But the IRS isn’t the only audience that cares what you did last year.

Your donors, constituents and volunteers are curious too. And your annual report is an important communication tool for both retention and conversion.

So, what exactly is a nonprofit annual report?

Basically, it’s a summary of what’s happened in an organization over the past year. Financials are a part of it, yes, but the best reports go beyond how much money was raised and address things that supporters will really care about, like what their money accomplished, who it helped and what’s next for the organization.

Here are some elements you might want to include in your next annual report, in addition to your financial statement (including revenue and expenses):

• Your organization’s mission statement. This is a good reminder for your constituents as well as a brief summary of who you are and what you do for those who are not yet familiar.
• What you accomplished last year. Did you start any key projects or initiatives? Did you meet any goals or finish an ongoing project? Who did you help and how? This is your place to highlight your successes.
• Gratitude for anyone who’s supported your organization. Include your donors, for sure, but don’t forget volunteers, board members, businesses you partnered with, sponsors—anyone who contributed to your accomplishments throughout the year.
• Personal anecdotes, success stories, profile and testimonials. Be sure to embrace the power of storytelling and feature the people impacted by your organization.

The important thing to remember is that your annual report is more than just numbers . It allows you to show that you’re honest and trustworthy. It gives you a place to be transparent about both the highs and the lows of your year. And it’s an important reminder to your most faithful constituents of why they should continue to support your organization and cause.

Want an example? Check out a digital nonprofit annual report we created for The St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

What is the purpose of a nonprofit annual report?

Before you start planning and writing it, this is an important question to ask. Like I mentioned at the beginning, some orgs simply see an annual report as a year-end must-do. I would argue, however, that it can fit in well with your overall organizational and marketing strategy. Purposes beyond just checking that box include:

• “We want to show our financial information in a way that’s easy to see and understand.” Big tables full of numbers are a big snoozefest for most people, and often hard to understand at a glance. Use infographics, graphs and other visual elements to show how much money you took in, how you spent it and what your current financial situation is.
• “We want our most loyal supporters to buy in to our big-picture plans.” Go ahead and dream—this is the perfect place to inspire your donors to commit for the long haul. Maybe you accomplished something last year that’s just a piece of a larger puzzle. Talk about how it fits into your overall plans and what you see for the future. Once you’ve laid out a vision, talk about next steps: Offer opportunities for people to make a donation, attend an event, volunteer or get involved in some way.
• “We want to celebrate our successes and also highlight our challenges.” It’s important to illustrate how you’ve made an impact for sure. If you helped Susan celebrate five years of sobriety or helped John secure affordable daycare, you should say so. But don’t be afraid to also mention work that you’re not able to do yet, like provide enough tutors or offer enough support groups. Mentioning that you have 75 people on your waiting list illustrates a need.
• “We want our supporters to know how much they mean to us.” This is always a good goal—in fact, you can’t express gratitude and appreciation enough for the people who keep your nonprofit up and running. Be sure to use a part of your annual report to say thank you, thank you and thank you again.

How to write a nonprofit annual report.

Once you’ve defined what purpose(s) you want your annual report to serve, it’s time to strategize and write. There are a variety of ways you can put your report together, but no matter what direction you decide to go, here are six standard principles you’ll want to apply.

1. Tell a story.

You can talk in a general sense about how many people your nonprofit helped last year, and that’s a great thing to include—but it’s also very effective to hone in on an individual and share someone’s personal story. Talk about specific people and share real-life scenarios. A good story paints a picture, and in order to do this effectively, it helps to be specific. Instead of, “We helped this man get on his feet,” try, “We got Jim the clothes he needed for his first job interview, and now he’s gainfully employed.” This will put a face to your nonprofit and humanize the individuals you serve. Donors don’t support organizations; they support the people and things that organizations serve.

2. Create an emotional impact.

Use words that emotionally connect your audience to your mission. Stay away from industry jargon and select language that appeals to people’s hearts and emotions. Did you empower someone? Create a new path? Help someone turn their life around? Or save a life? A good test: When you write the story, does it make you feel emotional? That’s a good indication it will do the same for your audience.

3. Be transparent.

If you’ve had a rough year (and in 2020, who hasn’t?), it can feel really tempting to gloss over the challenges or sugarcoat it—but honesty really is the best policy, especially in your nonprofit annual report. If things didn’t go quite as planned (again, 2020) or you didn’t accomplish something you set out to achieve, but upfront about. Did you make a mistake? Briefly mention that—just follow it up with how you plan to correct it. Donors are more interested in supporting an organization that’s upfront and honest about its challenges than one that tries to hide its shortcomings, but gets found out later. Paint a clear picture of money in, money out. Show how the money was used. Own anything that didn’t quite work. And explain how you’re moving forward.

4. Keep it concise.

It’s a lot of work to read—in fact, thanks for hanging with me this far! You have a whole year to cover in an annual report, so think “succinct” when you’re putting it together. There may be parts where you can paint with broad brush strokes, and other areas where more detail is needed, but overall, aim for clear and concise.

5. Keep it donor-focused.

Yes, your annual report is a place for you to talk about accomplishments and successes throughout the year, but the way that you do that can make all the difference. Look at these two sentences:

“Thanks to your generous support, we were able to provide housing for 25 women and children who needed a safe place to live.”   “Your donations helped provide housing for 25 women and children who needed a safe place to live—without your generous support, they might still be living in an abusive or dangerous situation.”

See how one is more focused on what the organization did and the other is more about what the donor did? A donor-focused approach to your writing makes your supporters feel empowered and necessary to your cause. And supporters who feel needed tend to stick more than those who don’t.

6. Use visuals.

Big blocks of text are overwhelming—please don’t ask people to take on pages and pages of black and white. Instead, break up your data and information with infographics, images of supporters and volunteers and other interesting graphics. Visuals make it so much easier to scan your report and find the numbers, facts and information the reader is most interested in. Plus, it can make everything so much more compelling, especially if you’re able to include engaging pictures of both the people in your organization and those you’ve helped.

How to get started on my annual report.

One thing we don’t want you to do: feel overwhelmed. Nonprofit annual reports can be a beast of a project to tackle. We’d love to support you in any way we can.

Do you want to take this project on yourself, or would it alleviate stress to get some help? At Firespring, we can design, print and mail your organization’s annual report . Want more goodies? Download our 6 Steps to an Engaging Nonprofit Annual Report checklist to get you moving forward.

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Home » Analytics » 14+ Excellent Nonprofit Annual Reports

14+ Excellent Nonprofit Annual Reports

by Laura Clevenger

Analytics Digital Media

Nonprofit annual reports play an important role as we head into the end of the fiscal year or the onset of  giving season . Although they are not an IRS requirement, compelling annual reports can sway potential donors and show current donors how their money is helping your organization to make an impact. In our data culture , we suggest your nonprofit takes the time to put one together as a means of showing your organization’s transparency — and bragging about your success in the past year.

However, throwing a million charts and graphs together or writing a 10,000-word essay on why your nonprofit is the best isn’t going to be so effective (or worth anyone’s time). Your annual report should communicate the success of your organization and its financials in a concise, visual way. It can be tough to find the right balance between information and overload. We’ve gathered seven of the best nonprofit annual reports that strike this balance. We hope they give you inspiration for your own nonprofit’s annual report. If you’re feeling ready to create, get started with our nonprofit annual report template .

Update: It’s 2023, so we’ve gone in and checked on our original favorite annual reports and refreshed their links. What’s more, we’ve created an annual report template so you don’t have to start from a blank slate and can rather focus on illustrating your impact!

1. DREAM (formerly Harlem RBI)

DREAM’s annual report is doing everything right: beautiful images, student stories, and (of course) thanking their donors. We especially love how they paired a full-page image of a student with key stats that support the organization’s overall mission, a mix of showing and telling. Moreover, the image is focused on an individual which allows the reader to empathize with the child and imagine her succeeding — and the key stats about the DREAM community suggest she will! DREAM also hosts its annual report on Issu, a great third-party platform for a well-designed digital reading experience.

