Reducing the pain of the Annual Report
Preparing the Annual Report, or Impact Report as it is more commonly known, can be a real pain point for organisations. An annual activity that disrupts the normal work flow and requires the input of many, it’s often viewed as a necessary evil to meet compliance regulations.
For non-profits the reporting process has become more rigorous over recent years since Charities Services introduced their Standard of Service Performance (SSPs). From 1 January 2022 all charities will be required to present a more robust view of their performance, in particular the outcomes they are delivering as a result of their work.
The progression from financial to impact reporting is a trend seen overseas and a positive move for New Zealand charities on a number of fronts – most would agree that the performance of an organisation shouldn’t be appraised on its financial performance alone.
For non-profits the shift to focusing on impact presents an opportunity to reduce the pain point by approaching the report in a different way. In today’s world of social media and social proof, generating content that shows the impact of a charity should ideally be a continuous, year-long activity.
Telling the personal stories of beneficiaries, communicating the capability of the organisation and reporting outcomes through infographics are the cornerstones of an effective communication strategy and make great content that can be re-used in many ways, including the annual Impact Report.
3 ways to generate impact related content throughout the year:
- Commit to collecting a new personal story of a beneficiary over a particular time frame, for example, once a month.
- Set up or adjust your evaluation framework so that outcomes rather than outputs are regularly collected from beneficiaries. Ensure these outcomes are important to your key stakeholders and are consistent year on year.
- Be clear on your unique point of difference and how you can communicate this capability to your key audiences.
With these content streams in place, you’ll not only have created a robust and effective communication strategy, but also a library of content that can be used for funding proposals, sponsorship proposals, social media content calendars, blogs, supporter newsletters, donor development communications and so much more.
No longer will the Annual Report be seen as a pain point, but an opportunity to showcase and celebrate the performance and impact of your organisation.