Looking to create an engaging nonprofit annual report but want some alternative report builders? In this blog post, we’ll walk you through the top 8 Canva alternatives for designing a nonprofit annual report.
In this blog, we’ll be exploring the features and prices of the following software solutions:
- Yearly
- Vista Create
- Visme
- Pixlr
- Stencil
- Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark)
- Snappa
- Picmaker
But first, let’s tackle some basic questions.
What is an annual report builder? 🤷
An annual report builder is a software used to help nonprofits create engaging annual reports and impact reports. By using templates and drag-and-drop editors, annual report builders are a great way for nonprofits to save time and money on their next project.
A nonprofit annual report builder provides a user-friendly interface and a range of features to streamline the process of report creation, design, and publication. With a nonprofit annual report builder, organizations can leverage templates, customization options, and content editing tools to produce professional-looking reports that effectively communicate their achievements, impact, and financial information.
What is the goal of creating a nonprofit annual report? 🥇
An effective annual report is a crucial tool for any nonprofit. Mostly, nonprofit annual reports help organizations create:
Transparency and accountability
An annual report provides a platform to showcase your nonprofit’s activities, achievements, and financial information to stakeholders, including donors, volunteers, board members, and the general public. It demonstrates your commitment to transparency, fostering trust and accountability within your organization.
💵 Donor engagement
A well-crafted annual report can help instill confidence in your donors by showing them the impact their contributions have made. It highlights the outcomes and success stories of your programs, enabling donors to see the tangible results of their support. This can lead to increased donor engagement and potentially attract new supporters.
💬 Strategic communication
An annual report is a strategic communication tool allowing you to share your organization’s mission, vision, and goals with a wider audience. It presents an opportunity to articulate your nonprofit’s values, strategies, and future plans, helping to align stakeholders and foster a shared sense of purpose.
👍 Board engagement and governance
Annual reports provide a comprehensive overview of your nonprofit’s operations, financial performance, and governance structure. They offer board members a clear understanding of the organization’s activities, challenges, and achievements, facilitating informed decision-making and strategic planning.
👋 Public relations and marketing
Sharing your annual report publicly can enhance your nonprofit’s visibility and reputation. It allows you to promote your organization’s brand, values, and impact in the community. A well-designed report with compelling stories and visuals can attract media attention and generate positive publicity.
📝 Internal reflection and improvement
The process of creating an annual report encourages reflection and evaluation of your nonprofit’s activities, outcomes, and challenges. It provides an opportunity to identify areas of improvement, refine strategies, and set new goals for the future.
Overall, a professional nonprofit annual report serves as a powerful tool for communication, accountability, and engagement, contributing to your organization’s growth, sustainability, and positive impact on the community.
What to look for in a Canva alternative or report builder 👀
When choosing a digital nonprofit annual report builder, consider the following features and aspects:
🎨 Customization options
Look for a platform that allows you to customize the design and layout of your annual report to align with your nonprofit’s branding and style. It should offer flexibility in choosing colors, fonts, and templates to create a professional and visually appealing report.
🖥 User-friendly interface
The platform should have an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making navigating and using the builder tool easy without requiring extensive technical skills or coding knowledge. Drag-and-drop functionality and pre-designed templates can simplify the report creation process.
✏️ Content creation and editing
Ensure that the builder provides tools for creating, editing, and organizing content in your report. Look for features such as text editing, image and video embedding, charts and graphs, and the ability to add interactive elements to enhance engagement.
📈 Data integration and visualization
If your nonprofit collects data on its programs and impact, consider whether the builder allows you to integrate and visualize that data within your annual report. This could include the ability to generate charts, graphs, and infographics to present your nonprofit’s achievements and outcomes effectively.
✉️ Multi-channel accessibility
Check if the platform provides options for publishing your annual report across different channels, such as websites, social media platforms, and email newsletters. This ensures wider accessibility and reach for your report, allowing stakeholders to access it easily.
📱Mobile-friendly and responsive design
With the increasing use of mobile devices, ensure that the builder supports mobile-friendly and responsive design. This ensures that your annual report is easily accessible and readable on different screen sizes and devices.
🧡 Support and Training
Evaluate the level of customer support and training provided by the builder platform. It should offer resources, tutorials, and responsive customer service to assist you in creating and troubleshooting your annual report.
Best Canva Alternatives for Annual Report Builders
1. Yearly
⭐ Overview: Yearly is designed for nonprofit professionals. Founded by the importance of impact through online storytelling, Yearly helps nonprofits thrive. With the use of their digital storytelling tools, and easy-to-use tools and templates, Yearly is a one-stop shop for creating more impact than ever before.
👥 Who it’s for: Yearly is uniquely designed for nonprofits and associations, unlike other digital report software. Determined to help nonprofit organizations make more impact, Yearly is one of the most trusted digital report software builders. In fact, their digital tools have helped globally recognized nonprofits like WWF, Food & Friends, and more. These reports have helped build connections with stakeholders and increase donations. Plus, they help with volunteer and donor retention, too!
