Welcome to another round of Mixed Links! We’ve got some great social media and communications posts today.

This post by Kari Saratovsky not only sheds some light on the recent rise in Pinterest, but also shares some great infographics on Millennials. Check out The Millennial Story, Told By Infographic(s).

Think Facebook was confusing before? Beth Kanter shares What Do Facebook’s New Timeline Apps Mean for Nonprofits? Make sure you are fully awake (having a big mug of coffee, not a mixed drink!) when you get into this one. It’s powerful stuff, but not necessarily easy to understand.

When I released my 2012 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report, I found that creating and sharing videos gained more in importance for nonprofits from 2011 to 2012 than other social media channels. Nonprofits are definitely beginning to see the benefits of being able to tell their story visually (more on that in my e-newsletter next week). If you are looking to jump on board, YouTube has just released even more features and tutorials in their YouTube Nonprofits Program.

For more ideas on using videos, Lori Jacobwith gives us an Awesome Example of Using Technology to Keep Supporters Engaged.

The folks at Throwing Light ask the question, Email Tsunami: How Much Is Too Much? Leah has some great ideas on how to find what’s right for you and your organization. I know this is a big question for many of you, so if you are curious what other nonprofits are doing, see what our Trends Report showed.

And for email’s staying power, Allyson Kapin proclaims Email: Still Not Dead! I love the point she makes about Mark Zuckerberg proclaiming that email will die, while requiring that people have an email address to sign up for Facebook. Be sure to check out the great infographic she uses to make her point.

Katya Andresen shares some new and interesting statistics in Why You Need Someone Else to Be Your Messenger. She explains why only letting your executive director or CEO speak for your organization may not be the best idea. People’s trust in these positions has gone down recently as folks rely more on recommendations by “regular” people.

Last but not least, Jeff Brooks writes How to Handle “Great Fundraising Ideas” From Your Board. And by “great fundraising ideas” he means “horrible fundraising ideas.”

I’m off to hang out with 35 Girl Scouts for a Camp-In (so I’ll be saving my Happy Hour for later in the weekend). Anyone want to guess how much sleep the adult chaperones will get tonight?

See you next week!

Love the daily blogging? Great! If not so much, switch to Kivi’s weekly email newsletter with blog highlights and then unsubscribe from the blog’s emails.

The new Money for Good II Study by Hope Consulting and GuideStar has a few interesting findings about the kind of information that donors want to hear from nonprofits.

While you are probably used to lots of scrutiny from your foundation grantmakers, only a third of individual donors research organizations before giving. People who advise donors on giving, and those foundation funders, research almost every donation they make.

When organizational funders and individuals do look for information about your nonprofit before giving, here’s what they want to see:

• Your financial information (how you get your money and how you spend it)
• Your impact (what difference are you making)
• Your legitimacy (your status, reputation and credibility)
• Your mission (what you are trying to accomplish)

Your annual report is one communications piece to help you meet the information needs of your donors — current and potential. I’ll discuss this New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Report during our webinar on Wednesday.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

I have yet another fabulous example of an annual report postcard to share with you. I’m so excited that people are giving this a try!

This one comes from Claudia Herrold, vice president of communications and public policy at the Ohio Grantmakers Forum.

Here is what Claudia says about the process of creating the postcard:

“After I had read your idea about a postcard annual report, I worked with our inhouse graphic designer to figure out what we could do and say on a postcard. Since we are a statewide organization that provides learning and networking opportunities for foundations, we don’t have grantee stories, like other nonprofits do, although we do capture testimonials from individuals at member organizations. So, it took some considerable head scratching to figure out our message.

We knew that we wanted to get people to go to the website, where we posted annual report content and photos, but also wanted people to get a few key stats about how we helped them get better at their craft of grantmaking last year.

We spent about $150 to print 2000 postcards, with another $90 for mailhouse costs. We hadn’t printed and mailed an annual report for two years, and we quit mailing our quarterly newsletter this year, so we felt this small expense to get something into everyone’s hands was worth it.”

Thanks for sharing, Claudia!

Remember, you can add examples you find or create yourself of  “new and improved” annual reports like postcards to our free Nonprofit Annual Reports Wiki.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

Last week, I received this note from Nicole Daspit Sarkar, the director of development and outreach for AGE (Austin Groups for the Elderly), about what happened when they decided to reduce their long annual report to a postcard, and she agreed to let me share it with you. I love how these examples are flowing in . . . send me yours so I can highlight it too!

Here’s Nicole . . .