2. ICA Fund Good Jobs

There are two fundamental things we love about ICA Fund Good Job’s annual report : The table of contents and the graphics. It’s easy to underestimate the importance of the table of contents — many reports treat them as an afterthought. However, you want the reader to know what they can find inside the report. We like that this particular report’s table of contents is interactive, allowing readers to skip ahead to the sections they are most interested in. We also love the evolving design for each year’s report. 2018’s impact report emphasizes impact with strong, but inviting fonts, and 2019’s report doubles down on that theme with a high contrast black, blue and white color scheme to deliver information via sleek graphics.

3. Girls Who Code

It shouldn’t be surprising that a nonprofit focusing on closing the gender gap in technology has a beautifully-coded annual report built right into its website. The influx of nonprofits building annual reports into their websites offers two huge advantages: 1) It takes transparency to the next level if the report is a living, breathing section of the website. 2) It makes it easier for the user to interact with the report, which can save space and help keep things concise. We love how Girls Who Code built an interactive map of the U.S. that allows readers to change years and see how their program market has increased over time. In a traditional PDF, this would take 5 separate charts and even then we wouldn’t get the same effect of watching this program grow on a national level. That said, Girls Who Code does have an option to download the whole report as a PDF for those who still like the old-school version.

Annual report template

Save time on design and focus on showing your impact

4. Charity: Water

Sometimes it’s best to keep it simple. Charity: Water’s annual report is the perfect example of keeping it simple, but effective. The nonprofit lets the impact stand on its own on certain pages – no pictures, very little language, and lots of white space. We love how they showed the lineage of that $25.1 million: we raised X which equaled Y and resulted in Z. This is an easy to follow “formula” that your nonprofit could use as well.

The annual report from 350.org combines a lot of the elements we love from the reports above: Fun colors to keep the reader engaged, interactiveness, and a sticky table of contents that follows the reader as they scroll down the page. A unique element to this report that we don’t see very often: video. The grassroots climate justice advocates at 350.org integrated videos throughout the report so readers can get more information about two of their campaigns — Exxon Knew and Break Free — all while keeping the word count down. We think that’s a win-win!

6. Power Poetry

Full disclosure: This is from our founder George, who also co-founded PowerPoetry.org , the largest teen poetry platform in the US. Power Poetry developed this quarterly/annual report in a customizable way from a Google Data Studio template built by Whole Whale. The dashboard lives on PowerPoetry.org/data , a URL shared with supporters.

(click to advance through pages of report)

7. Fight CRC

Fight Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is a health impact organization dedicated to ending colorectal cancer and supporting those affected by the disease through patient support, funding research, and impactful policy change. We love how their web-native 2019 Impact Report looks great straight from the browser. No cumbersome download required, this report knows its audience by calling out important impact efforts without bogging down the casual user with superfluous detail and text. We also found the embedded videos to be a dynamic and useful inclusion, and appreciated how good the report looks on a mobile browser! (Full disclosure: Fight CRC is a Whole Whale client, but we really do love their annual report!)

Based in Bangladesh, BRAC is one of the largest international development organizations in the world, and their 2018 Annual Report uses innovative design elements to present their numerous programs and initiatives in an accessible way. Instead of presenting all their programming and reporting information at once, BRAC’s interactive report allows you to click through to subjects or campaigns of interest. Partners, researchers, and power-users can read through their comprehensive 112 page traditional report , but for everyone else, Brac provides the highlights in a well-designed and accessible way.

9. Pencils of Promise

Pencils of Promise is an international development organization focused on education, and we love their 2018 Annual Report for its simple but informative design. Their annual report is highly skimmable — it’s easy to find the most important numbers like “teachers supported” alongside more detailed program descriptions. Their use of joyful photos of individuals or small groups helps personalize the program descriptions, as does highlighting an employee’s efforts, like those of Margaret Mary Debre, PoP’s Lead WASH Coordinator in Ghana.

10. National Public Radio (NPR)

NPR (National Public Radio) does an excellent job of making their annual report relevant. NPR’s 2018 Annual Report boasts a classic red, white and blue color scheme and clean design. What stands out about NPR’s report is how timely it feels. The report does an excellent job of using real-world events to highlight how NPR’s reporting and programming respond to the moment. NPR emphasizes how its “Muslims in America: A New Generation” series explores the multifaceted experiences of muslims living in a post-9/11 America, while its Hidden Brain episode “Why Now?” offers a profound analysis of #MeToo.

Keshet provides community and support to LGTBQ Jews, provides Jewish organizations with the knowledge and skills to create spaces where LGBTQ Jewish youth feel seen and valued, and works to advocate for LGBTQ rights nationwide. Their 2018 annual report does an excellent job of carrying through design elements from page to page, weaving bright colors and solid rectangles through the various stages of the report.

12. Natural Resource Defense Council

Sometimes, you just need some good photos to take your report from good to great. Cue the giraffes. The Natural Resources Defense Council makes good use of beautiful photos in their 2018 Annual Report . Who doesn’t love innocent looking deer, bears, or giraffes? The answer is no one. The photos are the centerpiece of NRDC’s handsome report, and they compel readers to read more about the programs and advocacy projects of NRDC in their effort to protect our planet. The magazine-like quality to the report makes it accessible to high school kids and corporate sponsors alike.

13. International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee responds to humanitarian crises around the world by supporting refugees and communities affected by violence and disaster. Their stellar 2018 Annual Report helps distill the operations of a very large International NGO into a readable and well-designed report. We especially like how the IRC uses branded colors to build call-out boxes to give us the low-down on important statistics or the outcome of a program. While you’re at it, read about the IRC’s awesome partnership with Sesame Workshop , BRAC and NYU to develop the largest early childhood intervention program in history with the support of a LEGO Foundation grant!

14. Donate Life America

Donate Life America helps Americans easily register to be an organ donor. With so many people on the organ donation waitlist, every donation counts! Donate Life’s 2019 Annual Report uses fun design elements to highlight their work in a style that resembles the accessibility of a magazine. We especially love DLA’s report for highlighting how their digital marketing funnel of engagement drives conversions. They even give Whole Whale a shoutout! (Full disclosure: Donate Life America is a client of Whole Whale.)

We hope these nonprofit annual reports gave you some inspiration for your own nonprofit’s annual report — and this is just the tip of the iceberg, check out our master list of nonprofit dashboards . Do you have any favorites that we missed? Please share them with us on Twitter with the hashtag #WhaledIt! We’d love to see what reports are sparking your creativity.

15. YB Youth Build – Lake County

The web version of the YB Annualy report:  https://yblc.org/annual-report-22/

Yout Build’s mission is to provide underserved young adults with the education, training and life skills necessary to become gainfully employed and build a better future. Here at YouthBuild, we believe that every young person has the power to succeed and create a better life for themselves and their families with access to the right resources and support system. We offer free programs for underserved youth in Lake County to obtain their high school diploma, earn industry-recognized credentials and certifications, develop career readiness skills, and complete hands-on work experience so they can move into careers, college or vocational schools.

Bonus: Annual Report Template

Hey! You read the full article. Your organization does great work. Show donors, boards, and the public what is happening behind the scenes using a dynamic and customizable annual report template that we crafted to help you show your org’s impact.

How to Craft a 1-Page Nonprofit Annual Report

Because your donors like knowing what their donations made possible.

They want to know they’re part of a winning team.

An annual report is a great way to give both donors and the community an overview of what your nonprofit accomplished during the year.

But donors don’t want to read a lot. And you don’t have time or money to produce an elaborate multi-page piece.

Well, good news! Designing an annual report doesn’t have to be hard, glossy, or time-consuming. In fact, there’s a way to create something super easy to read and understand without it taking a lot of your time.

Curious? Good.

Let’s start with the purpose of your annual report.

What’s a Nonprofit Annual Report?

Your annual report has one job: to provide an overview of your nonprofit’s activities and key metrics for a specific year.

It tells the story of what you’ve accomplished during that year.

Some people call it a Generosity Report since you’re sharing the impact of the community’s generosity from last year and how that generosity changed lives.

Call it what you like, just create one and share it shortly after the end of your fiscal year.

Maybe you’re thinking, “I know I need to do one, but I just don’t have time.”

But listen, if you want people to keep giving, you MUST keep them in the loop about how things are going. And an annual report is a great way to do that.

So, let’s make it quick and easy for you to create and simple for the reader to understand.

