As a nonprofit organization, it’s crucial to showcase your achievements and impact to your stakeholders through an annual report. However, creating a visually appealing and informative report can be a daunting task. That’s we’ve compiled a list of the best nonprofit annual report templates for 2023 to make the process easier for you. These templates are not only easy to use, but they also provide a professional and polished look to your report.
So, let’s dive in and explore the best options for your organization’s annual report!
Nonprofit annual reports are all different, depending on the mission, values, and audience of any given organization. For most nonprofits, though, writing an annual report follows a few key steps:
In order to make the best annual report possible for your nonprofit, it’s essential to enlist the right stakeholders and gather the right information. Whether you’re looking to enlist the help of a volunteer, or board member, be sure you have the right people involved.
In terms of gathering the right annual report materials, gather financial statements, program and initiative updates, photos, video testimonials, and more. Plus, consider what upcoming events you’d like to advertise in the report, too.
Plenty of nonprofits hire graphic designers or freelancers to create their annual reports through complicated design software. While this is certainly a great option for some organizations, nonprofits with limited staff and budgets need a tool that can help them build their annual report themselves, year after year.
Annual report builders that are designed with nonprofit needs in mind are a great way to save time, energy, and money in the long run. Because graphic designers and freelancers can be expensive and often unpredictable, an annual report builder is often a cheaper, more sustainable solution. Plus, with drag-and-drop editing, annual report templates (more on this later), and multiple collaborator editing capability anyone from your nonprofit can build and publish an award-winning report.
Annual report templates can make or break the success of your report. When choosing a template, consider your audience, and what message you’re trying to convey (more on this later!).
Once you’ve selected the appropriate annual report builder for your organization, it’s time to get designing.
When designing your annual report, consider specific trends from the past year, and how your organization might address some essential questions. Design your annual report around one cohesive annual report theme by using section headings, stock photography, and more. Embed infographics and clickable donate links, too, in order to make your annual report a stellar marketing tool.
One of the best parts of creating a web-based annual report is the ability to share it anywhere and everywhere. Unlike traditional paper reports—which can only be sent out via snail mail or handed out at events—web-based annual reports can be published or shared:
No two annual reports are the same. But, in order to get a good feel for what great annual reports look like—ones that engage supporters and bring in donations—it’s helpful to get inspired by some of the best annual report examples of 2023.
In tandem with looking at some annual report examples for inspiration, let’s take a look at some of the most important elements—no matter the annual report format:
Regardless of the mission of the nonprofit organization, great annual reports are designed to tell a visual story using all the information you’ve gathered from the previous year. It should be easy to read, scannable, and user-friendly in order for supporters to remain engaged and interested.
While there are many differences between printed annual reports and digital annual reports, what they look like visually plays a huge role in assessing which is right for your organization.
Here’s why digital annual reports are better:
While there is no one size fits all for annual report creation, typically, they should be as short as possible. A lengthy report will only bore readers. When creating your report, consider what sections and information are essential to include, and which can be left out.
As we discovered, one of the best reasons to use an annual report builder is the ability to use annual report templates. But what really are the benefits of using them?
If you’ve designed an annual report before you probably know how time-consuming it can be. Even with the help of other staff members or stakeholders, condensing a year’s worth of accomplishments, gratitude, and updates, is a huge undertaking. With an annual report template, nonprofits can immediately start designing their annual report, without having to learn any design or coding skills.
Hiring a graphic designer can be expensive. Plus, you’ll have to hire them for an array of design projects: impact reports, board reports, and more. Using an annual report template allows nonprofits to customize a framework that’s built for any reporting needs.
A successful annual report builds a connection with supporters. With an annual report template, you can focus on what really matters in the annual report design process: impressing supporters with how far you’ve come, and how they’ve helped you.
Organic Times is a beloved annual report template, for a few reasons:
The Modern Deck annual report template is another popular annual report template—great for (you guessed it) the modern charity, for a few key reasons:
No matter what your organization’s annual report needs are, a template is one of the most efficient, and cost-effective ways to impress and engage readers. Whether you use a modern look or a minimalist feel, an annual report template is an easily customizable tool to help your team design your annual report with ease.
Josh Kligman is the CEO of Yearly, a platform for nonprofits to create their own digital reports. Josh has been working with nonprofits on annual reports, brands and partnerships since 2011. He is helping nonprofits create more engaging, digital annual and impact reports with Yearly. Throughout his career, Josh has helped launch and run nonprofit brand campaigns and media partnerships nationally and locally, using television, radio and web, to amplify the reach of campaigns and provide demonstrated value for non-profit stakeholders. Josh received his B.A. from American University in Communications and his M.B.A. from American University in Marketing Management and Entrepreneurship.