A guest post by Stephen Minix of UpMetrics
Imagine you work for a local chapter of the Humane Society. Each day, you work tirelessly to rescue animals, provide them with affordable care, and match them with loving homes. Recently, you’ve gathered a ton of data and insights that demonstrate your impact on the community, but you’re not sure how to best compile and share this information effectively.
In this case, your team should create an impact report. As UpMetrics’ impact reporting guide explains, an impact report is “a document that gives an overview of a mission-driven organization’s outcomes and achievements, focusing on the social, economic, or environmental effects of the organization’s work.”
With a solid impact report, you can communicate the effects of your work and build trust with stakeholders like donors, sponsors, and grantmakers, showing them the direct impact of their support and encouraging them to continue contributing to your organization. In this guide, we’ll provide some quick tips to make your impact report stand out and grab your audience’s attention.
1. Include a compelling narrative.
While the data you present should speak for itself, pairing that data with a narrative can draw your audience in and put a human face to your nonprofit’s cause. When you tell a story, you bring the data in your report to life and remind your supporters that these numbers connect to real people and real outcomes.
To create a compelling narrative, make sure to include the following elements:
- Character, which is who the narrative is centered around.
- Setting, which is where the story takes place.
- Plot, which is what happens in the story, including an exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
- Conflict, which is the problem the main character faces.
- Resolution, which is how the main character solves the problem (with the help of your organization).
You can obtain these qualitative narratives from a variety of different sources, including testimonials, case studies, and interviews. For example, you may ask one of your legacy donors to tell the story of why they decided to contribute to your nonprofit in this way and (with their permission) include their story in a section of your impact report about your legacy giving program.
2. Highlight key metrics and achievements.
You likely have a variety of different data points about your nonprofit’s work and how it has impacted your community. Narrowing in on the most significant outcomes can keep stakeholders focused on what is most important and hold their attention throughout the report.
Determine which data points are most relevant to include in your impact report by asking your team the following questions:
- What is timely? While an annual impact report might be the best time to share the results of your recent year-end campaign, an impact report released at the end of Q3 may focus on your summer fundraising push.
- What relates best to our current priorities? Connect your impact report to your most pressing goals. For instance, if you’re trying to increase matching gift revenue, demonstrate the impact matching gifts have on your overall fundraising outcomes. 360MatchPro recommends highlighting the number of donors who have already participated in your matching gift program and the total funds you’ve raised from matching gifts.
- What do stakeholders want to hear about the most? Cater to stakeholders’ preferences to ensure your report keeps them interested. Consider surveying your stakeholders throughout the year to discover which areas of your work they want to receive updates on.
- What are we most excited to share? Have you already seen success with your new program? Did you just break a fundraising record? Have you just completed an incredible new case study? Incorporate data that your team is eager to share so your passion for these outcomes shines through in your report.
Although you’ll focus on your nonprofit’s achievements, make space for information about campaigns or priorities that didn’t go as planned, such as a fundraising goal you didn’t meet or an aim to increase program attendance that didn’t work out. This honesty helps build trust with donors and gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your plan to improve upon these outcomes. You may even incorporate a call to action that calls on stakeholders to help you reach these objectives.
3. Use visuals wisely.
Did you know that the brain processes images about 60,000 times faster than text? Incorporating charts, graphs, and images not only makes your report more visually appealing but also makes dense data and insights easier to process and understand.
Visuals can give your supporters a break from long chunks of text and make your report more digestible. Including these visual elements can keep your audience tapped in and ensure they engage with the entire report.
Lastly, images allow readers to visualize your nonprofit in action. Leverage photos of your events, volunteer outings, or meetings with beneficiaries to show people exactly what your hard work looks like.
4. Include a call to action.
End the report by encouraging readers to get involved in your work. While asking them to donate may seem like the obvious route, this doesn’t have to be the only way you ask readers to show their support.
For instance, you may create a call to action that asks readers to:
- Share the report with their personal networks
- Participate in skills-based volunteering opportunities
- Attend upcoming events
- Sign a petition
- Subscribe to your newsletter for more frequent updates
No matter the activity you choose to promote, your call to action should be clear and direct users to a relevant link that prompts them to take action.
Measuring your impact allows you to assess the effectiveness of your work, but taking the next step and reporting on your impact allows you to share these positive outcomes with the world. When you create impact reports with your audience in mind, you’ll ensure they get the most out of your reports and continue helping you make an impact for years to come.
Stephen joined UpMetrics in 2015 for one reason: a unique opportunity to continue to uplift communities. In his role as Senior Director, Community Strategy, Stephen empowers partners to utilize their data to accelerate progress toward outcomes: informing all decisions, gaining new insights and telling their story to a wider audience.
Stephen is passionate about building capacity at impact organizations as he has dedicated his life’s work to the advancement of youth and communities through education and development. He began his career by serving young people and communities in Southern California as a public school and public charter school teacher at Locke High School, coach, athletic director, administrator, district coordinator for afterschool programs and adjunct professor. He was recognized as the CIF Los Angeles City Section Athletic Director of the Year in 2015. Today, Stephen continues to be active in the community, serving as a Green Dot Public Schools Ambassador and an inaugural board member(board chair) for MENTOR California.
Stephen graduated from Pepperdine with a BS in Physical Education and a MA in Secondary Education. Stephen lives in San Diego, where he is married with three young daughters.