The 1-Page Nonprofit Annual Report

The 1-page nonprofit annual report is basically a big infographic.

It’s a visually interesting way to quickly show what your nonprofit did during the year.

What I like best about it is how skimmable it is. You can glance over it and get the gist fast.

People are busy and won’t read a lot of text, and with the 1-page nonprofit annual report, there’s not much text to read.

Since it’s only one page, it’s easily sharable on your website, social media, and through email. And if you need to print a copy to mail to specific donors, you can do it without it being expensive.

Choosing an Infographic Tool

Choosing the tool first might be helpful so you can pick the template you want to use. Based on the template you pick, you’ll know how many pieces of data and images you’ll need.

Tools like Canva , Venngage , and Piktochart have infographic templates that make quick work of creating an infographic. Just pick the template you like, replace the placeholder text and images with yours, and voila! You have a 1-page nonprofit annual report!

The tools aren’t terribly hard to use. I created my first infographic annual report in Piktochart learning as I went and it took me about an hour. Not bad for a professional-looking piece from someone who isn’t a professional designer!

Once you pick your template, you’re ready to gather some info that represents your year to plug in to your template.

Data to Include in Your Nonprofit Annual Report

If a lot has happened in your nonprofit during the year, it can be hard to pick only a few key pieces of info to share.

Just remember that your donors don’t need to know everything. They only need the most important things.

So, what 3 or 4 key performance metrics can you share that’ll give someone a good idea of the impact of your work during the year?

Honestly, this is the hardest part of the whole thing.

Put yourself in the donor’s shoes – what is she interested in? What does she want to know?

Then, find the intersection between what the donor NEEDS to know and what they WANT to know that you can report on.

You’ll probably have room for a photo, so pick one that best illustrates your organization in action and let that photo help bring the story to life.

Be sure to customize the template so it’s on brand for your nonprofit. Make sure you swap out your brand colors and fonts for whatever is in the template, and don’t include anything weird that would make your favorite donors wonder who this report is from.

If you’re not much of a designer, choosing the right template or layout can be tough. Here’s a Pinterest Board with some good examples to help get your creative juices flowing.

Other Info to Include in Your Nonprofit Annual Report

Regardless of the length of your nonprofit annual report, there are several must-include pieces of info:

Fiscal year. Seems obvious, but some people forget to identify the fiscal year that the report covers.

Mission statement. You need a short, to-the-point version of your mission statement that’s free of jargon and easy for the average person to understand. If you have a good vision statement, you can include that, too, as long as it’s short.

Financials. The best way to show financial information is in pie charts. Create one for revenue and another one for expenses, showing the information in broad categories with names the average person can understand. Here’s an example:

You don’t need audited financial numbers, though you can use them if you have them. Just use your official, final numbers for the year and be ready to answer questions from donors if any of the pie slices look too big or too small.

Contact information. Don’t forget to include your nonprofit’s name, mailing address, phone number, website, and main email address, just in case someone wants to reach out to you.

Sample Time!

Here’s a sample 1-page annual report from Draft Gratitude:

If you’re a Fundraising TV member , grab the Annual Report Swipe File to see dozens of examples of great annual reports.

Where to Share Your 1-Page Nonprofit Annual Report

Once you get your nonprofit annual report all put together, share it everywhere! It’s a great relationship building tool, and we recommend you use it as part of your donor nurture plan.

• Post it on your website.
• Email it out to your entire list.
• Post it on your social media.
• Send a print copy to your best donors along with a handwritten note.
• Send a copy to your local and state elected officials along with a cover letter to let them know what your nonprofit has accomplished in their constituent area. By the way, this is a great tactic if you’re planning to ask these people for money later.
• Send it as a follow up to grant funders.

By the way, when you send out your annual report, don’t ask for money. I know it’s tempting, but don’t do it.

Let this be one of your relationship-building communications with no Ask. There’ll be time for asking for money later.

The Bottom Line

Keeping donors and the community in the know about what your nonprofit has accomplished is key to building relationships.

Good information helps build trust, and a 1-page nonprofit annual report is a great way to share the overview of what your nonprofit did during the year – especially if it’s easy to read and understand.

Plus, it’s a versatile tool that you can use in a variety of ways to show your nonprofit’s impact from last year.

And once you see the response from your donors, you’ll know just how powerful the 1-page nonprofit annual report is.

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About the author: sandy rees.

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Great resource! thank you!

This is a great option for many and a reminder that not everyone needs the “works” when it comes to their annual report. I think many nonprofits will benefit from using this approach and hopefully avoid some of the bigger mistakes sometimes made! I wrote a similar piece and included a few examples plus a template for nonprofits to use. Your readers might find that helpful: http://www.oneninedesign.net/blog/annual-report

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18 Best Nonprofit Annual Reports | Digital & Small Examples

18 awesome nonprofit annual report examples and what you can learn from them.

18 Best Nonprofit Annual Reports: Great Digital & Small Examples & How You Can Learn From Them

Nonprofit annual reports. A useful community engagement communications piece, or a complete time suck that takes your organization months to produce? Nonprofit annual reports are a standard communications piece nonprofits produce every year and we often view them as an obligation. Something we have to do, as opposed to other, more inspiring, creative communications pieces in your portfolio. We’re here to say that creating annual reports does not have to stink!

In fact, we think it’s time that you let go of the boring, uninspired annual report and set a new standard. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite nonprofit annual report examples and shared key takeaways you can apply to your nonprofit’s next annual report.

Nonprofit annual report comparison chart

Plus, we've added some honorable mentions for organizations that have used statistics, storytelling, and assets with superb foresight.

What are the best nonprofit annual reports? Here’s our top 5 list:

These are some of the best nonprofit annual report examples of the last few years. They're engaging, gorgeous, and most of all, they clearly describe their nonprofit's impact. Read on to discover a why they stand out and which annual report makers were used to create these masterpieces.

1. National Parks Foundation nonprofit annual report (Best Use of Photos)

The National Parks Foundation is doing awesome work preserving and expanding parks around the country. Their annual report is the perfect opportunity to show off that work to supporters, bringing transparency around their work and impact. Many pages of the National Parks Foundation's report are dedicated to donor recognition lists, a very traditional component of annual reports.

Let your photos shine in your nonprofit reports

Because of the nature of their work (see what we did there?), the National Parks Foundation has a lot of photo ops for their nonprofit reports. Their use of photos throughout their report showcases impact locales through beautiful photos. What a way to bring the work directly to your supporters! Photography might be a “nice to have” investment for your nonprofit, but consider the mileage you can get out of a set of really good photos: social media posts, annual report graphics, website photos, and so on.

2. UNHCR annual report (Clearest Summary and Data)

The UNHCR is a huge international development organization with dozens of programs. Like most nonprofits, they release an organization-wide annual report each year. But unlike some nonprofits, they also release program-specific annual reports. Enter the Educate a Child Annual Report 2018 . We’ll admit this report is meaty at over 100 pages. Even so, we think there are some useful takeaways that you can apply to your annual report.  

Develop a summary of highlights

Given how in-depth this report is, we think it’s a super smart idea to provide a summary of the report highlights at the outset. After all, not everyone is going to read the report cover to cover. Giving them a summary of the highlights is a great way to make sure readers get the essential information.

Bring data to life

We’ve all "read" those great annual reports that are chock full of numbers and stats. Sometimes they are literally presented in a laundry list format. It’s 2-thousand-something, nonprofit friend, so let’s get a little more creative with how we present data. The UNHCR has a wealth of data and they’ve smartly found ways to bring that data to life through infographics, charts, and other illustrations.

3. Calgary Zoo annual report (Great Use of Social Media)

This annual report is a few years old, but we think it offers some pretty interesting innovations when it comes to digital annual reports. For starters, it has a standalone Instagram account that uses the platform the deliver and share the annual report. Talk about an interesting way to rethink using a digital platform! Here's a key takeaway you can apply to your nonprofit’s annual report.

Rethink digital engagement

We think the Calgary Zoo’s annual report is a big invitation to rethink what kind of engagement annual reports can encourage. Given that this annual report is shared through a series of Instagram posts, the nature of the report inherently invites engagement. Readers can like, reshare or comment on each of the images. This is a pretty big contrast to a hardcopy paper annual report.

