The typical nonprofit Annual Report includes a letter from the Board Chair, a letter from the CEO, a page with a summary of the organization’s financials, a shoutout to foundation and corporate partners and then ten pages- font size six- listing every donor to the organization since the Nixon administration.
Sigh. What a waste of 🌲 !
The typical Annual Report is long, boring, uninspiring and very organization centric. Ya know who reads them? Almost no one.
Which is really too bad- a huge missed opportunity for how your organization connects and engages with its supporters!
So let’s start at the top: I hate when it’s called “Annual Report.” It can and should be much more than that.
Time to start publishing a yearly Impact Report or Gratitude Report. Your nonprofit needs to transform your dull, stale, boring annual report into something more impactful which strengthens the connection with your audience.
Here’s how.
Q&A
Question: What are the goals of an Impact Report?
Answer: Making people feel good about supporting your organization. Letting them know that as an individual they’re making their community better but also showing how a larger group came together to advance a worthy cause. Add to that transparency, stewardship and retention.
Question: What should be the overall tone of our Impact Report?
Answer: It should be donor centric, written in a conversational tone and full of gratitude. (Always lead with gratitude!!!)
Question: What should our Impact Report include?
Answer: Here’s a short list in no particular order…
- Compelling visuals (everything you need to know about Impact Report photos)
- Impactful stories
- Social proof/quotes/testimonials (from beneficiaries, staff, Board members, volunteers, foundation funders, corporate partners)
- Data visualization (show growth, show impact)
- Quantitative AND qualitative data (not all impact can be told in cold number sets)
- Organizational overview (written by the CEO)
- Spotlight on a specific program
- Highlight supporters helping to change the community for the better
- Lots of gratitude
- 2025 goals
Look at the above list. It shows supporters how they’re having an impact in their community, how they’re doing good in the world. Just as important, it lets them know they’re part of a larger community of do gooders.
And instead of a long list of donors no one even looks at, you now have a visually attractive report that communicates impact!
THAT is how you make donors feel good, engage them, steward them and retain them as supporters of your nonprofit.
Question: How should we share our Impact Report?
Answer: Direct mail is king. Print and send.
But you should also create a digital version which sits on your website. Use social media posts and email to get the word out and drive traffic to it.
Have a look at Conquer Cancer’s 2023 Impact Report. Donor centric, gratitude, impact, stories, quotes etc. Notice the links at the top. Those are the things most people skip over so instead of adding it and making you scroll (which you probably wouldn’t) they left them as links at the top for those who want. Very smart!
Question: Do you have an even better idea for sharing it?
Answer: You betcha- go live!
What if instead of people reading, they could watch and listen to you present your 2024 Impact Report? I think it’s a great idea.
But it’s not my idea. I credit a growing nonprofit in Colorado for implementing what I think is a great way to connect with people.
Going from survival to thrival means providing multiple connection points for your audience. And I love this one!
Use video to demonstrate impact
Please meet Coal Creek Meals on Wheels. Their mission: “To support independence and quality of life for Lafayette, Louisville, Erie and Superior residents by providing nutritious meals and social contact.”
How did I learn about them? A staff member signed up for my enews. I went to check them out and signed up for their enewsletter. (Yes folks- I sign up for organization enewsletters so I can learn about all the good being done out there!)
At the end of February they emailed about their upcoming Morning Coffee Chat which would feature the organization’s CEO discussing their 2024 Impact Report. I always wanna learn from anyone and everyone and was interested in watching and listening to an Impact Report presentation. I signed up right away.
I’m very glad I did!
The chat was done via Zoom and recorded, so they could share a recording with those who were unable to attend. (For those who want to watch the entire presentation, here’s a link provided by Coal Creek MoW.)
After attending, here are my takeaways on what worked from their impact webinar:
- The speaker was the CEO: I like this as he’s the face of the organization.
- They kept it short: 25 minutes before Q&A.
- They included some data: Not just 2024 data but historical data. For example, I learned that the number of meals served has skyrocketed by 80% since 2022.
- The effect of a federal grants freeze and tariffs: They will be indirectly affected. Soaring food prices costs them more to buy food. Cuts in federal benefits mean fewer people able to pay for their meals and demand will rise in 2025. I LOVE that they didn’t shy away from this but discussed how they’ll meet this challenge head on.
- Plates for Pets: I love the idea behind this service! I didn’t know it existed. Good use of the presentation to highlight a program some may not be familiar with.
- Story of one: They didn’t just share the “big numbers” of overall impact. They shared a couple of stories about individuals helped by Coal Creek MoW. Always use storytelling and as often as possible tell the story of one person which can be used to demonstrate the broader need and impact.
- Q&A: They encouraged questions from attendees. Great way to engage people one on one, answer their questions in real time and strengthen their connection to the organization.
The only thing missing was a slide with their 2025 goals (although 2025 was mentioned a few times because of the data they supplied and the grants/tariffs piece) but overall I think it was a great idea! Some people learn best while reading a piece of paper, some while reading online and some prefer to learn visually through video. Find multiple avenues for connecting and sharing.
Kudos to the entire Coal Creek Meals on Wheels team for the great work they do!
I’m a huge proponent of using video to tell your organization’s story. For those of you wondering whether video would be a good medium for an Impact Report, here are two data points about the importance of video:
- 52% of people say they’re more likely to share video content than other types of content.
- 90% of a message is retained if shared in a video vs. 10% when shared with text.
Here’s how you go from survival to thrival: You WANT people to retain what they learn from your impact report, you WANT them to feel good, you WANT to profusely thank people because good gratitude leads to the next donation, higher retention and higher donor lifetime value.
Win win win!