“We were inspired by your blog about rethinking annual reports. We don’t mail a lot to our constituents because of money and staff time. And although we email once a month, I know there are many people on our mailing list not on our email list.

So we decided to follow your recommendation.

We have traditionally done an annual report that was several pages long, full color, and only distributed to probably less than 200 people per year. We loved the suggestion and examples of the postcard because we could get it in the hands of several thousand people at about the same cost.

We finally got to working on it and it just went in the mail late last week.

In the last two days we have had several calls and emails from people telling us how much they like it (including funders). What is amazing about that is we are in the midst of fires surrounding Austin. So for people to take time out right now during a week with so much going on, really shows the power of the postcard.

We designed it in-house and mailed bulk, so our costs were minimal. I know this will have a positive long-term effect on our contact with our supporters. Probably the best marketing decision we made this year!”

Nicole also sent me the longer 2009 Annual Report for comparison.

Thanks for sharing your story, Nicole!

Remember, you can add examples you find or create yourself of “new and improved” annual reports to our free Nonprofit Annual Reports Wiki!

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

You know I am a fan of the “new and improved” nonprofit annual report — which I define as anything that is shorter, clearer, and easier for donors to understand than traditional annual reports. I especially like two- and four-pagers and videos. I’m collecting samples of “new and improved” nonprofit annual reports on this wiki, and encourage you to add examples too!

Franciscan Mission Service (FMS) recently published a two-page annual report. As you can see, it’s a self-mailer.  I spoke with FMS executive director Kim Smolik about the decision-making process involved in producing something this short.

Kivi: What did previous FMS annual reports look like?

Kim: Last year’s was a 6-page spread. It was a lovely promotional tool. But I wanted to go even shorter this year. Prior to that, we had never done a professionally published annual report. We would just type up highlights and stats in a Word document and share it with a limited group. It wasn’t posted online.

What was hard about doing just two pages?

You really have to choose what you want to highlight. What was the greatest accomplishment of the year, and then how can we communicate that?

Because of the space constraints, we dropped the letter from the executive director or president, so it was harder to communicate in a personal voice.

I think it’s still really important to have the call to action, thank you, accomplishments and financials in there, so you just have to be selective.

How did you decide on the format and layout?

We had to find a format to add some punch to the accomplishments. Just listing out 8 bullets would be boring. We needed a theme for them, and for the graphics, to pull it together.

How did you decide on the Bible verse that you used as the theme?

We brainstormed on our biggest accomplishments, and then thought, “What’s the theme here?” We thought it was really about growing the organization, and connecting, and strong partnerships. So we Googled Bible verses that have those themes. We were really happy when we found the one we ended up using, because the accomplishments broke down into those five sections nicely.

In addition to the letter, what did you have to leave out?

We did have to cut back on the financials. You have to be very selective and focus on the main things that you want to highlight. We originally had more text around the pie charts but it was too crowded. It just wouldn’t fit, so we cut that back even further. But the pie charts communicate what we want to say well enough.

What about the list of donors? That’s a big concern for many nonprofits when considering a shorter format.

We’ve never done the big donor lists, so that wasn’t a problem. We have a lot of small-dollar donors, and what if someone’s name is spelled wrong? It just seems like a potential disaster.

What changes would you consider for next year?

In the future, I would choose to use the outside page for more quotes or testimonials, to bring in the voice and personal touch more.

What other advice do you have for others considering a two-page format?

My best advice is to brainstorm what you are proud about, what you did really well, and then try to find a theme to pull it together.

You’ll find the FMS Annual Report and more examples on the Nonprofit Annual Reports Wiki we are curating. We’ll also present our “New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Reports” webinar again in December. If you’d like to view a recording of that webinar, you can do so right now by purchasing an All-Access Pass.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

Last week, I encouraged you to think about two very short formats for nonprofit annual reports: a six-word annual report and a postcard annual report. (You have until Thursday morning, 6/23/11, to comment on those posts to be entered into the book drawings.)

The postcard annual report is a legitimate format — I have two real examples I’ll show during Thursday’s webinar on the New and Improved Annual Report.

But I don’t really expect anyone to come up with a six-word annual report and say, “Great, we are done!”  It is, however, an excellent exercise to get you to focus on what’s really most important and meaningful for your supporters. Several people did a really great job with it:

Told Sacramento: Housing Matters! Sacramento listened. (East Bay Housing Opportunities)

Families supported, communities mobilized. Prevention works. (The Prevention Council)

Living wages won for Memphis workers. (Workers Interfaith Network)

Education transformed Bolivians’ lives. Thank you! (Bolivian Quaker Education Fund)

Today: Lives changed. Tomorrow: Community changed. (United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg)

More people self managing their arthritis! (Arthritis Queensland)

. . . and my personal favorite:  Jackrabbit bounded, I smiled, coyote watched. (Plains Conservation Center)

See more six-word annual reports in the  post comments. I’m going to run a real contest later in the year for six-word annual reports, so stay tuned for details!

