Good recordkeeping throughout the year will make it easy to compile your annual report. Here are some tips:
- Start a folder at the beginning of the year. Use it to save lists of grants, speeches by board members and staff, newspaper clips, news releases, fund reports, photos, and so on.
- Read colleagues’ annual reports for ideas.
- Write about grants and events as the year progresses.
- Ask grantees for photographs and take photos at events that occur throughout the year.
Once you have your annual report ready, you will want to distribute it widely: to your extended family (for family foundations), grantees, potential grantseekers, and the larger community. Take your report to meetings, conferences, and other events. Mail it to board members, grantees, reporters, elected officials, foundation colleagues, and others. Many foundations publish their annual reports online—either on their own website, or through an outside service such as Candid.
See what’s often included in an annual report >>
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