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1 By Mazarine Treyz, Social Media & Fundraising Trainer, Author, The Wild Woman's Guide to Fundraising, (2010) 3-D Reputation Engine (2011) Contact:

To start, you will need 1. Several magazines whose design you admire. COLORS magazine is a favorite. (http://colorsmagazine.com)there's National Geographic, (http://nationalgeographic.

2 To start, you will need 1. Several magazines whose design you admire. COLORS magazine is a favorite. ( National Geographic, ( Economist, ( and even Paper Magazine ( to get you started. You can also look at which has a pretty sweet visual list of inspiring typography and art! Or Look at 2. Graphic design program: A free one is Gimp. It's like Photoshop, but free! And available for Windows, Mac, and Linux! 3. Layout program/ light saber. This is critical. If you have windows, and you have Microsoft office, you should have Microsoft publisher. Go with that. Do NOT try to make your annual report in Microsoft Word or Open Office.

If you don't have Microsoft publisher, do a google search for publishing layout programs and get one. This will be 100% LESS frustrating if you do this. 4.

3 If you don't have Microsoft publisher, do a google search for publishing layout programs and get one. This will be 100% LESS frustrating if you do this. 4. Source of fonts: Don't even think about using comic sans. Go to and not to mention and pick out some fonts that speak to you. My favorite site is TypeDNA because it has a way to search just by free fonts, and you can search by weight, widths, italics, creator of the font, and other ways. 5. Source of pictures: Go to and find some photographs that you like, make sure to attribute them to the photographer, and contact the

4 photographer to let them know you'll be using their images. 6. Some Favorite novels. You'd be surprised at how good writing affects your writing for the better. I recommend The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. Or Bessie a biography of Bessie Smith. Also, The Thought Gang, by Tibor Fischer. Or Cruddy, by Lynda Barry. 7. Spreadsheets: A source of raw data for your company or nonprofit to turn into graphs and charts and info-graphics. 8. Samples of previous reports: If you have samples of previous years annual reports too, that will show you how other people tried to solve the same problems you're solving. It can inspire you to do it better, or give you new inspiration for what you're working on. 9. Stories: of how your company or nonprofit has helped the world, and pictures of you doing it.

How do we do this? How to make an effective annual report that everyone will want to read? We'll start with the graphic design, because, sadly, people DO judge an annual report by its cover!

5 How do we do this? How to make an effective annual report that everyone will want to read? We'll start with the graphic design, because, sadly, people DO judge an annual report by its cover! Here are some examples of effective annual report design. Why is this annual report effective? 1. Color and choice of photographs. This graphic designer was NOT afraid to take two beautiful pictures and chop them up. Remember that. 2. Font. The font is clear against the face of the person on the cover, who is both a symbol of the Amazon, and a symbol of the name of the nonprofit. Pretty slick! 3. Judicious use of white. The white comes out in

6 the lace, the headline, and the logo. You notice there's a logo, but you don't get overwhelmed by it. Yet, because the designer chose white, your eye is naturally led there. Beautifully done. Why is this annual report effective? 1. Use of framing. There are two kinds of framing, when you have a frame for an object, and when part of the picture goes off the page. The way this person smiles and their hand going off the page just BEGS you to pick it up. 2. Bright colorful stripes to contrast with the black and white stripes. The color in the background adds dynamic tension to the whole cover. It draws your eye to the word REPORT even though it is the weakest piece of text on the cover, and could potentially be overwhelmed by everything else going on. 3. The Font. At first, I wasn't in love with the fonts. I thought, why did they make the word report see through? But then I thought, well, it forces you to read the word. It catches you off guard. It messes with your expectations. I like that!

7 9 Jedi MUSTS! 1. Make it under 20 pages, and an low-resolution pdf. 2. Put each section of the report in a separate link on your website, (such as your CEO's letter, your financials, stories, donor list/shareholder list, and stats sections, for example) so people can find things easily, instead of having to scroll through miles of PDFs. 2. Graphics on the cover should scream: PICK ME! You'll know it when you see it. 3. Be personal and real. No boring stock art. Pick real people who work at your organization, or who have been helped by your company or nonprofit. 4. Break it up! Inside, break up the text with call outs, boxes, and pictures.

8 5. Make an infographic on your financial transparency. 6. Make a List of all of your donors or shareholders. This is really important. People look for their names in these lists. They WANT to see their names there, and if they've donated or invested and you have forgotten their name, you can say goodbye to that stakeholder or donor. Unless they request to be anonymous. Check this before printing. 7. Add pictures of your team. We want to see the people who make it happen. Get quotes from your team too. 8. Humor. This will keep people reading, off balance, engaged. So few annual reports try to joke around. You'll stand out if you do this. 9. Printing: Go with a tried and true printer, give them at least 1 month to get it printed, get at least 3 physical proofs before going to press. Don't rely on your screen. Get it in your hand.

9 The front of your annual report: Your logo should be big and clear. Your picture should be engaging. Can you see the design of another publication, like a magazine, and make your annual report mock or mirror that design? Make sure the colors are complementary. Don't make it TOO eye-watering, but also, don't be so bland as to be totally forgettable.

10 inside your Annual Report You don't have to make it LONG! But DO use graphs, charts and infographics. First, start with a story. Or two. And THEN show your graphs. When you start with the graphs, this can lead to people tuning it out.

11 DO show your impact. If you hired 20 people and are expanding, SHOW that. Show how you improved the world with your presence. Speak in each of the different languages that people use when talking about impact. There's financial impact. Impact on people. Impact on systems. Impact on structure. Impact on a local, regional, and national level. If you're a nonprofit, use the 7 faces of philanthropy to start talking to each kind of donor. You might want to speak to business minded donors, socialites, feel-goods, give-backs, dynasts, and more! Here's a little presentation on these seven faces here:

This is a graphic that I love from the Zakat Foundation's 2010 annual report. You can see instantly how much of their money goes to programs, how much to administration, and how much to fundraising.

12 This is a graphic that I love from the Zakat Foundation's 2010 annual report. You can see instantly how much of their money goes to programs, how much to administration, and how much to fundraising. It is a very, simple, easy graph, set before a backdrop of their programs. So your charts, stats and graphs need not be made in Excel. Think creatively, like the Zakat foundation. Make a report for someone who isn't necessarily a math nerd.

The back of your annual report: You've got to make it work, graphically. That means, sections. Make it easy to see what to do. Give all of your contact info, again.

13 The back of your annual report: You've got to make it work, graphically. That means, sections. Make it easy to see what to do. Give all of your contact info, again. People might want to get in touch with you, and pat you on the back for such a fine annual report! Or come to one of your events! Or friend you on Facebook! You never know! Are your calls to action clear on the back of your annual report? If someone opened this up and flipped to the back, would they be able to really GET what you wanted them to

14 do? Do you give lots of ways to get involved? Do you give web addresses, phone number, , and events to attend? If not, why not? Help people take action immediately after reading your newsletter. If you want to start soliciting stories for next year, say it. For nonprofits: In the printed version of your annual report, if you add a remit envelope in the middle, you can get people to give. Remember that your remit envelope should also have an area where people can say, i want to volunteer or I want to sign up for your enewsletter and not just Give us money.

15 Thank you for reading! You can now start on your journey to Jedi Master of Annual Reports! Make me proud! Tell me what you thought of this ebook on Twitter by me some of your designs at Follow me on

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