Create a whole Impact section on your website
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer has a great page that showcases how much money was raised, an interactive map to see specifically where the money goes – grants given out – and the ability to see more details about those grants. Storytelling is great but don’t underestimate the power of straight up facts (presented nicely of course).
http://www.avonwalk.org/see-your-impact/where-the-money-goes.html
Focus on impact in the news area of your site
Hone in on the most important news your organization has to offer – how your programs are impacting the world around you. Save the fluffier fun news for your Facebook page or twitter to get people engaged. The Women’s Refugee Commission has a nice impact section on the front page of their site that draws people further into the site to explore.
http://womensrefugeecommission.org/
Create quarterly performance reports
Cara, a nonprofit that helps homeless people obtain employment, creates quarterly reports that showcase their impact on the community with great statistics (showing job placement and retention, hourly wage and other numbers compared to industry averages). They also showcase a client story – all done in a visually appealing 2 page report.
http://www.thecaraprogram.org/sites/default/files/uploads/TCP_PU_FY13_Q2.pdf
Create an impact banner that displays your most significant statistics boldly on your main page
The Michael J. Fox Foundation has a front and center banner below their slideshow with big stats that links to a landing page entitled “How Do We Cure Parkinson’s Disease?” that features a great video and other fun details.
https://www.michaeljfox.org/
Make your client stories sound more exciting, using action words
The Christian Foundation for Children and Aging has an impact section on their website (entitled Our Work) with the title “See Our Work in Action” for their stories and videos. And then the brief intros are written really well and entice you to want to read further. “Buenaventura, 63, has worked as a dressmaker, street vendor and office cleaner in the Dominican Republic. She never learned to read and write until she was sponsored through CFCA.”
http://www.cfcausa.org/OurWork.aspx
Share how you measure impact
Robin Hood has their entire main page dedicated to impact. The slideshow features a “How do we measure impact” slide that takes people to a metrics page; they also have an interesting assortment of impact statistics in a graphic below the slideshow.
http://www.robinhood.org/homepage
Create an impact / accomplishments timeline
This is still the most fun way to see impact – especially if it resembles an infographic. Acumen Fund has a great infographic-like timeline going straight down their main page.
http://www.acumenfund.org/ten/
Include your impact in your annual report
This may sound like a given but there are lots of nonprofits that don’t really show impact. They just repeat the who, what, why junk they have on their website so the annual report really becomes an organizational brochure with financials at the back. That’s just a waste of printing ink (not to mention postage). PSI does a great job of showing impact in their report.
