If you're still putting out annual reports the old fashioned way—pulling stacks of statistics, rounding up designers, blowing your budget on print copies, etc.—this post might be an eye-opener for you. Not only are annual report websites generally less expensive, they're also easy to fill with impactful media, easy to deliver, and easy to track. Plus, they're much more conscientious of the planet.

Letting your web team produce a professional site for this year's accomplishments could be a great step into the future for your non-profit—but don't take our word for it. Check out these reports from businesses and organizations who've already adopted the process to impressive results:

GRID Alternatives

gridalternatives.org/annual-report-15
GRID Alternatives' adopted an online annual report format a few years ago and now simply updates the stats, graphics and stories each year with new information...saving time and money. Their annual report is styled in a familiar, almost print-like layout.

Echoing Green

echoinggreen.org/2014
Echoing Green's 2014 report used floating side navigation to make it easy for visitors to jump to the information they were most interested in.

Shopify

shopify.com/2013
Shopify's 2013 report summarized their news with an interactive timeline.

Google Ventures

gv.com/2014/#portfolio-impact
GV (Google Ventures) incorporated videos in the impact section of their 2014 report.

Charity Water

charitywater.org/annual-report/14/#team
Charity Water reinforced the human element (their team) in their 2014 color block and photo layout.

MailChimp 

mailchimp.com/2015/#visit-from-a-mariachi-band
MailChimp's 2015 report linked stories to social posts, i.e. When referring to a mariachi band that played the Star Wars theme in their office, they linked to a video on Instagram.

MailChimp Again...

mailchimp.com/2012/
MailChimp's 2012 report featured an interactive element that allowed visitors to browse user statistics by demographic.

Lemon.ly

lemonly.com/2016report
Lemonly encouraged visitors to interact with their 2016 report, using a circular beam of "light" to reveal facts.

Flama 

2016.flama.is/
Flama laid out their 2016 report as a click-through slideshow.

One.org 

one.org/annualreport/
One's bold use of color and typography combined with compelling photography and language really makes their annual report shine.

Our Takeaway...

Styles may vary, but all successful annual report websites have two things in common: professional presentation and convenience. Sounds like a win, win!
Need help with your next Annual Report? Drop us a line!

This title is not clickbait. It’s a real problem.

It's been more than a year since Drupal 6 was abandoned by the open source Drupal community, leaving major security vulnerabilities in its wake. If it hasn't already cost your organization, it will—and in more ways than one.

What Drupal 6 End of Life (EOL) Means

Drupal 6 is open source software, which means it was developed and maintained by a community of developers. Unfortunately, as of February 24th, 2016, that maintenance has come to an end. The software is no longer updated.

Why Drupal 6 Websites Are Vulnerable to Hackers

You and your team have worked hard to build relationships with your supporters. Earning their trust took time—but it will only take a second to lose it.

Due to security vulnerabilities, user information can easily get stolen. Whether it's through form submission or user accounts, your supporters' privacy is at constant risk. In fact, we would venture to say if your Drupal 6 website haven't already been hacked, it's only a matter of time.

Why Drupal 6 Support Is Expensive

If it were just announced that 99% of mechanics would no longer service the type of vehicle you own, what would it mean for you? Your choices would be severely limited, and they would have the freedom to raise their rates exponentially—same thing with Drupal 6.

Open source software is tested by a ton of users, and the best solutions come from group thinking. Once you eliminate that option, you're left with little choice, great expense, and solutions less rigorously tested.

Why Drupal 6 Websites Are Slower

New server operating systems are being developed all the time, but Drupal 6 can’t take advantage of those technologies. Its outdated code won’t “talk” with the new server technology, leaving its users stuck in the past. Let's not forget:

1. Statistics show you have fewer than 2 seconds to load your site before most users leave. Think of those missed opportunities!

2. Search rank with Google and Bing are now directly tied to website speed.  If your website is slow, you’ll be pushed off of page 1 and attain far less traffic.

How Drupal 6 Harms Your Progress

If you and your staff are constantly forced to deal with website problems by scrambling to find a developer (assuming they will return your call during an emergency), it negatively affects your long-term goals.

With all of your energy addressing emergencies, who has time to create new ideas and strategies that forward your cause?