While your nonprofit may still want to produce a hardcopy or PDF version of your annual report, how could you repurpose your annual report to encourage digital engagement? You may not need to open up a separate Instagram account, but we’re willing to bet that you’ve got some creativity waiting to be unleashed.

4. Operation Lifesavers, Inc. annual report (Top Annual Report Journey)

Not everyone is interested in setting up a social media account or live online party for their report, but that's not the only way you can put tech to work! Continuing the enhanced digital experience theme, check out the interactive menu in Operation Lifesavers, Inc.'s annual report .

Regulate the journey

Their report was put together with Yearly.report 's digital tools, which can produce some prrrettypretttty great reports. In this example of an annual report for a nonprofit, the reader's journey is regulated by the sectioning of the contents so that scrolling is easy but each chapter can stand on its own. And with as many different topics as OLI touches, forcing the reader to slow down and smell the stats is crucial.

5. Best Friends Annual Society annual report (Can’t-Click-Away Report)

Best Friends Animal Society is a beloved nonprofit with huge brand recognition. They have their full annual report available to download on their website and they ingeniously created a kind of mini version of their report for the landing page . It gives all the key highlights from the report for readers who just want to the top level information. But being the nonprofit nerds that we are, we also enjoyed reading the full version of their annual report so we could give you a few ideas for your annual report.

Keep ‘em scrolling

The full version of the Best Friends Animal Society report lives on a web page, which creates a problem that most digital assets must deal with: keeping people’s attention all the way to the end. This report solves that problem by keeping things visually interesting. As you scroll, text placement, font size, and images are changing, which makes you want to see what’s next. You can apply a similar principle to hardcopy annual reports by making them visually interesting in a way that keeps eyes scanning.

And while it sounds like we're encouraging shorter reports, there's something to be said for longer reports that keep the super engaging info rolling along. Would you rather read a 3-page report with dense blocks of text or an 8-page report that breaks up the text with pictures, infographics, and clickable resources?

Play up your best assets

It’s kind of a no-brainer that people love pics of dogs and cats. Best Friends Animal Society uses that to their advantage in their annual report by integrating a ton of adorable animal photos. They give the people what they want! Your nonprofit can do this too, even if you don’t work with dogs and cats. Chances are, there's some aspect of your nonprofit’s work that gets your community and supporters revved up and excited. Whatever that thing is, play it up in your report.

Bonus: The best nonprofit annual report

Invisible Children's annual report . Overall, this is an amazing sample nonprofit annual report that utilizes all of the takeaways we've noted here. With a targeted goal and vision, a celebratory look back at past work, gorgeous, on-brand photos and design, and a solid online presence, this gets top marks across the board.

Small nonprofit annual report examples

Just because you're a smaller nonprofit doesn't mean that you can't have an annual report with big personality! These small nonprofit annual report examples will show you just what you can do with a bit of time, creativity, and a great nonprofit annual report maker.

1. The People Concern (overall best small nonprofit annual report example)

The People Concern may not be a huge nonprofit, but their annual report humanizes the data in a way that shows the enormous capacity of their impact. The smiling faces, personal messages and stories, and custom branding all bring us on a journey instead of shoving numbers in our faces.

Make it personal

When you look at this annual report nonprofit example, what's the first thing you notice? The people. The images and stories that go along with them have a distinctly moving effect on a normally dry annual report. Your takeaway? Bring the smiles and the love.

2. Encircle

This annual report is consistent, from the font to the image styles, to the copy. No matter which page you flip to, you can tell that it's part of Encircle's annual report.

Keep it on the level

Staying consistent with your imagery is almost as important as keeping your message consistent. At the end of the day, your goal is to provide transformational value to the people or community who need your services—even when you're building an annual report.

3. Zoe Empowers

Check it out! Zoe Empowers gives a by-country breakdown in this colorful annual report. Combined with joyful, playful photos, this annual report celebrates the growth and impact in each country.

Break it down

It's common to break out annual reports by different programs, but this example shows growth and adoption by country. Find common threads among your programs and constituents and mix up your measurement methodology!

4. The Phoenix

The Phoenix is one of our favorite nonprofits for the out-of-the-box way they're tackling addiction recovery. Their annual report works as hard as they do, and relies on community in the same way.

Never underestimate the power of testimonials

Yeah, community pulls the weight in this annual report! Get your supporters, clients, and staff involved: quotes keep your amazing data grounded while action photos emphasize the effort required to make change.

Best digital annual reports

Digital annual reports make it easy to keep your donors and supporters updated on your nonprofit's impact. Cost-effective, eco-friendly, and shareable, the best digital annual reports use technology to keep their message engaging, organized, and motivating so that supporters become donors and donors spread the love.

1. DIGDEEP (overall best digital annual report)

Honestly, what can we even say about DIGDEEP? This annual report is so cool, so fun, so impactful, so... digital! The colorful waves are reminiscent of water, the section organization is engaging, the dedication is heart-wrenching, and the impact is growing.

Make it reflect where you're going

The #1 best thing about DIGDEEP's annual report isn't the exciting images or insightful words, it's the focus on what's happening next. Not just a look back at the year in review, this annual report dives in hard to upcoming projects, provides links to all the relevant resources, and ends with an ask.

2. Code 2040

Code 2040 took a page from their fundraising campaign sites and built a website just for their annual report. Don't worry, they created an annual report pdf as well, but their site is the real masterpiece.

Go with what you know

Don't be afraid to use the tools that you know work for you—this standalone annual report website pulls in recognizable and familiar tools like impact cards, tables and graphs, and moving background and images.

Find yourself a nonprofit annual report tool

As important as annual reports are to nonprofits, not all of us have been blessed with report-building skills, so find a nonprofit annual report maker program software thingy and follow the template or instructions or whatever. Everyone will think you're a data-designing, impact-exhibiting, storytelling annual report master. (Don't worry, your secret's safe with us.)

GLAAD’s comprehensive annual report takes supporters through twenty-five pages of data-driven impact demonstrated through storytelling, statistics, timelines, and compelling images that correlate seasons and awareness days to the impact they made all year long.

Show off superlative statistics

We're awfully glad that GLAAD could join the annual report party! Their colorful and eye-catching annual report delivers equally delightful impact achievements. You can do the same by looking at your impact by month or season rather than by campaign or program.

5. The Gathering for Justice

The Gathering for Justice uses their annual report to galvanize and mobilize supporters to continue advocating for and alongside the organization. We love the call to action on the last page of their report, which gives supporters the opportunity to make an instant, direct impact.

Call. To. Action.

Build your annual report with action in mind. Your audience will naturally be so moved that they're going to want to support the organization that made so much change. Give them what they need to help you do even more in the coming year.

6. Red Tent Women's Initiative

Red Tent Women’s Initiative is breaking down their annual report data into a comprehensive overview of their lifetime achievements that lives in a legacy page on their website! Easy access to impact info? We love to see it.

Let it live on

You've put a ton of time and effort into an awe-inspiring annual report. Don't let it go to waste by letting it languish—make a permanent place on your website for not just yearly reports, but also specific, significant accomplishments that show progress and growth over the years.

7. A New Way of Life Reentry Project

A New Way of Life Reentry Project knows that statistics are stories that deserve to be told. That’s why they use their annual report to tell the stories of those they serve and the lives they impact.

Give a face to the facts

Facts can be dry and boring, especially if you've got a whole report full of 'em! Humanize your data and turn stats into stories. Not only will this highlight the impact behind the numbers, it will also carry your audience through what could otherwise be a dry annual report.

8. The Bloc Chicago

As a youth-focused org, The Bloc Chicago's fiscal year ends in June, making winter the perfect time to cherry-pick compelling impact info collected for their annual report.

Use your annual report all year long

Once your annual report is created, you'll see which pieces resonate the most with readers. Take those moments and build them into standalone assets that you can use in ads, social posts, and even as individual campaigns throughout the year.

