Annual Reports for Nonprofits Editing and Proofreading Services

Almost nobody reads a nonprofit's annual report in full, and nearly everybody cites it. A program officer opens it the week before a grant decision, and a reporter opens it the week after something goes wrong. Regulators sample it, prospective board members read it before joining, and a few donors read it cover to cover. It is also the only document most organizations produce that records what a year cost and produced, which makes it the reference point for later arguments about whether the place is well run.

The documents we edit for Annual Reports for Nonprofits

The trustees' or directors' annual report, the narrative accompanying the financial statements, the chair and chief executive statements, and the sections on structure, governance, and management are the pieces that make up that report, and we edit all of them. The work also covers objectives and activities, achievements and performance reporting, the financial review, and the reserves policy narrative. Risk statements and their mitigations, going concern disclosure, remuneration and related party disclosures, public benefit statements, fundraising standards and complaints reporting, plans for the coming year, and the summarized supporter-facing version belong to the same list. Our editors check that the narrative and the numbers describe the same organization.

What the editing involves

The financial narrative is where a report is trusted or quietly disbelieved, and the failure is almost always in what goes unexplained. A reader who sees reserves rise from $1.8 million to $2.4 million in a year when the appeal called the situation critical will draw a conclusion, and it will not be generous. Another sees $3.6 million in restricted funds and concludes money is being hoarded. A third sees $640,000 spent on fundraising and cannot judge whether that is reasonable.

A reserves policy answers four questions, and most published ones answer two. The target range should be stated, the reasoning behind that figure given, the current position against the range reported, and the consequence of drifting outside it described. "The trustees consider the current level of reserves to be appropriate" states a conclusion without any of that. A policy stating that the target is three to six months of unrestricted expenditure, that this equals $1.5 million to $3 million, and that reserves stand at $2.4 million tells the reader something.

Restricted and unrestricted funds need explaining in ordinary words, because the distinction is invisible to most readers and explains most of the apparent contradictions. Any significant movement should be named rather than left in the numbers: a deficit, a large bequest, the sale of a building, or a round of staff reductions. The cost of raising funds belongs beside what those funds returned. A line reading $640,000 invites suspicion, while $640,000 spent to raise $3.1 million invites a judgment, which is what the reader came for.

Confidentiality and the limits of our role

Everything you send is treated in confidence, including draft accounts and material before approval. We are editors, not accountants, auditors, or charity law advisors, and we offer no view on accounting treatment, regulatory requirements, or the adequacy of any disclosure. Your auditor or independent reviewer and your advisors must confirm those. What we can do is make the narrative clear, consistent with the figures, and readable.