We know you have enough on your to-do list. Do you need to start your day dealing with an emergency website crash?

Why Now is the Time to Migrate to Drupal 7

You have a choice. Continue running around with your hair on fire, or invest in your digital marketing program.

The process can be involved, but is manageable when you break it into simple steps. That’s why our team has created a four-step process that makes it easy.

The process addresses:

1. the amount of content and the content structure
2. the functionality and how pages are built
3. the design of your website
4. the Drupal modules

In the end, it’s a choice between your website being a liability or an asset for your organization. As we all know, websites have become a critical part of our brand identities and programmatic goals.

If a short-term investment can save you long-term costs and present more opportunities in the long run, why not go for it?

Designing a new website, or redesigning your old website, is a large project to undertake. Larger than most people think.

According to SME Website Statistic, 48% of people cited a website’s design as the number one factor in deciding the credibility of a business. So, the price of a web design failure can be high.

Don’t worry! This post will start you on the path to a successful website project today.

We’ll cover four key areas to discuss internally with your team BEFORE you start the website project.

Though our team walks our clients through this process during every project, overwhelmingly, clients that have done internal work before we begin the project have greater success.

Organizational Strategy and Goals

A website does not get designed in a vacuum.

Meaning: your website is one of the foundational pieces of your marketing strategy, so it should help your organization move towards its long-term goals.

Ask yourself how your website can support your goals to boost online donations, organizational memberships, email sign-ups, social engagement, etc.

What obstacles are currently preventing success?

For most people, the obstacles that are preventing success fall into a few categories.

1. Brand and Design: “Our website looks like it’s from the GeoCities era!”

OK - maybe it’s not that bad, but a brand refresh can go a long way to build trust with your constituencies, and position your organization as a leader.

Think about the specific elements that might need updating: logo, color palette, fonts, content language, etc.

2. UX Design and Architectural: “Our users report it’s hard to find stuff.”

This is common comment that we hear from organizations looking to update their website.

The solution:

Gather a better understanding of who your audience is, and what they are trying to accomplish when they get there.

Stakeholder interviews can be extremely effective method for gathering this information.

3. System Integration: “Our website and CRM don’t talk to each other.”

Ever downloaded a CSV from one system and uploaded it into your CRM?

I thought so. We all have had that *pleasure*.

If systems don’t talk, they suck up valuable staff resources. Now’s the time to get serious about integration. Investing some money today will pay off in the long run.

4. Staff Training: “I can’t update our website content.”

In the age of content marketing, control of your website is a must. Your visitors expect fresh content constantly.

Bottom line:

Make sure you you get trained on how to manage your website.

Great, I have my obstacles, now what?

It’s important to provide context to the obstacles. Once identified, it’s important to better understand how they contribute to your goals not getting met.

For example: “I spend so much time downloading and uploading CSV’s to our CRM, that I can’t follow-up to thank our donors.”

Know Your Audience

I can’t stress how important this element is:

It’s hard to engage an audience that you don’t fully understand. Take the time to get to know and understand them.  Your success counts on it.

Your organization should have a clear description for each audience group your work with and the top 3 things that you want them to do.

Do you know what they do on your site currently?

Do you know what you WANT them to do on your site?

Notice: there is a big difference between what they do, and what you’d like them to do. This is an important distinction.

How do you measure success on our website?

It’s hard to measure if you never set goals.

We find that many people don’t set goals because they don’t want to know if they’re not meeting them. Failure is not celebrated enough.

Failure to meet a goal can be as bad as blowing a goal out of the water because maybe you set your expectations too low.

At the end of the day, you need establish what you’re going to measure and how you’re going to measure it.

How to get started

Getting this conversation started can be difficult, especially in an organization that has a lot of voices to be heard.  Here are some keys:

1. Set expectations that you would like to hear all staff thoughts on these matters, but not all suggestions provided will be implemented on the new website. It’s important to establish this early and often.

2. Internal surveys can be helpful to facilitate this process.

3. Make sure to engage senior staff early in the planning process.  Getting their buy-in on the project is extremely important.

4. Download our comprehensive guide that breaks down the technology and strategies into easy to follow steps. The solutions are simpler than you think.