More nonprofit report resources

• Nonprofit Annual Report Tools: Make an Impressive Report with Ease
• The Best Way for Your Nonprofit to Do an Annual Review of Your Fundraising Program
• 8 Must-Have Fundraising Reports Every Nonprofit Needs

There are lots of ways your nonprofit can jazz up its annual report this year. By looking at awesome examples of nonprofit annual reports, we hope you’re feeling inspired and ready to roll up your sleeves. ‍

Set your sights on success with our downloadable Annual Report Manual

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What to Include in Your Nonprofit Annual Reports

Source: Aurora Cultural Centre

Top Contributors/ Gratitude Report

You can use DonorSnap’s Donation Strata report to share who your top contributors were for the year. If you are going to do a full on gratitude report and thank all of your donors, your Donation Strata report will also show you all of your donors at various giving levels. 

Volunteer Numbers

If you have a good volunteer program consider highlighting how many volunteers you had in the year and what their combined hours of service were. It is important to encourage your volunteers to submit their hours, and they can easily do so through the volunteer hours form available in DonorSnap’s Responsive Forms tool. If you collect volunteer hours you can get this data from the Volunteer Report in DonorSnap.

Source: Hands on Hartford

What Format Should You Use For Your Nonprofit Annual Report?

How you package your annual report depends on your audience. There are benefits to both a digital and print annual report. Many nonprofits will do both! 

With online giving on the rise, and the overall increase of people being online, having a completely digital annual report is doable.

Having a print annual report is nice to have when meeting someone in person, or to leave out for people to read at events. However, the cost of printing annual reports can be pretty steep. 

If you create an online digital report, you can include an option for a downloadable PDF. This will cover all of your bases when deciding how to format your annual report. 

How Long Should Your Nonprofit Annual Report Be? 

The length of your nonprofit annual report depends on your audience. It is important to know what type of content best resonates with them. If you aren’t sure, ask them! Before putting together your annual report, survey your audience and ask them what information they would like to see and in what format. (Hint: you can create a survey using DonorSnap’s Responsive Forms.) 

The length of your nonprofit annual report also depends on your capacity as an organization. If you don’t have much time or resources, it is okay to have a short and punchy annual report that highlights key metrics and a few short stories. Sea Hugger has a short annual report , but uses compelling graphics and the most important high level information. 

Source: Seahugger.com 

If you have a large staff, and lots of great content to add, you can consider adding more storytelling to your nonprofit annual report. The Sierra Club which is a large organization includes snippets of stories with links to learn more. This keeps the annual report from looking too long and overwhelming, while also giving the option for readers to dive in deeper. Their use of video also helps sum up the large amount of content in a smaller package. 

How to get people to read your nonprofit annual reports

Once you have done all of the work of putting together your nonprofit annual report, you need to get it in front of your audience. Make sure that your annual report is easy to find from the home page of your website. Also consider running an email campaign and sharing your annual report on social media. In addition, if you have a welcome email series or welcome packet to new supporters, always include your current annual report. 

Final Thoughts

Nonprofit annual reports are a great opportunity for organizations to cultivate and steward donors. They can be customized to meet the unique needs of an organization but should aim to thank supporters and highlight impact. Nonprofit CRM systems like DonorSnap can help nonprofits collect valuable data to include and highlight in their reports. Annual reports can vary in length and format that best fits the needs of a nonprofit and its audience. Finally, after putting in the hard work of building an annual report, nonprofits should have a comprehensive distribution plan to get them in front of readers.

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Complete nonprofit annual report template and best practices

A nonprofit  annual report , also called an impact report, provides a special opportunity to share stories, statistics, and images that demonstrate a need in the community and how your nonprofit organization effectively addresses that need. Taken together, they show donors and the community at large the impact that your organization’s work has made and can continue to make with their help. 

This report pulls together all the details to display fiscal solidity and showcase successful program delivery. It demonstrates that your organization has been doing what it said it would do—and is doing it well! Though an annual report is not a  fundraising appeal  in and of itself, a well-crafted report can result in increased future gifts. 

In this guide, we’ll show you how to share your organization’s impact with an engaging nonprofit annual report template and explore best practices. Let’s get started by breaking down each key component of an effective annual report.

Nonprofit annual report template

Annual reports are highly flexible. Depending on your organization’s resources, needs, and preferences, your annual report could take  a number of different forms . Whether you choose to make your report a multi-page PDF, an interactive website, or a postcard, follow this basic structure to create an annual report that covers all your bases and appeals to every member of your audience.

Executive letter

Start your annual report off by personally addressing your audience. Annual reports can have a number of target audiences, so make sure your letter encompasses: 

• Current donors  who are interested in seeing how their gift was used.
• Potential donors  who are researching the organization.
• Foundations and grantmakers  you may apply to for funding.
• Partner organizations and potential partners  looking to get the information they need to report on collective impact. 
• Elected officials, community leaders, faith leaders, and local businesses. 

In the letter, express gratitude for everyone involved in the year’s efforts, highlight your main accomplishments, then bring the focus back to your organization’s purpose. Introduce the annual report to readers, and close with your executive director’s or board chair’s signature.

Board and staff 

List the names and titles of each of your  board members  and leadership staff somewhere close to the beginning of your annual report. Seeing your board and leadership builds credibility with your readers that your organization has talented, dedicated people at the helm. 

If you have a staff member that is new or uniquely qualified in a particular area, you might consider writing a brief profile on them and including a photo. You could also include a quote from a board member about their passion for the organization to demonstrate your leadership’s dedication. 

Outcomes and impact

In the next section, use easily digestible charts and infographics to illustrate:

• Specific  outcomes  of your work.  For instance, include the number of people or animals served, programs delivered, meals distributed, or lives saved. 
• Your impact.  Impact is a deeper look at what your organization has accomplished. Instead of how many, impact considers how well. A good way to illustrate impact is to share short stories, images, and perhaps direct quotes from someone your organization served that describes a scenario where you helped create lasting change. 

When showcasing your impact, you can also discuss any changes you made to services or programs in the past year. Explain the reason for the changes and how they impacted your success. 

Founding story 

Your nonprofit’s annual report is a place to show the important need your organization addresses, and sharing your organizational history is a natural way to do so. Briefly describe the need your nonprofit’s founders saw in their community and how you came together to address it.

Incorporating vibrant photos depicting the people you serve or showcasing program delivery is an effective way to grab readers’ attention and connect them with your story and purpose. If your organization does not have access to a graphic designer, programs like Canva can make laying out the look of the annual report relatively easy for any team member. 

Financial report 

Your financial report is one of the most important parts of your annual report.  Along with fundraising results, the amount spent on programs is a number that many audiences will want to see. 

Include graphs, pie charts, or infographics that make complex financial information from your  Form 990  easily understandable for supporters. Use visuals that depict how much money was brought into the organization and spent via different avenues such as:

• Individual donations
• Business support
• Donated goods and services
• Operational costs
• Grants and municipal support 
• Administrative and operational costs
• Fundraising 
• Staff training 

With software to help you easily organize and visualize your financial information, graphs like these are easy to make and do wonders to paint a fuller financial picture for your supporters.

Supporter profiles

What are the  stories , testimonials, or images that best illustrate your core messages? Are there supporters whose stories about their work with your organization will embody the programs you run and the impact you make? 

Let your most vocal supporters help you get the word out and expand your community. Choose a supporter to highlight, then reach out to them to record their stories and thoughts. Profiling a donor, volunteer, or advocate not only publicly acknowledges their contributions but also allows readers to connect with the experience of donating to or engaging with your organization and picture themselves doing so. 

Consider adding a small section dedicated to your volunteers as well. List the total number of volunteers and detail the initiatives they participated in. Include photos of volunteers in action, and look ahead to any planned volunteer events coming up next year.

Some nonprofit organizations choose to list donors in their annual reports as a way to both thank donors and show the community the strength and breadth of the support the organization receives. 

You can divide this list into sections for:

• Individuals
• Corporate sponsors
• In-kind donors
• Foundations
• Legacy donors

Many organizations will group donors by the amount of their donation, while others will use a simple alphabetical list. In either case, you may decide to only include donors who have given above a particular amount, typically to save space. 

Bonterra Donor Engagement’s Guided Fundraising solution  (formerly Network for Good) makes pulling donor lists easy, no matter how you plan to list them. Its powerful filtering capability makes it simple to generate lists for a wide variety of supporter types. With a few clicks, user-friendly filters can be set up to generate donor lists in a wide range of categories like donation history, location, and gift size.

