What’s the difference between doing good work as a charity and building trust with donors, funders and the wider public?
A well-produced impact report.
Effective impact reporting is crucial for charities to build trust and demonstrate accountability, besides being a valuable digital fundraising tool.
What is a charity impact report?
Think of an impact report as a valuable opportunity to present the good work your charity is doing in the best possible light by showcasing the difference you’re making in the world.
Exactly how you communicate the impact your charity has on the lives of real people is vital in both retaining existing supporters and recruiting new ones – whether they are donors, volunteers or partners.
The benefits of a strong charity impact report
A marketing and fundraising tool
While your annual report will show the core statistics and results from the last 12 months, those will only move people to action when set alongside positive human outcomes.
This is where impact reporting can shine out as an effective marketing and fundraising tool as much as a governance one. Done well, it can drive future donations and grant applications by providing strong impact reports that translate numbers into stories using real case studies and quotes.
Focus on storytelling
An essential ingredient for your charity impact report should be the inclusion of genuine first-hand accounts of how your service has changed lives for the better.
The inside stories and outcomes of your work show the reader how you are using their contributions, and are vital to help them engage with your cause. The effort that you put into your impact reporting really does have a direct influence on repeat funding decisions.
Support across the board
A well-produced report can provide a flexible content source for the rest of the year, repurposed for use in social media campaigns, newsletters, funding bids and stakeholder meetings.
It also strengthens internal morale by showing staff and volunteers the difference they make.
It’s also worth noting that a report by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) shows funders read impact reports as part of their due diligence before deciding on grant renewals.
This is yet another reason why it’s imperative that you avoid the common mistake of producing a data-heavy report with no narrative about the real human stories and outcomes of your work.
Also good to know
As a specialist Charity Marketing Agency, Harrison Carloss has direct experience of producing this kind of work for the charity sector, most recently with our success in raising awareness of Dougie Mac as a provider of dementia care.
We can design your next Impact Report and really make a difference to how donors, funders and the wider public see you. Email hello@harrisoncarloss.com and let’s set up a meeting!