Nonprofit's report to donors; what should we call it?
December 9, 2015 2:32 PM Subscribe
Please help me work out what I call this report to our donors - the first-ever attractive, easy-to-read indication of what we've done with their money over the past five years!
For many reasons (mainly, there used to be lots of government funding around and therefore they didn't resource fundraising/marketing much), the nonprofit I work for has never done much more reporting than a basic governance and financial report. Now at last we will be producing a brief, infographic-heavy report for our donors covering our last five years of achievements.
The dilemma: I'm not sure what to title it. In future we'll do one every year and it'll be a "Year in Review" but we decided since it's the first one we've ever given them, and we want to emphasise our long-term outcomes, we will include highlights of the last five years. For some reason I am totally stumped as to what this should be called. "Report to Donors" is factual and dull, and every name I can think of is a variation on that.
Possibly helpful facts:
- Our work is in the conservation and environment space
- We have previously been very wordy and formal, and our audited financials are difficult to interpret, so this will be a big departure
- We look super-efficient in terms of spending a big percentage of our budget on direct conservation work, and our governance is exemplary
- Our donors have previously skewed older but we have recently begun attracting a younger demographic and want to hang onto them
- Many donors have asked us for a simpler report with an easy-to-understand budget breakdown, so this is our response to that.
I think I may be overthinking this, so any suggestions will help!
For many reasons (mainly, there used to be lots of government funding around and therefore they didn't resource fundraising/marketing much), the nonprofit I work for has never done much more reporting than a basic governance and financial report. Now at last we will be producing a brief, infographic-heavy report for our donors covering our last five years of achievements.
The dilemma: I'm not sure what to title it. In future we'll do one every year and it'll be a "Year in Review" but we decided since it's the first one we've ever given them, and we want to emphasise our long-term outcomes, we will include highlights of the last five years. For some reason I am totally stumped as to what this should be called. "Report to Donors" is factual and dull, and every name I can think of is a variation on that.
Possibly helpful facts:
- Our work is in the conservation and environment space
- We have previously been very wordy and formal, and our audited financials are difficult to interpret, so this will be a big departure
- We look super-efficient in terms of spending a big percentage of our budget on direct conservation work, and our governance is exemplary
- Our donors have previously skewed older but we have recently begun attracting a younger demographic and want to hang onto them
- Many donors have asked us for a simpler report with an easy-to-understand budget breakdown, so this is our response to that.
I think I may be overthinking this, so any suggestions will help!
Donor Report 2010 - 2015
posted by youcancallmeal at 2:44 PM on December 9, 2015
posted by youcancallmeal at 2:44 PM on December 9, 2015
These things are normally "annual reports" with the pretty pictures and infographics in the front and the financials (sometimes the bare minimum useless version of the financials) in the back. An annual report that happens to focus more long-term is probably fine.
If you're focused on the last five years, how about something like "Our Organization Name: 2010-2015 in Review?"
Or no real title at all and just go with "Save the Killer Bees: Rebuilding the killer bee population of Equatorial Kundu" (whatever your organization name and cause may be).
posted by zachlipton at 2:47 PM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
If you're focused on the last five years, how about something like "Our Organization Name: 2010-2015 in Review?"
Or no real title at all and just go with "Save the Killer Bees: Rebuilding the killer bee population of Equatorial Kundu" (whatever your organization name and cause may be).
posted by zachlipton at 2:47 PM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
If it was a 5-year version of an annual report, you'd call it a Quinquennial Report. (Try to use that word in an email today.) I don't know if the Annual Report style thing is what you have in mind, but it does sound a bit like it.
Protip, from a 11-year non-profit vet: you can be creative with, but don't get cute or crazy with, the format of the annual report if you're printing it. A report should be able to sit next to its past and future sibling reports without requiring special shelving or having alarming differences in binding. Pick a format and stick to it, and you can be more free in the electronic and web versions.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:49 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Protip, from a 11-year non-profit vet: you can be creative with, but don't get cute or crazy with, the format of the annual report if you're printing it. A report should be able to sit next to its past and future sibling reports without requiring special shelving or having alarming differences in binding. Pick a format and stick to it, and you can be more free in the electronic and web versions.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:49 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Has the nonprofit only existed for five years? If so - "[Name]: The First Five". Otherwise just "[Name]'s Five Year Review, 2010-2015". But yeah you're maybe overthinking a little bit. No one's going to be put off or drawn in by the title so much as the layout/contents.
posted by billiebee at 2:49 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by billiebee at 2:49 PM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I find that many organizations don't let publishing on a schedule other than annually keep them from calling these things their "annual report."
