Why and How to Showcase Accomplishments in Your Nonprofit Annual Report

What’s one of the best and most important parts of writing an annual report for your nonprofit? The opportunity to showcase your organization’s accomplishments from the year.

Why is showcasing accomplishments in your annual report important?

Demonstrating your team’s accomplishments over the last year is essential. 

Showcasing big and small wins can:

• Increases donor retention
• Encourages donations right from your report
• Establish authority
• Foster transparency
• Help attract and keep new stakeholders
• Help your organization demonstrate value

In essence, showing your stakeholders exactly what kind of progress your organization has made, and how their contributions have helped make that progress happen, builds a stronger connection with your community (volunteers, donors, partners, etc.). It demonstrates to your constituents that your organization is accomplishing the work it set out to do.

Think of this section in your annual report as a case study. Like a for-profit case study, this section should give readers details about how you reached your goals. And, it should show what successful outcomes you achieved.

Now that we’ve covered why showcasing accomplishments is important, let’s understand what kinds of accomplishments you should include.

What kind of accomplishments should you showcase in an annual report?

Again, each organization is different. Thus, the accomplishments they list will be different from one another. But, most charities focus on two different kinds of success measurements. Namely, qualitative data and quantitative data.

Qualitative data, or descriptive findings, are not number based. Instead, these data points are often categorical in nature. They describe people’s feelings about a specific topic. Or, attributes or characteristics about a particular subject. In the nonprofit world, qualitative data is usually collected through surveys and interviews with stakeholders. Those surveys become impact stories and infographics.

Quantitative data focuses on numeric values. These statistics and numbers showcase a variety of results. They can show how much money your organization receives in grant funding, or how much money is being spent on specific initiatives. Or, how many houses have been built, or water jugs were given out to a specific community.

Most successful nonprofit annual reports include both kinds of data. Each highlights a different facet of your organization and provides readers with a holistic view of your charity.

Now that we’ve covered what kind of data you should include, let’s dig into how to showcase it in your annual report.

How to showcase accomplishments in your annual report

By now, you have a firm understanding of the content behind your accomplishments. That means we’re ready to dive into  showcasing them in your annual report. Though there are lots of ways to showcase your accomplishments, let’s dive into some great examples. 

By using digital annual report software, nonprofits can showcase their success with:

Infographics

Charts

Photos and videos

Social media integration

Because showcasing your accomplishments in your annual report is key to donor retention and fundraising efforts, make sure to include a custom donate link in this section as well.