Your Annual Report: Choosing a Theme

Yesterday I talked about annual reports. A well done report is a great marketing piece that can be used all year long. Since many of you use the calendar year, your year is coming to an end and it is time to start planning.

The first step is choosing a theme. This is the fun part! It's an opportunity to be creative. As in most creative exercises, I suggest you start with brainstorming. So gather a group. I always suggest that a creative team consists of an interesting mix of people, representing as many constituencies as possible. So gather a staff member, a volunteer, board member, donor, client, guest... whatever makes sense for your nonprofit.

Before you are all sitting in a room together (or on a call together) you should know what it is you want to get from the session. You might start with a list of the highlights of the year. Or you could ask the team members to suggest what they consider the highlights. This list should not be limited to events, try including goals met, turning points, anniversaries... You get the idea. Have fun. Be creative.

Here's some ideas that we have used:

• A housing organization wanted a theme of many people coming together. They felt that the strength of their organization was the work of volunteers, the ongoing participation and interaction with clients, a great staff... Several things had happened that year that demonstrated this unity. From this concept came the image of a quilt - many pieces sewn together to produce something beautiful. The result was an annual report titled "There's no Place like Home," and each block was a house. (I actually hand quilted the cover image, it still hurts my fingers when I look at it.)

• Another example is a job training and placement agency. They were celebrating a significant anniversary. We have done numerous anniversary materials but this group wanted something playful and lighthearted. So we used a birthday concept rather than the more traditional anniversary theme. They carried the theme through for their annual dinner.

• A college was in the midst of a capital campaign and wanted an annual that would support that effort. With a theme of "Impacting the World," we profiled individuals related to the college including a donor, trustee, student, alumna, professor and parent, who were notable for their achievements. This gave the school the clout they were looking for.

• In 2001, with patriotism at a highpoint, a human services organization wanted to focus on the concept of interdependence. Their report became a striking "Declaration of Interdependence."

I hope these examples help to get you started.

Have fun with your Annual Report Themes and head here for more on annual reports.

Or here for an Annual Report Checklist