Go short with your annual report

You need to publish an annual report. But doing so doesn’t mean you need to spend hundreds of hours (and thousands of dollars) creating a book that only board members will want to read. Because the reality is, annual reports that recount every single activity of the past year, thank every donor, name every staff member and volunteer and publish their entire audited financial statements are tomes that very few people want to read. 

And, if no one wants to read them, then they’re not fulfilling their purpose as a key donor communications tool and valuable fundraising tool. Instead of spending time (and money) on traditional visions of annual reports, express your gratitude and create impact by going short with your annual report.

The definition of short is up to you. If you previously published a 40-page tome, consider a slimmed-down 16-page volume instead. If you’re already publishing one of that length, take the plunge and cut it in half—or even a quarter! 

Benefits of going short with your annual report

1) Faster read. Attention spans are shorter today than ever before, which means many people will choose to not pick something up simply because they think it’s too long. A quick read is more likely to be consumed.

2) Cheaper to produce. If you’re producing your report in-house, the number of hours employees spend on it are hours they could be devoting to other communications or fundraising activities. If you’re outsourcing the report, the need for more copywriting on more pages means higher costs, and higher page counts also means higher design costs. And either way, higher page counts means higher printing costs too.

(To that point, a few years ago we were brought in to write an annual report for an organization that had previously only produced a 40-page report themselves. They wanted to try something different, starting with more impactful writing. After agreeing to a slimmed-down 16-page book, they were able to cover copywriting and printing costs with the same amount budgeted in previous years for printing alone. They were thrilled with the final product, and it better resonated with donors.) Check it out. 

3) Requires greater focus. With long annual reports, it’s easy to include everything and anything that happened in the past year. With shorter versions, it’s more important than ever to develop a strong theme. Doing so makes it easier to decide what to include and what to exclude, forcing you to focus on what is truly important to donors. 

Often, a big hold back to producing shorter annual reports is how to manage including the complete donor list. Those lists alone can take up to two to four pages of space, even in a minuscule font size. The simple answer: don’t include it. 

That may sound like a radical idea, but think about this: how does a list of names make a report donor-centric? A list of names provides no context, tells community support rather than shows it, and is not an effective way to say thank you. It is simply a list of names without any personalization. There are better ways to say thank you to donors. Try creating a nice page on your website with a donor thank you and send readers there. Check out how one of our clients tackled this when they produced a 4-page annual report.