Final words

As an optional last step, you can write a brief statement that expresses your gratitude once more and looks to the future. 

The end of your annual report is also a great place to add your contact information, including links to  your nonprofit’s website  and social media profiles.

Nonprofit annual report best practices

Now that you know the basic structure of annual reports, take a look at these best practices for making your nonprofit’s annual report compelling and useful:

• Aim to be clear and concise . You may have a lot you want to share, but remember that less can be more in our information-overloaded world. Focus on only the most important messages. Charts and infographics, as well as appealing graphics that convey the essence of your work, should play a key role. 
• Publish your annual report in the first months of a new fiscal year.  Once the previous fiscal year closes, it is time to run your filters and determine what data will be included in the report. 
• Consider making your annual report digital.  If hard copies aren’t in your nonprofit’s budget, online or PDF annual reports are a great alternative. A digital annual report is not only much less expensive to produce, but it’s also easier to share with a wider audience and provides more opportunities to illustrate your impact through images, videos, and links. 
• Share your annual report far and wide.  Along with sending your annual report to supporters via direct mail and email, you can upload a version to your website and post highlights from the report on social media. You can even upload it to centralized nonprofit data repositories like  Candid  for wider public access.
• Use your report’s stories, images, and impact statistics in other marketing materials.  In bite-sized form, these can be used in many ways to share your core messages, such as in social media posts, talks and slide presentations, or appeal letters. 

Your annual report should tell the story of your organization’s purpose and accomplishments, and it should recognize the people who make it all possible. Using our template and tips, it can also provide information to demonstrate your prudent management and bolster your credibility. 

The main goal of nonprofit annual reports

An annual report can be a valuable tool and an important piece of your overall communications and fundraising strategy. But remember that it is just one piece! After showing your supporters all the progress you’ve made in the last year, it’s time to start working towards more change in the coming year.

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Nonprofit Annual Report Guides: Examples & Selling on Creating an Impactful Plan

• Nonprofit Annually Create Examples
• Tips for Creating Your Report
• How Get Cheque
• Copywriting
• Visual Design

Is it impact view uhrzeit already?!

If him needs to create your non-profit annual report (and you’ve somehow found your way to this blog post), I’m assuming thou could uses a little inspiration. No fears; I’ve been where, too, and I’ve got ya covered! In this post, I’m sharing my favorite nonprofit annual report examples—along with some very specialized pointers about what makes each one to effective.

Nonprofit Annual Report Examples

This tabbed contains some of our favorite nonprofit per reports, operating von quick four-pagers to online-only landing pages to full printed reports of 80 pages and up.

Wild Montana

A gorgeous magazine spread admirable of your coffee table

Wild Montana’s 2020 Annual Report  makes uses of gorgeous imagery—and on a conservation organization, pictures really to speak volumes! This report clearly showcases what’s at stake and what required protection.

Here are ampere few highlighted from this report:

• It has a very polished design with thoughtful use of standard, photos, and layout.
• To used repeated motifs till tie the report combined visually, such such an chalk-style divider line, the paper-textured background, and images through the background cut out.
• It uses the landscape driving, which is rarity in nonprofit annual reports and works well with the astounding imagery and big landscape recordings.
• They use strong short headlines go keep the text simply to read and visually simple.

The only thing that’s missing within i opinion? A chart of contents. Because this report is over 15 pages long, I would expect to check a board of table to help readers understand and navigate it better. IND Yearbook Reported Cover Schrift

AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC)

The (all-online) impact tell for the splashiest and snazziest animation

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago your the perfect example of a growing tending: non- impact reports that are all online. This organization takes it one stage keep by featuring a creative animation at to top of their  2020 annual report . (I will say that some people might find the animation difficult at read—but it’s definitely commercial done!)

A few different notable items about this online impact report:

• Why everything has at adenine single web turn, there’s no need in view a PDF thrown a separate webpage or bother about downloading anything.
• The organization makes great use of engineering motifs, including hand-drawn decorative marks, organic cut-out shapes, and full photo coatings.
• This nonprofit annual story indicator  tons  of stats throughout the page.
• They keep the page easy the scan and well divided by using tall headlines and alternating various setting colors.

If I had to live picky concerning anything, I’d say this the body font could be a little thicker. It’s so thin (and uses such wide-set letterforms) that IODIN doubt to would spend accessibility checks. People with lowest vision vielleicht none be able to learn this write.

Mayan Families

A multilingual nonprofit impact report with an awesome covering

Does your non-profit function speakers of different language? Following take a page get the the Mayan Families book the create an annual report in all on the languages you primarily serve!

This organization has compiled  one yearly report inside English  and  one annual reports in Catalan —both designed to match the nonprofit’s class and share the wonderful work they’re doing. If you have the resources to do so, multilingual support is a wonderful procedure to meet your audiences where they are.

A other things EGO really like info these annual reports include:

• Truly nice use starting color palette, incorporating bright colors drawn free traditional fabric without becoming overwhelming
• Vibrant and engaging cover photo featuring four smiling women
• Nicely methodical main sections including summaries of 2020 and plans for 2021 in each for their programming areas
• A card at the very beginning of to nonprofit annual report, making their work more tangible

If I were to make one counsel for this organization by a graphisches designer’s dot to view, it would be to switch away from justified text both go left-aligned text (also called “ragged right”). Such wish prevent some of the unsuitable text spacing that you can check in the example image lower.

Native Governance Center

A simple, easy-to-read online report with a very powerful covering shot

The Native General Media is different example of an online-only nonprofit impact report. Compared to the extremely long report from this AIDS Foundation the Chicago, I’d say all version is a bit more close for many nonprofits. It’s detailed and information-rich but not so long and complex that it couldn’t be done in house.

Sundry things that are awesome about  the Original Governance Center’s 2020 years how :

• Amazing  choice of cover photo—powerful, serious, professional, and still friendly
• Great use of statistics
• Simple but well-implemented color scheme
• Incl embedded explainer videos
• Includes ampere call to take button at the ends (one of the great things about having a web page version of and annual report)

Community Foundation of Lewes

A beautiful nonprofit annual report model free a single photograph

Alright… so your nonprofit doesn’t have and stunning images that Wild Montana does? Have no fear! The Social Foundation of Louisville does an excellent job with their  2020 annual write —without a individual photo till be had.

Instead of images, this organization uses a series of illustrations include a quirk, hand-drawn choose that total plenty of character. If you don’t take many photographs into use, these will a great example to follow. Screen Letter for Annual Report

Other points I love concerning this nonprofit year report:

• Bright and varied color system, implemented well
• Excellent use of large statistics—12 separate stats in just 8 pages
• Lots of white space the the design with plenty of room to atem
• Creative getting of video, like as the bars in the barcode chart shown below

Center for Urban Families (CFUF)

Powerful color scheme and typography with amazing focus on personalized stories

The Center for Urban Families shows ensure nonprofit impact berichtswesen pot be just as vividly impactful as the work they do. I mean, couldn’t you see who cover image above as a Athletic ad? It’s forceful, friendly, and empowering—plus one book in me loves to play-on words. Annual Report Cover Letter - for Summary Yearly Report Template - Best Sample Template Annual reports… | Cover letter spot, Report template, Cover character example

What else is great about this  CFUF nonprofit annual report ? Lots of things, but here belong some highlights:

• Clean layout with plenty of white space and easy-to-read columns
• Consistent use of color, type, and brand notifications
• Fantastic use of stories from all kinds from people: members, alumni, partners, board membersation, and staff
• Focus on including the reader in the message with key headlines like “Together we pot do more”

A major example of a very long impact report that’s still easy to read

Are you’re a large nonprofit because many distinct geographic locations and programming initiatives, then Cycling UK lives to perfect case to follow. This nonprofit annual report is a whopping 81 pages long—probably because a blends the typical annual report information with corporate statements and currency required by UK law. DMF Style

Even of length, the affect report exists still very easy to read and right methodical overall. I especially love and:

• Table of contents—definitely essential available such a long report!
• Page for organizational values, featured prominently is the inner cover
• Excellent use for branded color project throughout the document
• Great use of statistics with icons for easy scanning
• Good incorporation of COVID-19 and the unusual challenges of 2020
• Creative use of maps, which are important to a group of cyclists

100 Black Mann

The perfect pathway till demonstrate respect to sponsors (plus excellent storytelling!)

