The document provides guidance on creating effective annual reviews for charities. It discusses the minimum legal requirements, six essentials of a great annual review including knowing your audience and developing impactful content, and ways to make your annual review stand out such as using case studies, innovative formats, and digital options. The goal is to get organizations to thoroughly question their approach so annual reviews can be the most effective publications for demonstrating impact.

1. Inject life into your annual
review
Charity Writing and Publications Training Day
24 October 2013

2. What we’ll cover
The minimum requirements for annual reports
2. Six essentials of a great annual review
3. How to make your annual review stand out
4. Good process for annual reviews
1.
Aim: To get you to thoroughly question everything
about your organisation’s approach to its annual review –
so it’s the most effective publication possible

3. Minimum requirements
• Legally, every charity has to produce a trustees’ annual
report and accounts to show the Charity Commission and
your funders how your organisation is raising and
allocating your income
• The Charity Commission’s Statement of Recommended
Practice (SORP) for this is at http://tinyurl.com/qfmhk6q
But of course, most charities go much further…

4. Six essentials of a great AR
1. Know your audience, know your aims
• Who is your audience? Trusts? Volunteers? Individual
donors? Commissioners?
• What do you want them to do when they’ve read your
annual review? Give money? Give time? Buy your services?
Continue to give?
• Build a profile, go in depth

5. Six essentials of a great AR
Controversial…
• The fewer audiences and purposes you have, the more
effective your annual review will be
• Example: BTCV annual review – selling services to
commissioners http://tinyurl.com/nfnzghk
• Do you need to produce an annual review? Could you
spend your budget better on other publications?

6. Six essentials of a great AR
2. Include essential content
• Case studies and quotes (most important)
• Statistics
• Information about your impact (not every last thing
your charity has done this year!). Always ask ‘so what?’
• ‘Who we are’ at beginning
• Call to action

7. Six essentials of a great AR
…and decide what optional content to include
• Chair/chief executive statement
• Thank yous
• Fundraising successes
• Internal developments
• Financials

8. Six essentials of a great AR
3. Develop your format, theme and key messages
• So many choices! But if you’re looking to simply convey you message
clearly and powerfully…
• Who we are
• Chair’s introduction
• Area of impact 1, 2, 3
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction
3-4 key achievements this year, bullet points
Case study
Pull out stat
Future plans
Call to action

9. Six essentials of a great AR
Examples
• Fire Fighters Charity annual review
http://tinyurl.com/n9tmrly
• British Lung Foundation annual review
http://tinyurl.com/pusp65d

10. Six essentials of a great AR
• Simple theme: what sums your year? Can you come up with
a strapline?
• What are your key messages/achievements? Use them as
sections
• Example: Alzheimer’s Research UK annual review
http://tinyurl.com/oz34964
• How are you going to lay out each section? Keep them
uniform

11. Six essentials of a great AR
4. Write about impact well – start where the action is
• Impact first, always. In your description of your
achievements, headers, annual review title, case
studies, stats…you are trying to impress your reader
• ‘So what?’ is your key question
• Annual reviews should be impact reports

12. Weekend at Lewis House
This year a weekend at Lewis House in Cumbria was provided for sick children
with cancer and their families by the Children’s Cancer Trust. The weekend was
run in conjunction with the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Pinderfields
Hospital, the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, Alder Hey Children’s
Hospital in Liverpool and Sheffield Children’s Hospital, who all did fundraising
and gave donations of money to make the weekend possible.
Families were able to enjoy visits to local attractions in Cumbria, including very
exciting places like Walby Farm Park and Wetheriggs Animal Sanctuary, as well as
visits from local entertainers including a circus group and a magician.
The children without a doubt really enjoyed themselves and felt less worried and
happier for the weekend, as did their parents, they said on the evaluation forms
they filled out. 91% of attendees felt it reduced their stress levels. 100 people
attended.
Prior to leaving, the children were able to utilise the pool at Lewis House and the
parents took time out with expert, qualified professionals to discuss how they
could best give support to and meet the requirements of their children.
The weekend proved to be a great success and therefore it goes without saying that
planning is already underway for the next group to attend in November.

13. Children and parents benefit from weekend at Lewis House
100 children with cancer and their families felt less worried and happier after
a fun weekend we put on for them at Lewis House in Cumbria.
91% of attendees felt the weekend made them less stressed. The children
enjoyed visits to exciting places like Walby Farm Park and Wetheriggs Animal
Sanctuary, as well as visits from entertainers, including a circus group and
magician.
They also had fun in the pool at Lewis House, while their parents talked to
professionals about how they could best support their children.
We put on the event thanks to donations and fundraising from the Royal
Manchester Children’s Hospital, Pinderfields Hospital, Royal Victoria
Infirmary, Alder Hey Children's Hospital and Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
The weekend was a great success, and we’re already planning for the next one
in November.

14. Six essentials of a great AR
• We sent out more than 900,000 leaflets, booklets and
factsheets this year.
• We now have 237 MS support groups in every corner of
the UK, with 16,500 members.

