Time to report your impact

It's annual report time again for organisations that have a July-June financial year, and with it comes the opportunity to showcase the impact you've made over the past year.

Sure, you talk to your stakeholders and customers all year - but your annual report is a unique opportunity to bring all of that communication together and demonstrate how all of that activity served to further your organisational objectives.

I've written before about some key elements of an effective annual report, but there are a couple of new trends in annual reports that I'd like to share with you.

We're now talking about 'impact' reporting

Soimething I've seen emerging over the past year is the rise of 'impact' reporting. Why?

I think it's because it's all very well to report against objectives, but what is the fundamental purpose of those objectives? It is to create an impact of some sort.

Identifying impact

For not-for-profit and similar types of organisations, identifying desired impact is pretty straightforward, as this information is usually outlined in the vision and mission, then in more granular detail in the business objectives. In fact, annual impact reports have been around for some time in this sector.

Impact report or annual report?

For commercial enteprises, it might not be appropriate to replace the annual report with an impact report. However impact reporting might be something that is incorporated into an annual report. Generating a profit for the business owners or shareholders is certainly an impact, but it's not really what people expect. Instead, the impact might relate to how you generate that profit, or what you do with part of it. Ethical profit is impactful!

Measuring impact

You can't report on what you don't measure, so I'm stating the obvious when I say that to report on impact, you have to track and measure it. This requires a bit of preparation early in the reporting year. - identify what meaures you'll be using in your impact report.

Illustrate impact

But there's more - at the same time, decide how you will illustrate that impact. What engaging stories can you use to illustrate your impact? This is a really important complement to the facts and figures and will make your report come alive.

Find the human stories to really engage your audience and help them to identify with your organisation's activity.

For editing and proofreading assistance with your annual report or your impact report, get in touch via anita@redpepper.net.au

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