In general, Yearly is best for:
- Schools and higher education organizations
- Healthcare institutions
- Local, national, and global nonprofits
- Churches and religious organizations
- Any kind of nonprofit organization looking to impress stakeholders through reporting
🏆 Why it’s a great alternative: Yearly’s built-in tools are perfect for small or large nonprofits, no matter their missions or goals. Plus, the software is built for every kind of nonprofit digital report need. Think annual reports, impact reports, and even board reports. Plus, unlike Canva, users can upload .csv files and talk one-on-one with nonprofit experts. Users love the tailored help and helpful demos.
🎉 Standout features:
- Annual report templates
- Impact report templates
- Endowment report templates
- Video, infographic, and social media embedded
- Seamless publishing online or via pdf
- Top-tier customer support
- Extensive library of stock images
- Easy-to-use team collaboration features
- User-friendly editing features
- Intuitive user interface
- Limitless customization options
- Unique URL for website embedding
- Nonprofit crash courses
💰 Pricing
Free trial. Yearly’s free trial is perfect for nonprofits that want to test drive their features. Make your first impact, annual report, or even event recap report for free! Embed video and social media, access a royalty-free stock library, and take advantage of email and chat support!
Yearly Pro. Yearly Pro, which includes everything in the free trial — plus more support, unlimited reporting, and more— is great for organizations that need consistent digital reporting like annual reports, impact reports, and more.
Cost: $290/monthly
Yearly Premium. Designed for scaling nonprofits, the Yearly Premium plan is the all-in-one package. Because these nonprofits know the importance of showcasing impact, Premium does the trick. With all the features of the last two tiers, Premium also includes pdf-print options.
Cost: $380/month
Yearly Platinum. Great for nonprofits that are already making some huge impact, Yearly Platinum offers everything you need to impress stakeholders — everything from the previous tiers is included, plus more access and features.
Cost: $570/month
Yearly Precision: Custom quote required
Yearly is the best option for any nonprofit, no matter its size or mission. Unlike competitors, Yearly prides itself on nonprofit-first solutions. Software like Canva is designed for everyone—from individuals to businesses. Yearly, though, is one of the only solutions focused on helping charities succeed.
What users have to say about the switch👇
“Canva’s templates can be overwhelming and ultimately, we liked Yearly’s sharing option with having an easy access link to our annual report better than a PDF from Canva.” — Michaela M. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🚀 Ready to start building your annual report for free? Start with Yearly’s free trial →
2. Vista Create
⭐ Overview: Vista Create is best suited for organizations looking for social media graphic creation. From designing Facebook banners to blogs, Vista is best for social media marketing, Vista helps organizations and businesses tell their brand story through social media.
🎉 Standout features:
- Photo editing capabilities
- Custom photo grid templates
💰 Pricing
Free: Vista’s free plan option is great for users needing to create lots of social media graphics. Plus, the free version offers 10GB storage, free fonts, and more.
Pro: For organizations running low on social media content, Pro is ideal. With unlimited storage, team account capability, and more, this is well worth the cost.
Price: $10/month
🔥 Our take: Vista Create is user-friendly and affordable. But, it does not include nonprofit-first customer support and insight, or the ability to make reports, and embed videos, infographics, and more. Given that, this software is best suited for for-profit organizations that need a few ad-hoc marketing assets.
3. Visme
⭐ Overview: Visme is a graphic design tool with drag-and-drop editing capabilities and some great advanced features. From making social media posts to presentations, Visme is great for any organization looking to make visual content. And, unlike Canva, Visme has an analytics tracking feature and photo editing tools. But, Visme doesn’t have a video resource library for nonprofits to build skills and learn. So, this solution is better suited for one-off projects.
🎉 Standout features:
- Collaboration tools
- Templates
💰 Pricing
Free: 100MB storage and limited design assets.
Starter: Great for smaller projects, the Starter package offers 25MB storage and PDF download capabilities.
Price: $12.25/month
Pro: Geared for bigger organizations, this tool is perfect for instant collaboration.
Price: $24.75/month
🔥 Our take: Without nonprofit-specific guidance, and one-on-one training, Visme is designed for nonprofits that know exactly what they need to include in their report. But, for new nonprofits, or nonprofits that want to use annual report templates, or generate personalized reports, Visme isn’t the best fit.
🚀 Looking to create a personalized report for a donor? Check out Yearly Precision →
4. Pixlr
⭐ Overview: Pixler is a quick and easy way to edit photos and create graphics like flyers and business cards. Unlike Canava, Pixlr has tons of free stock photography, as well as an AI cut-out tool. But, Pixlr isn’t well-suited for nonprofits looking to create comprehensive reports. Pixlr doesn’t allow for social media integration or URL customization, nor does it have pre-made templates for annual and impact reports.
