Donors want feedback on what you did with their last gift before they’ll give again, and an annual report is one effective way to provide those details on your accomplishments.

During our on-demand e-course, “Writing a Nonprofit Annual Report,” you learn the basic steps in creating an annual report, as well as all of the common sections you’ll need to write, from the executive message to the donor acknowledgements. We’ll discuss the importance of writing about accomplishments rather than activities and how to present financial information so your readers can understand it. We’ll also look at some of the little extras that will make your annual report stand out.

What’s Included

When you register, you will receive a password that unlocks the e-course home page with all of these resources.

• The E-Book with Reading Assignments. You will receive a copy of our 50+ page e-book, “How to Write a Nonprofit Annual Report.” If you decide to follow our recommended four-week schedule, you’ll be assigned sections of the book to read each week.
• A Workbook with Exercises. You will also receive a workbook with exercises that match up with the reading material for the week. You’ll see more clearly how to apply the lessons in the book to your own annual report. If you work through all of the exercises in the course, you will have a solid first draft of your annual report at the end of the class.
• “How to Write a Four-Page Annual Report” - Recorded Webinar. You can watch a one-hour webinar that shows you how to take everything you have learned about annual reports and boil it all down to just four pages.

PLUS . . .

You’ll also receive the following benefits at no additional charge.

• Instructor Feedback. You can ask any questions you have on the course materials and exercises at any time. Kivi is available via email and phone.
• On-Demand, Self-Paced Schedule. You can work ahead or take some time off. It’s up to you how quickly you work. You will receive a weekly reminder email from us that paces you for a four-week course, but you can work at whatever pace fits your needs.
• Free Updates. If Kivi publishes an update to the e-book or workbook while your course subscription is active, you’ll get the new editions at no extra charge.

Price

The Annual Reports On-Demand E-Course fee is $60.00 (USD). Register Now!

Want an even better deal? This course is also included in Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s All-Access Pass, which is $97 for 12 weeks of access. In addition to the Annual Reports Course, you also get 12 weeks of access to the live webinars (we do one nearly every week) and access to the webinar archive where you can watch more than a dozen recordings. Learn more about the Nonprofit Marketing Guide All-Access Pass.

We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and PayPal.

Satisfaction Guaranteed!

If you are not satisfied with the e-course for whatever reason, you can request a full refund within 7 days of your enrollment.

Why Bother with an Annual Report?

Donors want you to report back to them.

Many studies have shown that donors want feedback on what you accomplished with their gifts before they give again, and an annual report is one important way to provide that feedback. Annual reports communicate your activities and accomplishments to supporters and the community, attract new donors, and serve as a historical record of your organization’s progress. 

This e-course will guide you through the process of creating an annual report by discussing all of the steps you need to take and the common sections you need to write in order to create a great annual report.

If you are working on a real annual report now, the exercises will be especially helpful to you. If you complete all of the exercises, you will have made most of the key decisions and have drafted several sections of your report by the end of the course.

Use the Four-Week Schedule . . . Or Not.

Do the course at your own pace, but we’ll send you reminders, just in case.

This is an on-demand course, which means you can access these materials anytime you like, from anywhere, as long as your subscription is valid. 

You can work through the course at your own pace, but we’ve found that many people like some structure to help them get through the materials in a timely way.

Therefore we’ve broken the course down into four one-week sections. When you sign up for the course, we automatically add you to an email list to receive a reminder about the course materials once a week. If the four-week schedule doesn’t work for you, simply ignore the email messages.

Download Your Reading Materials and Exercises

You’ll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the PDF files used in this course.

Here’s what you are looking for! The downloads!

The course consists of two main PDF documents:

(1) How to Write a Nonprofit Annual Report: The E-Book

The chapters in this e-book are your “lectures” and the workbook refers back to the e-book chapters that match the exercises.  

(2) Writing a Nonprofit Annual Report: The E-Course Workbook

In addition to the exercises themselves, this document also contains a 4-week schedule of which chapters to read and which exercises to do. 

As you work on the exercises, you may also want these documents with sample annual report sections:

Four cover letters from animal welfare organizations

Good captions in an HSUS annual report

Call to action samples from two annual reports

 

 

How to Save Copies of the Course Materials

The best way to save the PDFs is to right-click on the links, save them to your computer (i.e., select “save target as” or “save link as”), then open them offline. You can also click on the link to open it up in your web browser and then save it by clicking on the disc symbol in Adobe Reader.

Learn How to Create a Four-Page Annual Report

Woo-Hoo! I can really do an annual report in just four pages?!Â

The e-book and workbook explain how to write a traditional nonprofit annual report, which is usually at least 8 pages. But if you want to do something shorter, watch the recording of this one-hour webinar, “How to Write a Four-Page Nonprofit Annual Report.” You can also download a PDF of the slides used in this webinar. (Recorded March 13, 2008) 

During the webinar, I explain how to condense the most important elements that I discuss in the e-book down into four pages. If you are having trouble visualizing how this could work, you can also download two samples layouts to show you how all the pieces can fit together in just four pages.

Get Priority Replies to Your Questions 

Questions? Concerns? Just need to bounce some ideas around? Email Kivi!

Confused? Not sure what to do? Just want some feedback on your ideas for your own report?

As part of your registration fee, you also get priority in my email in-box. Please feel free to email any questions you have on the materials or annual reports in general to training@nonprofitmarketingguide.com.

Email messages are sometimes lost in cyberspace or accidentally deleted as spam. If I haven’t replied to you within two business days, please resend your message to me or call me at 336-499-5816 (office) or 336-870-0251 (mobile). 

And don’t forget to tell me what you thought of the course! Here is the brief survey.

Thanks for taking the course!

Kivi Leroux Miller

During our September 17, 2008 webinar on “Parties with a Purpose: Putting the Fun Back into Your Fundraising Events,” we asked participants about their favorite items for auction fundraisers. Here are some of those suggestions. You can also read more auction tips from Gail Perry and Claire Meyerhoff on Kivi’s blog.

• Mystery bag with a certain minimum value
• 4-night stay at an out-of-town resort
• Wine baskets
• Weekend stays at a board member’s beach or mountain house
• Sporting event tickets
• Show tickets (musicals, TV show tapings)
• Themed baskets
• Local artwork
• In-house dinner party with local chef
• Cabin getaways
• High profile concerts hosted by a board member in their executive suite
• Experience vacations, e.g. one week at a working goat farm and pottery studio

During our webinar on September 17, 2008 called “Parties with a Purpose: Putting the Fun Back in Your Fundraising Event,” Gail Perry and Claire Meyerhoff said you should “name it and claim it” — in other words, give your event a great name and use that name to brand your event as your own special party.

We asked webinar participants to share the names of their events. Here are our top twenty favorites to get you thinking about what to call your own event.

Blue & White Gala
Hats In The Garden
Retro Bash
Golden Apple Gala
The Whisker Whirl
The Ultimate Picnic
Antique Quest and Wine Fest
Justice for All Ball
Barn Blast
Black Tie & Tails Dinner
Helping Lives Bloom: A Garden Gala
Beyond Imagination Gala
October BrokerFest
Evening at the Theater
Musical Mayhem: A Celebration of Sound
Gathering in the Gardens
BASH…Building a Superior Hospital
Food, Wine & Wishes
Denim, Dinner & Dance !
10th Anniversary Kelly Shires Breast Cancer Snow Run