Increasingly, LERN is discovering more continuing education and lifelong learning programs developing annual reports.
An annual report is a comprehensive review of a continuing education or lifelong learning program’s activities throughout the previous year. The annual report is intended to give both internal and external stakeholders information about the program’s activities and performance.
Effective annual reports are:
- A demonstration of the program’s depth and scale with accomplishments, milestones, and goals.
- A communication tool for the program’s leadership.
- A resource that can be used in multiple ways throughout the upcoming year.
- An opportunity to engage and educate stakeholders.
Schoolcraft College
Schoolcraft Continuing Education & Professional Development located in Livonia, Michigan is a best practice program that has successfully implemented the use of annual reports. “Our Continuing Education & Professional Development Annual Report demonstrates both our successes and our vision and serves as a tool for educating customers and proving our value to Schoolcraft College and our community,” states Holly Klotz, Continuing Education & Professional Development Operations Manager.
Internal & External Customers
The most effective annual reports have two audiences:
- Internal customers. The annual report serves as an internal marketing tool. It allows a program to demonstrate how they serve the institution’s mission, benefit the institution, and bring overall value. This is a critical message, and one every program should be broadcasting. Others will not recognize your value and the value of your contributions unless you tell them. Solidifying your brand internally is as critical to your success as disseminating it externally.
- External customers. This is where most of us place the majority of our effort, and it is important that we make sure that those people who are our customers, prospective customers, and possibly our financial supporters if we receive public dollars, have a good understanding of what we do and how we benefit the community. Although our work is very impactful, it is not likely that most people will understand what we do unless we tell them.
The key components of an effective annual report are:
- Accomplishments. What happened the past year? Did staff complete the goals set out at the start of the year? Accomplishments allow you to highlight the big wins the past year.
- Stories. One important element of a good annual report is the story. When creating an annual report, it is important not to just see it as a presentation of facts and statistics. Affective communication – the communication that creates an emotional response – is very important. Telling people that you provided service to 73 percent of the population of your county will have less effect than one success story that demonstrates how an individual or organization benefitted from your program.
- Partnerships. The best annual reports also focus on partnerships. This is important both strategically and politically. None of us achieves success single-handedly. Others are always part of the success. Acknowledging the roles of others, thanking them for their part,is important. It builds bridges and strengthens relationships so that you can build upon the partnerships you have established.
- Financials and Numbers. A review of your finance numbers, as well as the benchmarks you use to measure success
- Acknowledgements. Testimonials or other recognition for the good work accomplished the past year.
- Call to Action. Most of us don’t think of our annual report as a marketing document, but marketing is a very important element. Beyond being one of the best tools to provide transparency, the publication extends trust to the user base by allowing for a forum to thank both team and customers, sets the tone for the year ahead, and is effective in generating support. In order to receive support, it is necessary to ask for it. Whether it takes the form of goals for the coming year and ways others can help or a statement of needs in order to achieve additional success, it should be included in the annual report. Letting others know that they can be part of building the community will help gain their support and engage them further with your program.
Conclusion
An annual report is a great tool for demonstrating achievements, but also an instrument for building trust.
Kim Becicka, the Vice President of Continuing Education & Training Services at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa puts it this way. She says that continuing education and lifelong learning programs are about collaboration – both within the institution and within the larger community. That collaboration plus being innovative is what leads to new programs, new business procedures, new marketing techniques, and new partnerships. Whatever it might be, it leads to trust, respect, and inclusion. When your program is included in influential circles, respect for you grows, and support for you grows. People listen to you, and this enhances your success.
So,consider producing an annual report not just to report on accomplishments, but also to serve as a conduit for building trust, thus inclusion, which will benefit your program, your customers, and your institution.