But . . . what about the donors lists?

While there is definitely some universal love for the shorter formats, the biggest question — the one that seems to be holding many development directors back — is “If we do a shorter report, where do we put the donor lists?”

Here’s my take on this . . . feel free to disagree or agree in the comments.

If you have a published donor list, then most donors will want to be on it. They will look for their names in the list, and if a name is missing or misspelled, watch out.

But if there is no published list, then they don’t really care. Individual donors aren’t going to miss the list.

Now here are two sizable caveats:

(1) Your donors should already feel acknowledged and thanked, before the annual report.

If you are relying on the donor list in the annual report as the sole way to say thank you to your donors, that’s a problem in and of itself. Each of your donors should feel directly acknowledged and thanked by your organization, regardless of some list in some document. (Join us for Writing Thank-You Notes that Inspire Future Gifts on July 7 if you need help in this department.)

(2) Your donors should already feel like they are part of a bigger community, before the annual report.

You should be reinforcing the idea that your individual donors are part of a much bigger family of supporters for your cause throughout your communications, throughout the year, not via a list in an annual report. I know that many people feel the donor  list is a powerful “peer pressure” tool, but there are more effective ways to communicate “everyone’s supporting us; why aren’t you?” than a donor list in an annual report.

Does that help those of you struggling with the shorter annual report formats? What else can I do to help?

Remember, I’m teaching our most popular webinar, The New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Report this Thursday. I hope you’ll join us.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

On Monday,  I asked if you could boil down your annual report to just six words. We are getting some great examples: check them out in the post comments!

But of course, I realize six words is probably not enough for most of you. What about a postcard? That’s more room, but still very short and readable, and one of the formats I advocate as the New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Report. It’s a scaled-down version that can still work in print, or online, and that makes more sense for both you as the nonprofit marketer and fundraiser and for your supporters (it’s actually one of a handful of different formats that work for 2011).

After I presented this webinar in February, Elissa Schloesser at Visual Voice created a mockup of what a postcard annual report might look like.

And now she has produced a real one for a client:

I’m hosting the latest version of one of our most popular webinars, The New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Report, on Thursday, June 24, 2011. Join us to learn how you can transform your annual report into something people will actually pay attention to.

Today’s Book Giveaway

Could a postcard annual report work for your organization? Why or why not?

Leave a comment below answering (especially the why or why not part), and you’ll be entered to win a free copy of  “#SocialMedia Nonprofit Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Nonprofit Social Media Engagement” by Janet Fouts with Beth Kanter. We’ll draw the winner next week, so you have plenty of time to add your ideas.

I’m giving away a book each day this week, in celebration of the one year anniversary of my own book’s release, The Nonprofit Marketing Guide: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause(on sale for $23.29 at Amazon).

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

All this week, I’m celebrating the one year anniversary of the release of my first book, The Nonprofit Marketing Guide: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause.

Daily Prizes for Blog Commenting

Books You Can Win This Week by Commenting on Blog Posts

With each blog post this week, I’ll ask you a question, and you can reply in the comments. Then I will randomly select one person who commented to win the daily book prize (see below for the book list). Be sure to leave your email address or Twitter handle when you comment so I can contact you directly for your snail-mailing address if you win.

To kick off the week, there are two ways to win today . . .

Buy My Book Today, Get into Tomorrow’s Webinar for Free

1) If you don’t have a copy yet, buy a copy of my book, The Nonprofit Marketing Guide: High-Impact, Low-Cost Ways to Build Support for Your Good Cause (on sale for $23.29 at Amazon). Forward the email receipt to me at book@nonprofitmarketingguide.com. We will then register you for tomorrow’s webinar, “Get Real! Use Your Organization’s Personality to Build Rapport with Supporters.” Webinars are $35, so it’s a great deal. Everyone wins on this one . . .  buy the book before 11 a.m. Eastern Tuesday and we’ll register you for the webinar for free.

What’s Your Six-Word Annual Report?

2) How would you describe your accomplishments over the last year or so in exactly six words?

I’m advocating all kinds of “new and improved” nonprofit annual report formats, and as a spin-off on the “six-word story” phenomena, I want to hear your six-word annual report to date.