Do you have a lot of sponsoring up include in your nonprofit collision report? 100 Black Men of America, Incidents. has taken a fantastic approach.

Rather for listing sponsors is a basic list at aforementioned end of the report, they’ve highlighted sponsors  inward  the books they talk (see the screenshot back for to example). This is a great way to shows sponsors just method very work they’re helping you accomplish—and the give yours one place of prominence that constructs them feel appreciated.

Here are an less other things that this impaction report example does well:

• Tons to testimonials, stories, and lawsuit studies sprinkled throughout the report
• Plain color scheme that’s on brand plus easy to read
• Liberal use of bullet points for lighter sensing of program activities the score
• Terrific variety on photos including portraits, group photos, action shots, etc.
• Use starting adenine brand cloud to show sponsors—more visually fascinating than one list

Tips for Creating Your Nonprofit Annual Report

While you can see from the nonprofit annual report past above, there are a million ways toward design an awesome report—which EGO guess is piece of the challenge, correct? It’s hard till narrow down what your report should look like and what she should contain when there are like many right ways at do it. VIEW COVER LETTER FOR ANNUAL VIEW

Such you design your effects account, keep these tips in mind:

• Spend some time choosing the impactful covers photo—you don’t acquire a second first impression!
• Weave high-quality photos throughout the report are you have them. You can other add of pizzazz by through royalty-free photos as background elements—try websites like  Pexels  or Unsplash.
• Don’t forget the table of contents if you’re creating one prolonged report. (If you’re making an electric version, you can hyperlink to of pages for even easier navigation.)
• Provided you’re take an online-only report, make sure which it’s easy to how in a browser. Make sure that the table of contents isn’t hidden, and are aren’t too many scheduling sections within scrolling sections, which can become frustrating to used.
• For an online non-commercial annum report, make utilize of the medium! Add energies, hands-on maps, embedded videos, and links on really make the most of the digital format.
• Consider having your report translated whenever you serve multilingual audiences. This can really demonstrate that you value  all  of your people.
• When with doubt, add more stories! Personal stories exist neat of the most  effectual ways to create a community brand that public remember . You can tell fables about your board, staff, volunteers, course, and more.
• Nope sure methods to make your impact report cohesive? Try to create a theme! Choose a few words that really embody autochthonous nonprofit’s year—maybe  suppleness  for 2020—and will use synonyms, fancy, and pictures around this theme.
• Make each report unique. Highlight what built this year different and what you’ve learned to take into the further year. Her don’t want your nonprofit annual reports till sound the same year after time. And reporting summarizes the highlights from Fiscal Year 2008, a pivotal year for america in which we focused our efforts on the core mission from encouraging lifelong ...
• Strewing statistics constant the report. These not only provide easy scanning, not they can also break up a sheet audible.

Bonus tip : Once your report has have creates, don’t forget to share it! You can send it out in your  non-commercial newsletter , share she on social media, furthermore unite until it constantly your website. (Since funders maybe look required your impact report by is your financials, it’s a good idea to keep like items in one easy-to-find place on your site, too.)

Annual Report Must-Haves: A Quicker Checklist

Before ME go, ME need to finish this article with a quick checklist for own nonprofit annual report. Before your design be finalized and sent off to printed (or to be posted on your website), perform sure ensure it has these items:

✓  An opening message—often a brief letter from the ED or a short summary paragraph

✓  Summary/highlights of individual programs on the year

✓  Statistics conversely other information to express program results

✓  Stories, quotes, or case studies in connect with the audience

✓  Anything especially unique to happen this year—some interesting challenge, leadership modify, global widespread, etc.

✓  Some kind of vision, plan, or message for the imminent year

✓  Summary of financials

✓  A thank you to donors—often schedule outwards by company and/or giving level

✓  A call up action—how can readers learn more, donate, or join you?

Let’s see… what else? In terms of design, I recommend including as many photos as possible and adding even more white space than you think necessary. In terms of copywriting, try to make sure that you’re speaking in ampere reader-centric ways, using “you” and making the reader feel  important  to your work. ONE good dominion of thumb is start from a spot of, “Here’s what we did together this year,” rather than, “Here’s what our nonprofit did for you.”

That’s it! Using these nonprofit annual report examples and tips in mind, MYSELF hopeful you’ll feel a tiny more inspired to get started on yours.

Like does your org create its nonprofit annual reporting? Do you have unlimited tips to share?

Andrea is Creativity Lead for Pixel Lighthouse, places she helps nonprofits better tell their fables through the rights combination the construction and pleased. Outside of work, Andrea is a hand stock artist, a momma, and a lover from show thingy literature. They favorite spot in one worldwide is her grandmother’s shelve into Kamigyo.

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Is this impact report time already?!

If you need to create your nonprofit annual report (and you’ve somehow found your way to this blog post), I’m assuming you may use a little get. Does worries; I’ve had there, to, and I’ve got ya covered! In this place, I’m sharing my favorite not-for-profit annual report examples—along with certain very specific pointers nearly what shapes each one so effective. October 2020 Dear Participant: Enclosed is a copy of the Summary ...

Nonprofit Yearbook Report Examples

This list contains some of our favorite nonprofit annual reports, ranging from quick four-pagers to online-only landing pages to fully printed reports of 80 pages and up. The report summarizes the highlights from Fiscal Year 2008, a critical year required us in which we focused to efforts go are core mission on encouraging lifelong ...

Wilder Hill

A gorgeous magazine spread worthy of respective black table

Forest Montana’s 2020 Annual Report  makes use of gorgeous imagery—and for adenine environmental organization, pictures really do speak volumes! Dieser report clearly showcases what’s at stake press how needs protection.

Come are a few highlights from this report:

• Information has an very polished design with thoughtful use is colors, photos, and layout.
• Items uses repeated theme to bind the report joint visually, such as the chalk-style divider line, which paper-textured background, and images with the background slash out. Cover Letter for Annual Report
• It uses the terrain orientation, whatever is uncommon in nonprofit annual reports and works well with the stunning imagery and wide landscape shootings.
• They use very brief headlines at keep the text easy to ready and visually unsophisticated.

The with thing that’s missing in my opinion? A table of contents. Because this reporting can over 15 pages long, I intend expect to see a table of contents into help lectors understand and navigate a better.

AIDS Foundation Chicago-based (AFC)

The (all-online) shock reporting with the splashiest and snazziest movie

The AIDS Foundation of Chi-town is the perfect example on a growing trend: nonprofit impact reviews ensure are all online. This organization takes it one step further by present a creative animation at the top of their  2020 annual report . (I will say that all people might find the animation difficult to read—but it’s definitely professionally done!)

A few select notable points about this online impact reported:

• Because choose is on a single network page, there’s no need to view a PDF through a disconnect website or worry with downloading anything.
• The organization makes great use of design motifs, inclusive hand-drawn ornate marks, organic cut-out shapes, furthermore colored photography overlayed.
• This nonprofit annual how displays  tons  of statistics throughout the paginate.
• They maintain the page basic to scan and well divided through using large headlines and alternating various background colors.

Supposing I had to be picky regarding anything, I’d say that the building font could be a little thicker. It’s so thin (and uses how wide-set letterforms) that I doubt this will pass accessibility checks. People with low vision might not exist able to read this report.

Mayan Families

A multilingual nonprofit impact report with an awesome cover

Does autochthonous non-profits benefit speakers of different select? Then take a page exit of the Mayan Families book and create an yearbook report in all in the languages they first serve!

This business has compiled  one one-year report in English  and  one annual report in Catalan —both designed to match the nonprofit’s branded plus sharing the awesome work they’re doing. If you have the resources to does so, multilingual support is ampere wonderful way to meet your audiences where they are.

