{"id":14219,"date":"2019-11-15T14:50:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-16T02:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfwpartnersllc.com\/?p=14219"},"modified":"2019-11-15T14:50:08","modified_gmt":"2019-11-16T02:50:08","slug":"engage-supporters-with-your-nonprofits-annual-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/engage-supporters-with-your-nonprofits-annual-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Engage Supporters With Your Nonprofit\u2019s Annual Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Some of your not-for-profit\u2019s communications are of interest only to a select group of your supporters. But your organization\u2019s annual report is for all stakeholders \u2014 donors, grantmakers, clients, volunteers, watchdog groups and the government.<\/p>\n

Some report elements are nonnegotiable, such as financial statements. But you also have plenty of creative license to make your report engaging and memorable for its wide-ranging audience.<\/p>\n

First things first<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most nonprofit annual reports consist of several standard sections, starting with the Chairman of the Board\u2019s letter. <\/strong>This executive summary should provide an overview of your nonprofit\u2019s activities, accomplishments and anything else worth highlighting. Next is the directors and officers list. The biggest task here is to make sure all names, professional affiliations and designations are accurate and spelled correctly.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the financial information section, which generally is subdivided into three sections:<\/p>\n

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  1. Independent auditor\u2019s report.<\/strong> This is a professional auditor\u2019s opinion about whether your nonprofit\u2019s financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.<\/li>\n
  2. Financial statements.<\/strong>You\u2019ll want to include a Statement of Financial Position(assets, liabilities and net asset categories as of the last day of the fiscal year), Statement of Activities(revenues earned and expenses incurred during the year) and Statement of Cash Flows (changes, sources and uses of cash for the year).<\/li>\n
  3. Footnotes.<\/strong> Use these toexpand on financial statement items regarding such subjects as leasing arrangements and debt.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You can make your financial statements easier to understand by creating an abbreviated version with a synopsis that quickly gets to the heart of the matter. Where applicable, use simple graphs, diagrams and other visual aids to highlight specific points.<\/p>\n

    Meat of the matter<\/strong><\/p>\n

    A \u201cDescription\u201d is the other major section in a typical annual report, and it\u2019s where you can \u2014 and should \u2014 get creative. First, explain your organization\u2019s mission, goals and strategies for reaching those goals. Then, describe who benefits from your organization\u2019s services and how they contribute to the community.<\/p>\n

    So that your report does justice to this work, include client testimonials where those you\u2019ve helped tell their own story in a personal way. Or create a timeline that enables readers to see the progress you\u2019ve made toward a long-term goal.<\/p>\n

    Your annual report should be as visually exciting as it is interesting to read, with engaging photos, arresting graphics and innovative layouts. Make sure your graphic designer has experience with annual reports \u2014 preferably those of nonprofits \u2014 and understands the brand, values and image your organization wants to convey.<\/p>\n

    Continuous improvement<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Even if you\u2019re proud of the finished product, make sure you survey stakeholders. Or convene a small focus group to find out what your report\u2019s readers liked \u2014 and what they didn\u2019t find as effective. Then apply these insights to next year\u2019s effort.<\/p>\n

    \u00a9 2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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    Some of your not-for-profit\u2019s communications are of interest only to a select group of your supporters. But your organization\u2019s annual report is for all stakeholders \u2014 donors, grantmakers, clients, volunteers, watchdog groups and the government. Some report elements are nonnegotiable, such as financial statements. But you also have plenty of creative license to make your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-not-for-profit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}