Impact Reports are to nonprofits what a cover letter is to job applicants: a nonprofit needs one to be considered. They’re an easy-to-read way of showing that your nonprofit is fulfilling its mission and making a difference. However, the effectiveness of their typical format, PDFs, has been called into question. So, is anyone still reading impact reports as PDFs, and are they still worth making?
The Problem With PDFs
Impact reports have traditionally been formatted as PDFs to maximize shareability and compatibility across all devices, but PDFs have issues that make people turn away from them:
- PDFs designed with larger screens in mind are a hassle to read on mobile devices, which have overtaken computers as the most commonly used form of internet searching.
- If not properly tagged or formatted, screen readers will not be able to read the PDFs, rendering the document inaccessible to people with disabilities.
- PDFs require you to download them, which breaks the flow of using a website and drives off safety-conscious users who avoid downloading files they aren’t certain are safe.
- Additionally, PDFs are, for the reasons mentioned above, bad for SEO.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make impact reports as PDFs; they are still widely used and easily shared. It just means you’ll also need to make reports in more engaging and accessible formats.
New Ways to Report
People’s attention spans have gotten shorter, and the majority of your report readers are likely only going to skim through it for the stats. Here are some ways you can share your impact independent of a PDF:
Snippets
Take snippets of your impact report and add them to your website, post them on social media, or integrate them into email newsletters. They’re easy to consume, don’t require extra effort to find, and contain only relevant information.
Interactive Webpage
Rather than breaking the flow of your website with a PDF, create a page in the style of an impact report, such as this page we designed for Houston Cultural Districts. It maintains the style and data visualization of an impact report while being mobile-friendly and not disrupting user experience.
To PDF or Not to PDF
The answer should be clear by now: Do both! An impact report is not just a way to show your nonprofit’s legitimacy or build transparency, but a marketing tactic to prove to current/potential donors that the impact your nonprofit is making is real. You should use multiple formats and make your report as accessible and easy to view as possible.
