What to Do About the Lists in Your Annual Report

All nonprofit annual reports have them and pulling them together can be a challenge. We’re talking about your donor, board, and staff lists.

Donor Lists

You can either organize your annual report donor list alphabetically or group donors according to their level of contribution and alphabetically within those categories.

You do not need to include every single person who has given you money during the year. Many nonprofits set a minimum dollar amount for inclusion in the annual report to keep the donor list to a reasonable length (one or two pages in an 8-12 page report, three-four pages in longer reports). Smaller donors can be publicly recognized in other publications, such as your print newsletter. Rather than using expensive printed pages in the annual report some nonprofits photocopy the full list and insert it into the report that way.

If you have several donors who wish to remain anonymous, you can list “Anonymous” once as the first entry in the list or you can include a brief statement at the beginning or end of the list thanking all the donors who wish to remain anonymous. You do not need to list “Anonymous” twelve times if you have twelve donors who want their names withheld.

Board Lists

The main list under your “Board of Directors” heading should include only the voting members of your board. If there is space, you can list other categories of board members, such as non-voting, honorary, or advisory board members under an appropriate heading. Don’t mix the two. It should be clear to readers who the legal directors of the organization are.

Staff List

Always list the executive level staff, which includes the executive director and if you have one, the chief financial officer and chief operations officer. Other common titles at this level are deputy directors and senior vice presidents. Depending on the size of your organization, you can also include the next layer of management. Many organizations list all staff. It’s up to you and dependent on how much space you have available.

You’ll find more resources and training on writing nonprofit annual reports at www.NonprofitMarketingGuide.com/annualreports.htm.

About the Author: Kivi Leroux Miller provides training and personal coaching on all aspects of nonprofit marketing and communications to organizations big and small across the U.S. If you want to write newsletters and annual reports that your supporters will love or create websites and blogs that educate and inspire, visit www.NonprofitMarketingGuide.com, where you’ll find a free e-newsletter, articles, webinars, e-courses, and more.