Start now with your annual report for 2023

So what is the problem? I have received all information for the report and the financial statements. But that's about it. No photos, videos, illustrations or other content have been provided that give the report that little bit extra. So I start looking for that myself, but I quickly get stuck. There are no news items on the website that I can use. And the social media channels are empty as well. I can't even find anything on Google. In short: there is simply no useful content (besides the necessary information).

To enrich your annual report with fun content, you obviously need fun content. And you have start collecting that content now. You can't retroactively capture the highlights at the end of the year. So put all the special events of the year in your diary from today. And be sure to be there (or send someone) to take photos and videos.

• Is a course offered that is in line with an organisational objective? Then interview an employee about how the course has inspired him or her.
• Have you implemented innovations to make the customer contact center work more efficiently? Then show through the eyes of an employee or customer how that efficiency has been achieved.
• Are you a housing corporation building new homes? Then take a photo regularly (for example weekly) from the same place and put it in a time lapse. This way you can show the progress of construction in an original way.

These are a few examples of ways in which you really show the impact of your organisation.

Of course, you don't just have to save all the content you collect this year for the annual report. Use it now on your website and social media channels and reuse it in your annual report.

In addition to collecting your own content, you can of course also collect ideas to give the annual report something extra. Think of surprising elements that you encounter in another annual report, beautiful infographics, interesting online applications for interactive maps or an appealing format for videos. Work on those ideas immediately if you need to create content for this during the year (such as a video series, for example). Or save them in a shared folder so that you can look at them the next time you start working on the annual report. Then see if you can use these ideas and have the means to create the content and use it in your annual report.

Well, why not? You write you annual report for all of your stakeholders. Not all your readers are itching to dive into financial statements right away. A lot of readers do want to see what you have done for them in the past year. How have you improved your services for your tenants, students or patients? What have you done to be a better employer? And in what way have you been working to limit the nuisance for local residents? Don't hide the answer to questions like these in a long text. Show it in pictures or with examples and be transparent to all your readers. Moreover, making an annual report becomes much more fun this way.

So, everything in a nutshell:

1. Record all special events in your diary.
2. Create content during/about all these events. Keep the organisational objectives (and therefore the goal associated with your content) in mind.
3. Collect ideas for elements that make your annual report more attractive and interactive.
4. Get started with your collected content and ideas and create an online annual report that serves all your stakeholders in an attractive and transparent way.