Creating a Non-profit Annual Report

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Permalink Reply by Kris Davidson on July 23, 2009 at 10:44am

I know you said there is 0 budget, but $99 is pretty close to free. I think this site is pretty awesome for someone who wants to bypass hiring a designer. The templates can be downloaded in many different programs, including Microsoft Word and Publisher.

www.stocklayouts.com

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Permalink Reply by Kris Davidson on July 23, 2009 at 10:47am

I also noticed that there is a tab for a free trial of a template. You could probably use one for an annual report. Good luck :)

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Permalink Reply by Scott M. Brannon on July 23, 2009 at 11:32am

Thanks for the link. This could be very useful! Thank you.

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Permalink Reply by Erik Deckers on July 23, 2009 at 9:26pm

Write it in Word, lay it out in Adobe InDesign. A typical 2 or 3 column layout with some photos are a good way to start. There's no official layout, just something that looks professional and not silly.

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Permalink Reply by Maggie Stevens on July 23, 2009 at 10:22pm

Depending on your timeline, you may want to contact a local university and see if a student would design it/lay it out as part of an internship or class project.

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Permalink Reply by Robby Slaughter on July 25, 2009 at 4:22pm

Maggie is correct. Something you can do for the student is come up with an "agreed value" for the services, which defines what you would have paid if there was a budget. That way, you and the student can both agree of the value of the project and the process for changes. It's also something they can reference in future conversations.

Best of luck!

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Permalink Reply by Danielle Smith on July 26, 2009 at 12:27am

1) You can do some pretty practical layouts in Word that would work well on the web. I have quite a bit of nonprofit experience and if your nonprofit truly has 'no budget' your donors will appreciate you being fiscally responsible. Print a limited number for your board and top donors, and place them neatly in a presentation folder.

2) Keep in mind, if you are able to find a freelance or student designer to work with you to create something that would be presentable yet affordable, there are many benefits to not skipping on this expense. The designer can create a file in a true design program which will make it more professional which, in turn, will make your organization look more professional. Save as a PDF which you can upload to your website. You can also e-mail this if the document isn't too large (best option, e-mail the link to your website). And finally, if designed so that it prints clean on standard paper, you can always print a few for yourself as you need them at a local office store.

Consider the benefits of having a professionally designed annual report, whether you print it out or not: This document can be a very useful tool to use in your future fundraising; It shows and tells your story, and it gives your organization the opportunity to paint a picture of where you have been and where you are going. As a fomer designer, I truly wish MS Publisher would disappear. People use it with good intentions, but with limited templates, cheesy clipart and the fact that printing companies will not print from Publisher, make it a very bad choice.

Your decision should be made by analyzing all of your options and deciding if you can afford not to put some recources into this project. Many smaller nonprofits use this document in lieu of a corporate brochure until they can afford both. Be creative in seeking volunteers and donations to help you afford this project. A lot of times, you can get a donor or several donors to 'sponsor' a document like this if you are willing to thank them in the report. This also works for newsletters, too.

You might also check out nextdayflyers.com for really inexpensive postcards, flyers, tri-folds, etc. I just found it myself for my freelance work in art and you can't beat the prices. Just don't choose the next day option, it can almost double your cost.

Sorry if this is too random or has too many typos. The text box is doing lots of wacky things tonight.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Freeman on July 27, 2009 at 11:39pm

Hi scott!

Everyone had some great solutions to help you with the Annual Report your trying to create.

I agree with Erik, write your copy in Word, but definitely do your design layout in InDesign and don't forget to check your photos in Photoshop for color correction. Please don't do the layout in Publisher or Word, printer's don't take either of these programs when they go to print, they will have to re-create your design in a layout program such as InDesign or Quark, and that will cost you a pretty penny.

Something very simple like a two-color design layout, will work well visually and is cost-effective as well, if you get it printed. A pdf file to put on the website will work very well also.

If your looking for help in the layout area, I'd like to extend my services to you, at not cost. I currently work for a non-profit and know exactly what it's like to work with little or no budget for projects.

Take care and good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Scott M. Brannon on July 30, 2009 at 12:35pm

Thanks to everyone for their advice! All very helpful & a few things I didn't know about. This year since we need it ASAP for accreditations, we're doing a simple word doc for publishing on our website. Hopefully by next year I can find some money to purchase Indesign (I've already got that on my radar :).

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Permalink Reply by Teri Capron on August 7, 2009 at 7:01am

For when you do get Indesign....here is a great article from Inside Indiana Business written by Scott Flood you might want to look at prior to doing it yourself...it has some practical tips at the end for if you have to do it yourself.

http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/contributors.asp?id=1511

And yes, I'm a graphic designer but the advice he gives on layout are actually very valid ones. Best of luck!

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