A Fresh Idea: Annual Report Goes Digital

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-09-22 06:11:00 UTC
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For the first time ever, the Salvation Army released their annual report entirely online, complete with interactive graphics and client video testimony. Their timing couldn't be better. With organizations so strapped for cash this year, particularly homeless service providers, the window for fresh approaches to stale routines is wide open.

According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Salvation Army is the first major nonprofit to do away with printing and mailing thousands of paper reports. Instead, supporters (and non-supporters, alike) can browse the clean and user-friendly online interface, complete with video segments, moving photos (a la Ken Burns), and interactive charts. The experience is much more intimate than flipping through a book, and much more informative.

But the transition online hasn't left paper annual report completely obsolete. Each page has a "print as a PDF" option and a tab provides the option of printing the entire book.

I love this forward-thinking, environmentally-friendly approach. Not only does it have the potential of being less expensive than a paper annual report, it has the potential to have a much broader impact. It could very well be the ideal approach for budget-strapped homeless service providers looking for a powerful vehicle to tell their stories, demonstrate their impact, and garner new support.

First image from DrewVigal's public Flickr photo stream. Second image from the Salvation Army's 2009 Annual Report.

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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