A thorough Annual Report is much more than just a list of accomplishments or endeavors for the year. A well thought out Annual Report provides information that will help you to dream up fresh ideas for the new financial year. For an NGO this also means inspiring new donors to commit to your organization, being able to motivate current or dormant donors into making a bigger commitment, encouraging beneficiaries and motivating employees. Here are 20 NGO annual reports that provide just that:
#1 DREAM
Formerly known as Harlem RBI, this youth targeted non-profit is descriptive in their annual report, sharing beautiful images, heartwarming student stories and key statistics that support the NGO’s mission and vision. This annual report is definitely focused on story telling more than just a bringing of facts.
#2 ICA Fund Good Jobs
Bringing together color and data, the ICA Fund Good Job’s annual report is both informative and engaging. It also offers unique features such as an interactive table of contents which allows readers to navigate to sections that they are more interested in.
#3 Girls Who Code
Focused on closing the gender gap predominately found in technology, Girls Who Code has built their annual report into its website. Key features include a colorful, eye catching design, a transparency in stats and a concise report that is easy to read.
#4 Charity: Water
A s imple report can be found on the Charity: Water website. This organization is keeping it simple, with a straight forward annual report that does not even have images in the detail. Instead, you’ll find a lot of white space, very little language and a lot of stats.
#5 Places For Bikes
Places for Bikes offers a simplified yet sophisticated annual report that clearly took a lot more effort than what appears on the front-end. It also features a one key impact metric, as the reader scrolls down the page. Readers are able to delve deeper with a single click.
#6 350.ORG
Combining a few elements, the 350.Org annual report is a hodge podge of different design elements. It features fun, funky colors, cool interactive displays and even a sticky table of contents that allows you to scroll down.
#7 DoSomething
Breaking away from the traditional annual report, DoSomething.org rather presents a quarterly dashboard. This interactive tool keeps readers engaged on a more frequent basis and offers pretty much the same amount of information you would find in a regular annual report.
#8 BRAC
BRAC shows us that by using high quality images that depict the work your NGO has accomplished in the field, during the past year, you are able to paint a picture of the type of outreach you are running, hopefully encouraging donors to get on board for the next financial year.
#9 Green Home
Your annual report should hold a certain level of transparency, laying down exactly how financial donations and materials have been used over the past year.
#10 Hands for Hope
An annual report will also list special events and fundraising that has occurred over the last period. If displayed and presented correctly a short report is also able to fully expound the necessary information.
#11 India Cares
A beautifully designed annual report will keep your audience captivated and should still encapsulate the essence of an important business document, without losing the personality of the company.
#12 American Association of Retired Persons
Minimizing the amount of words on each page helps to keep the focus on what is important. The American Association of Retired Persons did just that in their 2016 annual report, with their simplified outlay that made the complex subject matter much more understandable.
#13 Wildlife Conservation Society
Making use of beautiful graphics that best depicts the message you’re trying to convey is also a good idea. The Wildlife Conservation Society makes sure that their background images are relevant to each page, with the intention of evoking emotion and placing emphasis on the NGO’s mission of saving wildlife.
#14 Center for Strategic and International Studies
Separating information into three concise documents works well for the Center for Strategic and International Studies annual report. The organization hosts its report on the website and makes sure that categories are clearly labelled.
#15 Girl Scouts
The Girl Scouts make use of a repetitive pattern and consistency in color, which helps to relay information to its readers. The organizations main colors, green and blue, can be found throughout the report.
#16 Ashoka Scandinavia
Providing the right information is important for any NGO annual report. Ashoka Scandinavia provides the public with information about its regional members, regional and global investors and fellow stipends.
#17 Ronald McDonald House Charities
The Ronald McDonald House uses its annual report to express gratitude and thanks its donors and sponsors in the reports introductory message.
#18 Sierra Club Foundation
Short paragraphs and concise descriptions work well for the Sierra Club Foundation. Readers are able to search for information easily and can extract the needed data quickly.
#19 International Rescue Committee
Providing statistics is strategic since it allows the public to understand the huge issues and demands that non-profits may face, when they are out in the field. This can also help to spur on new donors.
#20 National Public Radio
Playing around with design, color and even quotations is a great way to make the annual report interesting and relatable. This way, the report is digested as a presentation and information overload is avoided.
