Phileo Design

Our booth at the conference

On February 17th I had the privilege to exhibit and attend Iowa’s Not-for Profit Alliance 1st Annual Conference.  I met many new people involved in Iowa’s non-profit community and visited old friends as well.  Coming into this conference I felt the main message would be about our economy and the struggles non-profits are currently having with funding.  As I spoke to executive directors and bright eyed philanthropists I quickly realized that it’s not so much the funding that is the greatest difficulty but the need for more services during this downturn in the economy.  There are more unemployed people that need health care, housing and social services for themselves and their families.  The need for these services is greater during this time than any other.  This means that non-profits are working harder than they have with the resources that they have.  During many of the roundtable discussions it became quite evident that non-profit organizations are having to collaborate with other non-profits to fill the needs.  Joining with other similar organizations to not only stay afloat but to share in each others resources.

It was during the morning discussion that Sandy Boyd, Chair, Larned A. Waterman Iowa Nonprofit Center shared

“Hard Times Require Best Practices!”

It’s during these difficult times that non-profits must be “committed to doing good, well” because of the public trust.

At the end, I felt that collaboration, a heart to give, and best practices is what is needed during this time.

Michael Audino, Charitable Giving Resource Center gave a great quote during the lunch and keynote address

“The place where God calls you is the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep hunger.”  –Fredrick Buechner, Wishful Thinking

Please consider attending next year’s conference.  You’ll meet great people with a heart to serve!

Please keep an eye out on Phileo Design as I embark on a journey to becoming a 501c3 non-profit organization.

There’s no question that during this economic downturn non-profit organizations are experiencing financial cutbacks.  From declining government funding, corporate sponsorship and individual donations we are each having to strategize and utilize other media in order to keep our vision and mission in front of potential donors.

The Annual Report can be an important medium to demonstrate your accomplishments to current and future donors.  It can be the driving force that shows what your organization has accomplished throughout the year with the help of your current donors.  It can also help you in creating new partnerships within your own community and recognize important people that have made an impact on your organization.

Here are some tips by Kivi Leroux Miller

Focus on accomplishments, not activities.

We want to know what you did, but more importantly, we want to know why you did it. What were the results? Why did you spend your time and money the way you did? What difference did it make? Connect the everyday activities of your organization to your mission statement. Don’t assume that readers will automatically understand how your activities help you achieve your mission. Connect the dots for them.

Jettison the administrative minutiae.

Getting a high-speed connection in the office and new accounting software may be big accomplishments from where you sit at your desk, but they have nothing to do with your mission. Inspire donors with accomplishments related to your mission in your annual report and leave all the administrative items for your board report.

Don’t over-emphasize fundraising accomplishments.

Donors expect you to raise money, but fundraising accomplishments should not be celebrated in your annual report on the same level as your mission-related accomplishments. Readers are more interested in what you did with the money than how you raised it. While it is appropriate to include information on how well your fundraising efforts are going, it’s best to place this information in the financial section of your report, rather than front and center.

Include photos.

Yes, photos really are worth a thousand words. Many of the people reading your annual report won’t actually read it. Show them what you’ve been doing with photos. If you don’t have a digital camera, get one now. It’s also fine to use stock photography to illustrate your work. Type “royalty free stock photos” in your favorite search engine and you’ll find numerous sites.

Write captions that tell your story.

Now that you’ve got them looking at the photos, tell a story with your captions. Don’t just state what’s in the photo. Connect the photo to an accomplishment. If people read nothing but the captions in your annual report, they should still get a sense for the good work you did last year.

Include personal profiles.

Donors will be more impressed with real stories about real people than general summaries of your work. Explain what you have accomplished overall, then humanize your statistics with some personal profiles. Highlight how your work helped a specific individual. Share a volunteer’s story of how they made a positive difference.

Explain your financials.

Many of your donors won’t know how to read a financial statement or won’t take the time to read it. Include a paragraph or two that explains in plain English what the tables say. Where does your money come from and how do you spend it? What are your main fundraising strategies? Did you implement any cost-savings measures this year?

If you need space, trim the donor lists.

Nonprofits need to strike a balance between using the space in their annual reports to discuss their accomplishments and using it to recognize donors. If as much as half of your annual report is donor lists, you should consider scaling the lists back to make more room for text and photos. Smaller donors can be recognized in other ways, such as lists in newsletters.

Triple-check your donor lists.

There’s no better way to sabotage a future donation than to spell the donor’s name wrong in your annual report. If you are uncertain about a name, don’t guess. Check it with the donor. Also carefully check the names of government agencies and foundations that gave you grants. The names people call these organizations in conversation are often short-hand for the full legal names that belong in your annual report.

Tell donors how they can help.

Never leave a potential supporter hanging, wondering how they can help you. Once you’ve inspired them with the good works in your annual report, close by telling them how they can help you do more. How can they support you with their money or time? Do you offer planned giving options, for example? Will you accept gifts of stock? Can they use a credit card? Be clear about the best ways to help.

You can find more tips and training and sign up for Kivi’s free monthly e-newsletter, Nonprofit Annual Reports Insider, at NonprofitAnnualReports.net

You can find samples of annual reports created by Phileo Design by clicking here.  If you’d like to consider an annual report this year, contact Diana Bauman at diana@phileodesign.com.