January 10, 2002 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Publishing the Nonprofit Annual Report: Tips, Traps, and Tricks of the Trade
by Caroline Taylor
“Annual reports are deceptively complex” for nonprofit groups to produce, says Caroline Taylor in the introduction to Publishing the Nonprofit Annual Report. But they are important despite the difficulties involved, she says, because they have the potential not only to satisfy financial-reporting requirements but also to play a major role in communicating the group’s accomplishments to current and potential donors and the general public.
The first chapter explains the many roles an annual report plays: fund-raising tool, document of financial disclosure, “image builder,” and archival record. The following chapters define the responsibilities of various staff members in the production process, and the elements or sections that make up an annual report.
Another chapter outlines how an editor can manage and oversee the production of an annual report, and is followed by sections that provide specific guidance on steps such as drafting an executive statement, choosing a theme, selecting a graphic designer, finding appropriate illustrations, using charts and tables to present figures clearly, and printing and distributing the completed report.
A final chapter suggests ways to evaluate an annual report and discern improvements for following years, and also looks ahead to the future of annual reports, including the pros and cons of publishing annual reports online.
Examples from real and fictional annual reports illustrate concepts presented in the book, and lists of tips provide additional information. The book includes a glossary of graphic-design and printing terms.
Ms. Taylor is a consultant who produces annual reports for nonprofit groups. From 1993 to 2000, she was director of publications at the World Wildlife Fund, in Washington.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103-1741; (415) 433-1740 or (800) 956-7739; fax (415) 433-0499 or (800) 605-2665; http://www.josseybass.com; 217 pages; $28; I.S.B.N. 0-7879-5410-1.