That said, I would think of this as a marketing document and so the title should emphasize the results your organization is trying to report on. So something from your mission statement that gets to that, with 2010-2015 noted.
I would not call it a "donor report" or refer to fundraising in any way on the title/cover. You'll probably find that you will want to send this thing to many different people who are not donors or not expected to be donors (media, your clients in government, etc.)
posted by AndrewInDC at 2:51 PM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
That said, I would think of this as a marketing document and so the title should emphasize the results your organization is trying to report on. So something from your mission statement that gets to that, with 2010-2015 noted.
I would not call it a "donor report" or refer to fundraising in any way on the title/cover. You'll probably find that you will want to send this thing to many different people who are not donors or not expected to be donors (media, your clients in government, etc.)
posted by AndrewInDC at 2:51 PM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: A title like "Annual report" implies, to me, a lot of focus on revenue _sources_ as well as where the money was spent. It sounds a bit dry -- which is great for some audiences, and I hope you have one -- but, if you are going to focus exclusively on what the funds were used for, you can do a lot better.
Maybe something like "10,000 Streams and five major wetlands / how we used our resources 2010-1015" - the title itself contains a positive statement about your accomplishments, and there's a second part of the title that can be repeated each time you create such a publication.
posted by amtho at 2:58 PM on December 9, 2015
Maybe something like "10,000 Streams and five major wetlands / how we used our resources 2010-1015" - the title itself contains a positive statement about your accomplishments, and there's a second part of the title that can be repeated each time you create such a publication.
posted by amtho at 2:58 PM on December 9, 2015
Best answer: And for the love of everything, make sure the first 1-2 pages have everything essential in summary. 80 percent of your donors, including substantial ones, will not read the entire thing, only the first two pages. Do not put a dull welcome letter there, put a recap of your best achievements and numbers up front.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 3:43 PM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 3:43 PM on December 9, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I often see this kind of document called an impact report, as in Your Org 2010-15 Impact Report. Impact report implies that the document is more about what you have done than detailed financials as you might find in an annual report. But I also think a unique title that references your work would be OK too.
And keep it simple and short! When I see a thick, flashy report from an ENGO, I think they have too much money (though I might be biased because I work in this area for a small ENGO, so I know how much these things cost to write, design, and print).
posted by ssg at 4:40 PM on December 9, 2015 [4 favorites]
And keep it simple and short! When I see a thick, flashy report from an ENGO, I think they have too much money (though I might be biased because I work in this area for a small ENGO, so I know how much these things cost to write, design, and print).
posted by ssg at 4:40 PM on December 9, 2015 [4 favorites]
If this is specifically for donors, not just supporters, many advocacy nonprofits tend to give these things titles using the word "victory" (as in, "Victories to 2015" or "Strategic Goals and Victories, 2010--2015"). This is something separate from a very financially-minded (and in many cases legally mandated) annual report. It's a feel-good pat on the back for donors and should be cast that way, assuming that this isn't, in fact, your formal annual report.
Source: I've written or contributed to many, many, many of these in the last decade.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 4:52 PM on December 9, 2015
Source: I've written or contributed to many, many, many of these in the last decade.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 4:52 PM on December 9, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks everyone - Impact Report 2010-2015 it is, and I'm ashamed I didn't think of that myself.
(And yes, this will be a separate document to our formal, legally mandated annual report, which we have always produced. We're technically a statutory body and therefore must comply to government environmental standards for annual reports, which stipulate minimal use of images, two-colour printing, etc. So as we can't be as creative as many other nonprofits with our actual Annual Report, we need something else to market our effectiveness, and an impact report it will be!)
posted by andraste at 6:53 PM on December 9, 2015
(And yes, this will be a separate document to our formal, legally mandated annual report, which we have always produced. We're technically a statutory body and therefore must comply to government environmental standards for annual reports, which stipulate minimal use of images, two-colour printing, etc. So as we can't be as creative as many other nonprofits with our actual Annual Report, we need something else to market our effectiveness, and an impact report it will be!)
posted by andraste at 6:53 PM on December 9, 2015
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