15. Six essentials of a great AR
• We sent out more than 900,000 leaflets, booklets and
factsheets this year, giving people the first-class
information they need to handle their illness.
• We now have 237 MS support groups in every corner of
the UK, where 16,500 people go to make friends, chat
about their problems and hear from local medical
experts.

16. Six essentials of a great AR
• Set up the problem
Feeling alone can be one of the worst things about living
with cancer or caring for someone who does. Sometimes
family and friends don’t quite get what it’s like.
Our web community connects people going through
similar experiences…

17. Six essentials of a great AR
• Features and benefits
Feature: We organise trips to university open days for
young people from poor inner city areas…
Benefit:…which makes them believe in themselves and
see university, and a better future, is within their reach

18. Six essentials of a great AR
• Remember: you don’t need to cram everything into
your annual review
• If you can’t link it to your impact, it shouldn’t be there

19. Six essentials of a great AR
Exercise
Think of three things your organisation does.
What is their impact?

20. Six essentials of a great AR
5. Include great case studies
• Case studies show you impact, rather than your copy
just telling your reader about it
• Case studies should focus on your impact: how your
help has changed the interviewee’s life
• Could your case studies lead the publication?

21. Six essentials of a great AR
6. Get the basics of design right
• Have beautiful pictures
• Break up the text – lots of box outs, bullet points, pull quotes and stats
• Don’t have too much text – white space is your friend
• Use infographics
• Example: NSPCC’s annual review, page three
http://tinyurl.com/ocnkp2q

22. Make your annual review stand out
1. Go small, go short
• Some of the best annual reviews are short
• Could you cut your publication in half?
• A5/A6, square or DL format?
• Put it on postcards?
• Example: Cardboard Citizens’ annual review
http://www.cardboardcitizens.org.uk/p155.html

23. Make your annual review stand out
• Could you produce a summary publication?
• Example: Cancer Research UK’s annual review fold out
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/prod_consump/grou
ps/cr_common/@abt/@gen/documents/image/cr_11152
6.pdf

24. Make your annual review stand out
2. Make you annual review useful
• How can you make you annual review stay on your
audience’s desk all year?
• Example: Nacro’s calendar annual review
http://www.ngomedia.org.uk/NacroCalendar08.pdf

25. Make your annual review stand out
3. Let your case studies lead
• Could a case study write your foreword?
• Example: Teach First’s annual review
http://www.teachfirst.org.uk/about/annual-review
• Could case studies tell your whole story?
• Example: Blue Cross’s annual review
http://www.bluecross.org.uk/files/Blue-Cross-2012Annual-Review.pdf

26. Make your annual review stand out
4. Do something out-of-the-box
• Example: The Wallich’s annual reviews
http://www.140voices.com/
http://www.thewallich.com/downloads/reports/annualrevie
w10.pdf
• Example: Borderline’s annual reviews
Not online: please email jennifer@jennifer-campbell.co.uk if
you’d like copies

27. Make your annual review stand out
5. Go digital
Digital advantages:
• Can be cheaper
• Readers can take action instantly
Print advantages:
• More difficult to ignore
• Certain audiences prefer print
• Something tangible to take to meetings

28. Make your annual review stand out
Ways to put your annual review online
• PDF
• Website section
Example: Alzheimer’s Research UK
http://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/2011-12-annual-review/
• Full mini-site
Example: British Heart Foundation
http://team.bhf.org.uk/

29. Make your annual review stand out
Other interesting digital annual reviews
• Airbnb’s annual review
https://www.airbnb.com/annual/
• Calgary Zoo’s Instagram annual review
http://instagram.com/calgaryzoo2012ar
• The Brandon Trust’s Prezi annual review
http://www.brandontrust.org/stories-videos/weathering-the-storm-annual-report-2012.aspx

30. Annual review process
1. Put systems in place to gather information
• The Code of Good Impact Practice, Inspiring Impact
http://inspiringimpact.org/
• Start right after your previous annual review is
published. Let people know what you’ll need from
them in a year’s time.

31. Annual review process
• You five key achievements this year
• Up to three statistics showing your impact
• Up to three quotes from stakeholders showing your
impact
• Case study suggestions
• A list of people to thank
• Plans for next year and beyond
• What do you do?

32. Annual review process
2. Get all stakeholders together
• Have a lunch so everyone can give their ideas
• Then narrow the loop

33. Annual review process
3. Brief and timetable
• Get everyone to feed in, then sign off
• Work backwards on the time line
• Brief could include: Audience/purpose, tone of
voice, content plan, flatplan…
• You will have less time than you think!

34. More information
• Advice on my website, www.jennifer-campbell.co.uk
• CharityComms, A Year in the life: best practice guide to
annual publications, download free from
http://www.charitycomms.org.uk/articles/a-year-in-thelife
• How to produce inspiring annual reports, Ken Burnett and
Karen Weatherup, available from DSC bookshop