For my non-profit project, I chose to work with a group called Leadership Toledo. An organization thatdates back to 1976, in one form or another, when members of Trinity Episcopal Church were looking for ways to do something for the downtown community where it was located. Several iterations later, in 1980,Leadership Toledo was born.
Today, Leadership Toledo has grown into an organization that drives four programs within the city that are dedicated to developing leadership amongst the cities youth and adults. These programs are Community Leadership Toledo , Youth Leadership Toledo , Youth in Philanthropy Encouraging Excellence (YIPEE), and Students in Action. Each of which positively impact the community through their different purposes.
Community Leadership Toledo unites adults from diverse backgrounds for an intensive nine-month program that focuses on identifying the needs of our community, creating and implementing solutions, and preparing graduates for active and informed involvement in the community.Each program year begins in September and continues with a series of monthly, daylong sessions that end in May. Participants are introduced to community issues and concerns, as well as key community leaders.
Youth Leadership Toledo recognizes the important contribution young adults make in creating a strong, progressive community. Patterned after the Community Leadership Program, fifty high school sophomores meet from August to May in monthly daylong sessions. Students who exhibit leadership skills in their schools and communities are nominated by their schools for the program.The program’s main objective is to assist in training our young people to be effective leaders now and in the future, and to stimulate interest in community involvement.
YIPEE stands for Youth In Philanthropy Encouraging Excellence.YIPEE is a program for Youth Leadership Toledo graduates wishing to learn more about community needs and the elements of thoughtful giving. Funded by the Toledo Community Foundation and facilitated by the staff of Leadership Toledo, the program’s goal is to establish a foundation for a lifelong commitment to leadership, volunteerism, and philanthropy.YIPEE members participate during their junior and senior years of high school in a unique program to identify key problems facing youth, solicit and review grant applications, and raise and allocate funds to deserving area non-profits to address those needs.
The Students In Action (SIA) program is a component of the national Jefferson Awards organization and is facilitated locally by Leadership Toledo. At 27 area high schools, student leaders are redefining the culture of their campus to one of service by heightening peer awareness of volunteer opportunities and by bringing attention to ordinary students involved in extraordinary volunteer work. Student leaders establish both selection criteria and the frequency in which Youth Jefferson Awards will be presented to their deserving classmates.
For the purposes of this project, I had the pleasure of working with the Executive Director of Leadership Toledo, Mr. David Schlaudecker. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to view a non-profit organization from a different perspective. With the creativity that he approaches his daily activities at Leadership Toledo, Mr. Schlaudecker thoughtfully recommended that Ievaluate their annual report. He asked me to provide him with a critique, and to provide insights into whether or not they should take the report electronic.
Thankful for the opportunity I dove right in. This was a great chance for me to see the nitty-gritty of the not-for-profit world, and best of all, it was an opportunity to impact a document that played a huge role in the success of the organization. When I received the document, my first thoughts were that it was a nice, concise document that did a fairly decent job of spreading the word about the organization. But I had one thought, we could do better…
The first thing I did was begin researching what a quote, unquote, good annual report should look like. And I asked myself things like, What information should it include? What message should it deliver? What is its primary purpose?Amongst other great examples, I came across the annual report for The Nature Conservancy. It makes tremendous use of imagery to convey its message, it shows statements from the people it impacted throughout the year, and it really works hard to drive home its message. This would be one of the many examples I pulled from to make my crituque.
My first idea for Leadership Toledo was that we could absolutely take the report and put it in an electronic format that would make it accessible not only on the web, but in a print version, if that was needed too. To help them in doing so, and in part to provide a visual aid, I went ahead and made a .pdf version of the report that included all of my suggestions. I of course had to attach the disclaimer that I am in no way technically inclined, and to not hold that against the idea. I’m sure that someone with the right training could really work wonders with it.
One, of the many, positives that I found with the current annual report was that Leadership Toledo was on board with QR codes. I suggested that they further incorporate these into their day to day marketing campaigns. Who doesn’t have a smart phone these days? And if they don’t, there will always be a web address and phone number for them to use. Not to mention the fact that it can help reduce postage and printing costs, what better way of reaching a world that is becoming more and more digitally inclined?
The next topic that I suggested they address was the issue of branding consistency. While both the web site and printed annual report have nice qualities, I felt that they both had their own distinct feel. My suggestion is to adopt one, and stick with it. Part of the difference of course is due to the fact that one is print and one is digital, making it impossible to have cascading pictures and the like. But the point being that you want to have an image that people recognize no matter what the medium.
An organization’s annual report has, basically, two primary purposes; to inform the community of their offerings, and to casually solicit donations by letting people know what great things you do. I for one know that I wont give money to an organization unless I know with some level of certainty what I am donating to. Explain your programs, and even brag about how great they are! Again, the blurb that they did include in the print version was probably limited by space and cost constraints. Going digital could help alleviate that problem as well.
Next up, Fiscal Transparency.In no way do I think that the exclusion of this information means that they are trying to hide something. In fact I know they aren’t, they have their financials posted on the website. And they do a really great job of getting the money donated, where it both needs, and was intended to go. Show that in the annual report! A simple statement from the board of directors or executive director could go a long way in showing the impact of individual and corporate donations.
My last recommendation was the inclusion of their donors, or at least the major ones, on the annual report. The bottom line is that many people, and organizations appreciate the recognition. Most wont say anything, largely because they don’t want to be viewed as petty or donating for the sake of having their name printed, but they want it. Otherwise they would ask to donate anonymously. And again, this is something that they have on their web site but not in print. Do you see where I’m going with this?Further more, people are subject to peer pressure, seeing someone else’s name on the list probably makes people more likely to donate as well!
I would like to thank Leadership Toledo, again, for this opportunity and I hope that you find my suggestions helpful. I have enjoyed the opportunity to view your organization from a different perspective, and am sure that it will be beneficial to me in the future.