Share your six-word annual report in the comments below, and you’ll be entered to win a free copy of “Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission” edited by Holly Ross, Katrin Verclas, and Alison Levine.

Here’s a sneak peek for the rest of the week:

• Tuesday: Comment to win “Brandraising: How Nonprofits Raise Visibility and Money Through Smart Communications” by Sarah Durham
• Wednesday: Comment to win “Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• Thursday: Comment to win “#SocialMedia Nonprofit Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Nonprofit Social Media Engagement” by Janet Fouts with Beth Kanter
• Friday: Comment to win “Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals” edited by Darian Rodriguez Heyman

To give everyone time to participate, we’ll draw all of the winners the week of June 20th.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

During my recent webinar on new and improved nonprofit annual reports (recording available to All-Access Pass Holders), I said that I would love to see a nonprofit do its annual report as an oversized postcard (think that big size popular with political candidates). This format has lots of advantages:

• The small space forces you to think about what’s most important to say
• The postcard format practically requires some nice photography, which donors love
• People still read postcards, even if standing over the recycling bin (if the photography is good enough, it will make it to a bulletin board instead)
• It’s much cheaper to design and mail than other direct mail formats
• Postcards couple nicely with emails for an integrated approach

While I love this idea, I haven’t actually seen a nonprofit do it, nor have I made the time to come up with some mock examples.

Enter Elissa Schloesser at Visual Voice. Elissa is a graphic designer who works for nonprofit clients. She took the webinar, and loved the idea too, so she came up with an example.

Click on over to her site to see the other side of the card. She also mentioned it to some clients who love it too, so we shall indeed have some real examples soon! I can’t wait to see how they turn out and to hear the reactions from donors.

Please share your examples of interesting nonprofit annual reports, including postcards, on our Annual Reports Wiki or link to them in the comments on this post.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.

Here are five common questions I get about nonprofit annual reports, along with my answers.

If you are still trying to figure out how to produce your 2010 nonprofit annual report, join us tomorrow’s webinar (2/8/11 at 1:00 pm Eastern, 10:00 am Pacific), where I’ll explain how to create a “New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Report.” When you do, you can also purchase the e-book, How to Write a Nonprofit Annual Report, at half-price.

This will be our first annual report. Where should we start?

Writing an annual report can feel overwhelming and daunting, especially for first-timers. Perhaps that’s why you haven’t written one in the past.

Always begin with your key message and your achievements. What three things are you most proud of from last year? What aspects would you emphasize if you only have five minutes to tell a stranger about your nonprofit’s good work? Your annual report should flow from the answers to these questions.

If your organization has been around for several years, but this is your first attempt at an annual report, you may be tempted to talk about all of your accomplishments over the years. In this case, I recommend that you call the document a “progress report” that spans a certain timeframe, e.g., 2008-2010. At the end of 2011, you would write an annual report for that year alone.

What’s the most important part of an annual report?

The most important part of a nonprofit annual report is the description of your accomplishments. Your readers want to know what you did, but more importantly, they 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.

If we only highlight our biggest accomplishments, won’t those staff members whose work is left out be upset? What about a board member’s pet project?

The purpose of an annual report is to highlight the organization’s accomplishments as a whole, not the work of any one particular staff member or project team or board member. Look for other ways to recognize the contributions of others who aren’t featured in the annual report. You don’t want the annual report to be the only place where good work is publicly recognized.

We have some bad news. How do we talk about it in the annual report?

Very carefully. Honesty is extremely important in annual reports. Yet, your annual report should also project a positive image of your organization.

The best way to handle bad news is to address it directly, but to surround it with good news. The executive message is a good place to address the issue. Start with some of your accomplishments. Then describe the bad news as a “challenge” or “transition” and immediately explain what you have done to address it. Emphasize the positive results, or the silver lining, associated with the bad news.

For nonprofits, bad news is often associated with their financial statements. In this case, include a narrative that outlines the financial difficulty then immediately explain what was done to address the situation.

What needs to go in the financial section?

The financial section of a nonprofit annual report should clearly explain where revenues come from and how they are spent. In addition to the information provided in traditional financial statements (abbreviated formats are fine in an annual report), it’s also helpful to include pie charts, bar graphs, or other visuals that help readers see the big picture and understand financial trends. A short narrative description is also essential. Explain in plain English the meaning behind all those numbers.

More Questions?

Join us for The New and Improved Nonprofit Annual Report (2/8/11 at 1:00 pm Eastern, 10:00 am Pacific) or download a copy of  How to Write a Nonprofit Annual Report.

Get all of our webinars and e-books for one price with the All-Access Pass! Get a full year for $465, or 90 days for $145.