A weekly or monthly newsletter helps your organization engage with staff, stakeholders, and potential donors. Make sure your newsletter has a great, catchy title that connects well with your organization; include short articles and updates; include related images with alt-text. Check out the tutorial below on how to use Canva to create a free newsletter.
Nonprofits rely heavily on donations to support projects, programs, services, and research that benefit their communities. Effective grant proposals are backed by relevant research and data. Each proposal is unique and generally in response to a call for applications, so while you may include much of the same information, be sure to update and make appropriate changes to match the requested format. This guide from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Writing Center is a great resource for tackling your first proposal.
A white paper is similar to a grant proposal in that you're trying to convince an outside entity that your idea or position deserves their support. You would write a white paper when you're looking to partner with another organization, or encourage another organization, group, or individual to invest in your endeavor. White papers establish you as an authority, so your writing should be authoritative, and backed by relevant, timely research and data. There may be some narrative elements to help connect with your audience, but primarily aim for a document that is educational and practical, and inspires the reader to support your 'call to action'.
A donor letter is exactly what it sounds like. It is not a grant proposal, rather a more personal request for financial or volunteer support from your community. When you write a donor letter, your writing should be more casual but still authoritative. Use your research skills to help tell create an engaging narrative that will really help potential donors connect with your cause. Don't plagiarize, but don't feel the need to incorporate scholarly material that might be off-putting or feel elitist to some readers.
Less research driven, these reports rely heavily on a solid information management system. Organizing and tracking revenues and distributions allows you to create fully transparent reports and maintain your non-profit status. Additionally, the forms and reports that you submit are often public record and publicly available, which means potential donors and partners have access to how well your organization manages funds and resources.
Jitisa Group breaks down the four major financial statements non-profits should compile at least annually along with their IRS forms:
The statement of activities is the nonprofit parallel to the for-profit income statement. Its purpose is to provide detailed information about your organization’s transactions, showing how your expense allocation and revenue generation further your mission.
This statement is divided into three main sections:
The nonprofit statement of financial position is also known as a balance sheet, which is what for-profit organizations usually call their equivalent statement. It provides a snapshot of your organization’s financial health, meaning it plays an especially important role in nonprofit financial audits.
Similar to the statement of activities, the balance sheet also has three main sections:
Both for-profit and nonprofit organizations use the term “statement of cash flows,” and the report it describes looks fairly similar between the two. This statement shows how cash moves in and out of your organization on a regular basis, so it’s usually pulled monthly, rather than annually like the other three core statements.
This report shows your organization’s cash flows as they relate to:
The last of the four essential financial statements, the statement of functional expenses, is unique to nonprofits. In most accounting systems, expenditures are typically recorded as natural expenses, which are based on the nature of the payment. Most for-profit organizations stop there, but nonprofits have to go one step further and reorganize their costs based on their function in furthering the organization’s mission, which are known as functional expenses.
While the natural expenses included in this statement will vary by organization, the three standard categories of functional expenses are:
Like Financial Statements, you shouldn't need to do extensive (external) research to compile an annual report. You will need to have organized records including details for grant proposals and white papers, from which you can pull information about projects and potentially successes. This is a formal opportunity to thank donors and partners, share accomplishments, and prepare stakeholders for what's to come in the next year or so.
Take a look at Goucher's 2024-2025 Impact Report.
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