🎉 Standout features:
- Photo editing tools
- Free stickers and overlays
💰 Pricing
Free: Access to all Pixlr’s most basic features.
Premium: In this ad-free tier, users can enjoy templates, editing tools, and more.
Price: $4.90/month
Team: Customized for teams of 5 or more for consistent branding.
Pricing: $9.91/month
🔥 Our take: When creating any kind of nonprofit report, it’s helpful to have a template to reference and use as a guide in order to save time and effort. Without these, Pixlr might be better suited for ad-hoc marketing assets rather than a comprehensive report.
5. Stencil
⭐ Overview: Designed for marketers, bloggers, and other professionals in need of an easy-to-use graphic design tool, Stencil is a great option for creating social media graphics and assets. Used by major organizations like CNN and WeWork, Stencil offers a library of stock photos, a range of templates, and more.
🎉 Standout features:
- Library of web fonts
- Social media sharing capabilities
- Logo storage
💰 Pricing
Free plan: Stencil’s free plan allows users to use their platform for some basic graphic design and editing functions: create up to 10 collections, upload up to 50 images, and get access to limited photos and icons.
Pro: The Pro plan offers users the ability to create templates, premium support, and create even more collections and designs.
Price: $9/month
Unlimited: Users can access everything they love about the Pro plan, plus more: unlimited collections, photos, and images per month.
Price: $12/month
🔥 Our take: While Stencil is a great, budget-friendly option for organizations looking to create social media graphics, it’s not designed to help chairs create comprehensive reports. For nonprofits that need impact report templates, annual report templates, and nonprofit-first support, Yearly is a better option.
6. Adobe Express
⭐ Overview: Adobe Express, a product of Adobe, allows users to create a wide range of marketing materials: social media images and graphics, web stories, and even animated videos, all with advanced editing tools.
🎉 Standout features:
- Create presentations
- Add Youtube thumbnails
- Animations
- Sync to social media accounts
💰 Pricing
Free plan: Adobe Express’ free plan includes limited access and features, including access to collections of Adobe stock photos and basic editing tools.
Premium: Users can enjoy everything in the free plan with the Premium plan, including Ooer 20,000 licensed Adobe Fonts, and access to professional templates.
$9.99/month
🔥 Our take: Adobe Express is an ideal tool for organizations that need a graphic design application for a wide variety of graphic design needs. However, for users that are not already enrolled in Adobe’s suite of tools, Adobe Express can be clunky and not as user-friendly as other alternatives.
7. Snappa
⭐ Overview: Built for business owners, marketing experts, and even professional designers—regardless of graphic design experience— Snappa is a trusted graphic editor and design tool with various features and an intuitive interface.
🎉 Standout features:
- Background removal tools
- Schedule and share graphics on several social media platforms
- Pre-designed templates
💰 Pricing
Starter: The free starter package allows up to one user, three downloads per month, and access to a large selection of templates.
Pro: Pro offers social media integrations, font uploads, and even more access to premium templates.
$10/month
Team: The Team plan offers four more plan users, unlimited downloads, and custom font uploads.
$20/month
🔥 Our take: Snappa is a great option for organizations needing social media templates but not for organizations that need a report builder. Without annual report templates, or tools designed specifically with nonprofits in mind, Snappa falls short of helping to impress donors.
8. Picmaker
⭐ Overview: Picmaker is a Social Media suite designed for small businesses that offer an all-in-one social media management platform — from creating graphics to publishing them.
🎉 Standout features:
- Ad creator
- Background remover
- Brochure maker
- Social analytics
💰 Pricing
Starter: The starter package offers chat support, basic social analyses, and premium design features.
$18/month
Pro: With Pro, users can get access to multi-post scheduling support, hashtag suggestions, and brand kit support.
$38/month
Teams: with personalized app training and demos, a Dedicated account manager, and even more premium features, a team plan is a robust option for growing organizations.
Cstom pricing
🔥 Our take: Picmaker advertises presentation and brochure creation for users. However, the platform’s main focus is on social media graphics, publishing, and scheduling. For organizations that want to impress donors, imbed infographics, and embed donate buttons into a report, Picmaker might not be the best Canva alternative.
The best Canva alternative for designing an annual report 🚀
Yearly is the best Canva alternative for nonprofits looking for a digital report builder. With annual report templates, impact report templates, and much more, Yearly is trusted by hundreds of nonprofits to impress donors, and make more impact than ever before. Built to scale with you, Yearly is the best software solution for turning readers into donors.
🚀 Ready to start building your annual report for free? Start with Yearly’s free trial →
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 the web to amplify the reach of campaigns and provide demonstrated value for nonprofit stakeholders. Josh received his B.A. from American University in Communications and his M.B.A. from American University in Marketing Management and Entrepreneurship.