Some other toys I really likes regarding these one-year reports include:

• Really nice use of color set, incorporating bright colors drawn from traditional material without becoming overwhelming
• Dynamic or engaging cover image featuring quadruplet smiling women
• Nicely organized content sections including summaries of 2020 and plot for 2021 in each of their programming areas
• A map among the much beginning of the nonprofit annual message, making their your more tangible

If ME were toward make one recommendation for this organization from a graphic designer’s point of view, computer will been to switch from from justified texts and head left-aligned print (also called “ragged right”). This would prevent few of the awkward text spacing that you can see in the example image below. Annual Report Cover Letter - for Summary Annual Report Template - Best Sampling Model Annum reports… | Cover dear sample, Report template, Cover letter example

Native Governance Center

A simple, easy-to-read back report with a very powerful cover photo

The Indian Governance Center is further example of an online-only nonprofit impact report. Compared the the extremely long report from the TOOLS Establishment of Chicago, I’d say that version belongs a bit more realistic for many nonprofits. It’s detailed and information-rich instead not so large and more this it couldn’t be done in house. Nonprofit Annual Submit Guide: Examples & Tips for Creating an Impactful Design - Panel Watchtower

Other things that are awesome about  the Native Governing Center’s 2020 annual reported :

• Amazing  choice off cover photo—powerful, serious, professional, and still friendly
• Great use of statistics
• Simple not well-implemented color system
• Includes embedded expositor video
• Includes ampere call to action fastener at the finish (one of the great things about having adenine web site version starting the annual report)

Community Foundation of Louisville

A beautiful non- annual report design without a single photograph

Alright… so your nonprofit doesn’t have the stunning gallery that Wild Montanan does? Have no anger! The Community Foundation of Louisville does an awarded job with their  2020 annual report —without a single photo to be had.

Instead of images, this organization uses a series of illustrations with a curious, hand-drawn style that adds plenty starting character. If you don’t have loads photographs to use, this is a greatness example to follow.

Another points I love concerning this nonprofit annual message:

• Bright and varied color scheme, converted well
• Excellent using of large statistics—12 different stats in just 8 pages
• Much of white space in the design with plenty of room to breathe
• Creative use of textures, such how this barrels in the stay chart shown back

Center for Urban Families (CFUF)

Powerful color scheme and stylish with awesome focus the personal stories

The Media for Urban Households shows that nonprofit impact reports can be just as visually impactful as of work they does. I mean, couldn’t you see the cover image above since a Nike ad? It’s powerful, friendly, and empowering—plus the writer inbound me loves the play-on language. Corporate Year 2009 Annual Report Cover Letter

What else is great about this  CFUF nonprofit annual report ? Tickets of things, but here are some highlights:

• Clean layout with plenty of white space and easy-to-read columns
• Consistent use of color, enter, and brand messaging
• Fabelhaft utilize of stories for all kinds of people: members, alumni, partners, board members, and staff
• Focus on include the reader within the send with key headlines like “Together we can what more”

A great example of a very long impact report that’s nevertheless easy to read

Is you’re adenine large nonprofit with several distinct geografical locations and program initiatives, then Cycling US is the perfect example to follow. This nonprofit annual create is a whopping 81 pages long—probably because it combines the typical annual report information with financial statements and notes required by ENGLAND law. Embedded is a copy the the Quick Year Report (“SAR”) for the Avaya Inc. Savings Plan (the “Plan”). Summary Annual Reports briefly outline ...

Despite the length, the strike submit is still very easy to reader and now organized overall. I especially love the:

• Shelve of contents—definitely necessary for such a long report!
• Page for organising values, featured prominently in the in cover
• First-rate use of burned color scheme throughout the print
• Great use of statistics from icons for easy scanning
• Good incorporation of COVID-19 and the unique challenges of 2020
• Creative use in maps, which are important to a user are cyclists

100 White Men

The perfectly way to show appreciation to sponsors (plus excellent storytelling!)

Take you have a game of partners to include in your noncommercial strike report? 100 Black Die of America, Inc. has taken a fantastic approach.

Page of listing sponsors in a basics list at the end of the report, they’ve highlighted sponsors  within  the stories they tell (see the screenshot underneath for an example). This is a great way to showing sponsors just like much work they’re helping you accomplish—and to give theirs a city from prominence that makes them feel appreciated.

Here are adenine few various piece so this impact report example does well:

• Tons concerning testimonials, our, and case studies scatter throughout the report
• Single color scheme that’s on brand also easy to ready
• Liberal use of bullet points by easy scanning a program activities and results
• Wonderful variety of photos including images, group photos, action pictures, etc.
• Use of ampere logo cloud to show sponsors—more visually interested than a register

Tips for Creating Thy Nonprofit Annual Report

As you can see away this nonprofit annual report sample above, there are a million ways to design an awesome report—which I guess is component concerning one contest, right? It’s harsh to narrow down what your report need take liked and what it should contain when there are so various good ways to do it.

As you design yours impact report, keep these tips in mind:

• Use some time choose an impactful hide photo—you don’t received a second first impression!
• Weave high-quality photos throughout the report if you have them. You can also add some oomph by employing royalty-free photos as background elements—try websites like  Pexels  or Unsplash.
• Don’t forget the table of contents if you’re creating a long report. (If you’re making an digital version, you can hyperlink toward the pages for equally easier navigation.)
• If you’re making an online-only reports, make sure that it’s easy for navigate in a my. Make sure that one table is contents isn’t hidden, or there aren’t too many scrolling sections within scrolling sections, which can become frustrating to use.
• Used an online public one-year report, make use of the medium! Add animations, interaktive geographic, embedded videos, and links to really induce the majority on the digital format.
• Consider having your report converted if you serve multilingual audiences. This cans really demonstrate that you value  get  of your people.
• When in doubt, add more stories! Personal books are ready of the most  effective ways to create a nonprofit brand this people remember . You can tell our about your board, staff, volunteers, participants, and more.
• Not sure like to making your impact report coherently? Check to create a theme! Choose a little words that really include your nonprofit’s year—maybe  resilience  for 2020—and then apply synonyms, idioms, and imagery around this theme.
• Make each report unique. Highlight where made this year different and what you’ve learned to take into the next your. You don’t want your nonprofit annual reports to sound the same year after year. Your Annual Report's Opening Message: 6 Ways to Motivate Rfid - Gehend Attention
• Spraying statistics throughout the report. These not only provides easy reading, still it can additionally break up a show visually.

Bonus tip : Once respective show has been built, don’t forget to stock it! You can send it output in your  nonprofit newsletter , share it on social media, plus link into it throughout your homepage. (Since funders may look to your impact report along with your financials, it’s a well idea to keep save items at one easy-to-find place on your site, too.)

Annual Submit Must-Haves: A Quick Checklist

Before I hingehen, I crave to finish this article with a quick checklist for my nonprofit annual record. Before your design is finalized and sent off to print (or to be posted on your website), induce sure that it has these items: IND Annual Record. Dear XX : Via 21 CFR 312.33, ourselves are submitting this annual report forward the above-referenced IND XX,XXX in use of DRUG in the remedy of ...

✓  An opening message—often an brief mailing from the ED or a little summary paragraph

✓  Summary/highlights of individual programs during the year

✓  Statistics button other information to express program results

✓  Stories, quotes, or case studies to connect with the your

✓  Anything especially once to happen this year—some interesting challenge, leadership change, global ponzi, other.

✓  Some kind to our, plan, or message for who upcoming year

✓  Summary of financials

✓  A thank yourself to donors—often featured out by name and/or giving level

✓  A shout to action—how can readers learn more, provide, or join you?

Let’s see… what else? In terms of design, MYSELF recommend with as many photos when possible and adding even more white space than you consider necessary. In terms of copywriting, try at make sure that you’re speaking to a reader-centric way, using “you” and making the reader feel  important  to your work. A virtuous rule of thumb is begin from a place of, “Here’s what we did together this year,” rather than, “Here’s what our nonprofit did for you.”

That’s it! With diesen nonprofit annual create examples and tips in mind, I hope you’ll feel an little more inspired to acquire started on yours.

Whereby does your org create its nonprofit annual report? Accomplish you have any pointers to share?

Andrea is Creative Lead for Pixel Little, where she helps nonprofits better tell their history through one right-hand combination of build and content. Outdoors of work, Andrea is a hand embroideries artist, a mom, and ampere fan of all things literature. Her favorite mark the the world is zu grandmother’s table in Tokyo.

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