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MH Copy • mark@mhcopy.com • 07725 028 643 • www.mhcopy.com
CharityComms
Editorial skills for charities workshop
Makeover your annual review handout
10 golden rules / 10 foods for thought
1. Audience
Golden rule one
Ask yourself the question, ‘Who is my charity’s annual review for?’ What you feature, how you talk
about it and how you present your information will all depend on this. Remember, it’s probably not
for your trustees and is more likely to be for supporters and potential supporters.
Food for thought one
Ask your potential audience what they want from an annual review. What do supporters, corporate
partners, etc, want to read about?
2. Tone of voice / language
Golden rule two
Use warm, conversational, language that engages people. Don’t think you have to be too formal.
Also be passionate about your achievements and recognise that it’s only with the help of your
supporters that you can achieve so much.
Food for thought two
If you’re not sure what tone of voice is right for your annual report, give it an identity. Choose a
celebrity, historical figure or someone you know and imagine how they’d communicate with your
target audiences.

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MH Copy • mark@mhcopy.com • 07725 028 643 • www.mhcopy.com
3. Layout
Golden rule three
Imagine your pages are plates of food. They need to look appetising and digestible to your reader.
Therefore, create small chunks of information and don’t overload a page with too many messages.
Food for thought three
Remember the purpose of your annual review is to bring your charity to life. It’s not to detail every
action from the last 12 months. Think about your audiences and highlight what will have the most
impact with them. Simplicity really is key here.
4. Chairman and CEO statements
Golden rule four
Don’t let your chairman or CEO write their own statements. Interview them or email questions that
will lead to the information you want to be present in their statements.
Food for thought four
Don’t have a chairman or CEO statement. Have a more general statement, or consider having a
supporter deliver the welcome statement. Although, again, make sure they deliver the messages
you want your audiences to hear.
5. Case studies
Golden rule five
Yes, make sure you use case studies, but also make sure you use them effectively. This means
not overusing them, as they will compete against each other. Also, make sure your case studies
deliver a message quickly. Don’t coat what you want to get across too much with background
information.
Food for thought five
Alternatively, make case studies absolutely central to your annual review. Let them deliver all of
the information about your achievements and objectives, or let them introduce sections of your
review. Also make their language conversational and fun.

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MH Copy • mark@mhcopy.com • 07725 028 643 • www.mhcopy.com
6. Imagery and photography
Golden rule six
Make an investment in your annual review’s images. You usually get what you pay for. Don’t use
stock photography. You need to communicate who you are in a glance. This rule applies for pie
charts, graphs and illustrations as well.
Food for thought six
Use illustrations. They add a real warmth to any document. How about getting employees,
professionals or people you support to illustrate areas of your work or draw pictures of themselves.
7. Format
Golden rule seven
However you choose to present your information, make sure your audience can navigate through it
easily. They need to know how to find things quickly. And they need to know where they are in a
document when they’re reading something.
Food for thought seven
There are limitless formats to choose for your annual review. Just try and think a little bit outside of
the box but without distorting the message you want to get across. One format I particularly like is
a day in the life of a charity. As you turn the pages of the review you meet people who deliver
support and hear about achievements linked to their area of work.
8. Multimedia
Golden rule eight
Think about different media and how they could help you to engage with your audiences more.
Many people may prefer an electronic version of your review. Investment in an interactive online
version could be better money spent than producing hundreds of printed copies.
Food for thought eight
Produce a 100% video annual review. Send all the necessary annual report stuff to the Charity
Commission but make your annual review come alive – literally. You can find a really good
example of this on YouTube by a US charity called Volunteer Match.

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MH Copy • mark@mhcopy.com • 07725 028 643 • www.mhcopy.com
9. Use what’s out there
Golden rule nine
Look what other charities and organisations do for their annual review and don’t be afraid to pinch
their best bits. There is a wealth of information you can look at on the internet to help inform what
you want to produce.
Food for thought nine
Spend a day at home and trawl the internet for ideas. You need to give yourself the space to do
effective research. It will be the best investment of your time you make.
10. Gathering information
Golden rule ten
It’s vital that you plan from a very early stage. Straight after you’ve finished your previous review is
not a bad idea. You can then nail down a concept and start to gather information throughout the
year that will make this concept work.
Food for thought ten
In an ideal world, instil in your Marketing team (even the whole organisation) the importance of the
annual review and that every project they are involved in might be relevant to it. Then create a
folder where information can be dropped in about successes, case studies, statistics – sometimes
the thing that nobody knows about can make the most compelling story or titbit of information.