Annual reports

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Every registered charity has to put together their Annual Report and Accounts to be submitted to the Charity Commission. For some organisations, putting this together feels like a lot of hard work with little reward. But it is much more than this. Rather than a chore that serves nothing but a legal purpose, an annual report is an opportunity to showcase your successes and achievements over the past year in one document. It can work to demonstrate your impact and value to a wide range of audiences.

Before you start

Think about these key areas before starting your report. You’ll find tips and ideas on how to present your annual report in the sections that follow – and examples of some reports that go beyond the basics.

Identify your audiences

On one level, your annual report is a legal requirement; it has to be submitted to the Charity Commission each year so they are your primary audience. At another level, your annual report is an opportunity to position your organisation and influence a range of other audiences such as funders, MPs, supporters and service users. 

Think carefully about the content and style of your report and how it communicates to different audiences. Would an online version with interactive elements such as links to videos or images appeal to your audience? Would a different name work - calling it something other than ‘annual report’ may appeal to a wider set of stakeholders.

Know what you want to say

Think of your annual report as your ‘shop window’ – one chance every year to really show people what you do. It is therefore important that you make it your own, don’t be distracted by the fact it has to contain certain statutory information. This is best kept at the back of your report, or in a separate, accompanying document.

Consider how the report fits into and promotes the strategic objectives of your organisations for example how can it demonstrate your impact, value for money or pioneering partnerships.

Examples

• East Cheshire Hospice annual report 2010 (PDF) - Winners of Third Sector’s 2010 charity annual report award
  
• Oldham and Rochdale Housing Market Renewal and Pathfinder annual report 2010 - impact (click on the graphic of the cover to open PDF).      
  

Give your report a theme and narrative

Think about giving your report a name that reflects your organisation and its ambitions. You should include ‘annual report’ in the strapline, but it doesn’t need to be the main heading. Some organisations use the title ‘Impact report’ which gives a clear sense of the content of the document and its purpose. They then include their accounts in a separate, supplementary document.

Having a strong theme and narrative running through the report can help to make it engaging and lift it beyond a bog-standard document. It can also ensure it appeals to a broader audience.  The theme should be reflected in the headings to each section. Most importantly in the design and feel of the report.  

Example

• Action Aid Annual Report 2008/09 - ten actions to end poverty (PDF)
  

Effective design and alternative formats

It is worth investing in good design for your annual report – it will make all the different and give it impact. If you don't have the skills in-house, approach design agencies who specialise in putting together annual reports for charities.

You should also consider different formats for your report. Producing lots of copies in print is expensive so think about how many you need. Could you simply do a PDF version, perhaps accompanied by a podcast or short film of your report? You could reach more people this way depending on who your audience is.

If you do go for a printed option, think about different sizes and shapes that you could use to really make your report stand out.

Examples

• NSPCC Annual Report 2009 / 2010
  
• Save the Children Annual Report 2008/09 includes report in digital format
• Brathay annual review 2009/2010 
• Calico Community Impact Report 2010 (PDF)
  

Using case studies

Ensuring there are active ‘voices’ in your document (service users, volunteers, staff, partners etc) can really help give character to your annual report. It helps demonstrate the impact and value of your organisation and the difference you make to people’s lives.

Consider drawing on a range of voices and think about how you can communicate their experiences. As well as quotes and pull-out boxes, use images where you can. Also consider adding some multimedia content to your online version, perhaps a podcast or short video that you can embed into the document, keep on your website or host on your You Tube channel.

Example

• Crisis - Our Impact (link to 2010 PDF report at bottom of page) 
  

Launching your report

If there is a central message or issue in the report – and in particular one that fits within a broader strategy or campaign that you’re running, then you might consider ‘launching’ your document. This could be at an event that your organisation is hosting, or simply be a ‘virtual’ launch through the media. 

What to include in each section

Step-by-step guide to key elements of any annual report.

Introduction and executive summary

You should start with an introduction to the report by the Chair of Trustees and Chief Executive. This should be their own personal reflections on the year’s activities, pulling out particular successes and highlighting some of the plans for the following year.

Think about different ways of presenting the introductions. For example, you could link from the online version of your annual report to a short interview/podcast with the Chair or Chief Executive. 

The executive summary should be half about what you’ve achieved and half about plans and ambitions going forward. It should be upbeat in tone but shouldn’t over-claim.

It’s also worth thinking about extracting the executive summary so it forms a separate short document which will be easier to read for certain audiences.

Your objectives

What does your charity do and why? This should be a relatively short section and should align closely with your organisation’s business plan. Think about both the overall objective of the organisation but also specific objectives for the past year. Were there particular objectives in different areas – communications, fundraising, expanding geographical reach for example?

Your achievements

Here you should include the key achievements over the year, measured against the objectives you set. This might include new contracts, campaigning and fundraising successes, positive media coverage, speaking opportunities, conferences, reaching new audiences, increase in volunteers etc.

Use statistics and case studies were possible to make the text interesting and to give it a ‘human’ angle. Again, look beyond the printed document and think about having some of the case studies available as short videos on your website or YouTube channel. You might also link to some of the service user led features on your website if you have them – blogs, vox pops, or newsletter.

Impact and value

Demonstrating the impact and value of your services is crucial. It is this part of your report that can really set your charity apart and help demonstrate to funders, supporters and all potential supporters the value of the work you do.

Every claim you make about impact must be backed up by evidence. For example, the statement:

‘We make a real different to homeless people across the country, helping them transform their lives.’

Should be backed up with statistics that show:

• how many homeless people have used your services in the last year
• what the impact of your interventions have been (numbers of people into jobs/education/training etc).

Do you have good quality photos of the service users you can use? Statistics are important but it’s also crucial to use case studies to demonstrate the impact on real people. Think about how these can be brought to life. Could you record short videos of service users talking about their experiences that could go on your website?  Could the extracts in the annual report be linked to an online blog?

For more information about measuring impact, see the section on improving performance.

Volunteers

The majority of charities rely on volunteers to keep their services running and help raise money. With the Big Society agenda at the fore of government thinking, highlighting the work that volunteers do should be a central part of any public document, not least your annual report.

As with service users, think about how you can include the voices of volunteers in your report. Could you include vox pops – or a ‘day in the life of a volunteer’ section within your report? Perhaps you could link to a volunteers section on your website that includes some short videos of volunteers talking about their experience of working with your organisation.

Ambition and long term strategies

How do this year’s activities and successes provide a platform for future plans? What are the challenges that lie ahead and how will you overcome them? What opportunities and milestones are there in the year ahead that you want to make the most of?  This final section should be ambitious and forward-thinking, but realistic.

Statutory information

As a general rule, it’s best to leave the statutory information to the back pages, unless you can find a way of making a virtue of it.  When presenting the information, use graphs and diagrams where possible so they are easy to interpret.

Resources

• Interesting article on ‘dull’ annual reports from the charity sector (Third Sector)
• Charity Commission’s Example Trustees' Annual Reports and Accounts 
• Article about Third Sector’s best annual report award
  

Have your say

Which charity annual reports stand out? What advice would you give to others about to work on an annual report for the first time? Have your say on the communications and the media forum.