Five reasons to report back to your supporters

Sharing the impact of your work 

You’re doing amazing work and seeing lives changed by Jesus - but do your supporters know about it? Reporting back on the impact you’re having isn’t just about sharing encouraging stories; it's about creating trust, building engagement and inspiring action.

We’ve got FIVE compelling reasons why you should consider reporting back each year. 

Celebrate how God is at work

Every camp run, person at a conference, student graduated, or message preached is thanks to the grace of God! Reporting back creates a great opportunity to be thankful and celebrate publicly how He is working through your organisation. It also provides this opportunity and reminder for your staff, supporters and volunteers to focus on God in the work (rather than just being caught in the weeds of the day-to-day). 

Build trust in your effectiveness

Don’t just say you’re doing great things - show people! When you report back with a mixture of stories and data, you build trust in your effectiveness. Supporters and interested audiences can see why what you’re doing is worth being involved in, and trust that what they see is making a difference in the end. This is particularly important for organisations whose primary work is quite separate from the end result, or where it is slow to see the work bear fruit. 

Inspire action and new (or more) engagement

As people trust you more and can see how your work is transforming hearts, minds and lives for Jesus - they are inspired to action! Reporting back is an essential layer to long-term growth in fundraising and volunteering. It also encourages engagement in attending events, sharing your ministry and praying for you. 

Increase confidence for your supporters 

Your supporters want to know that their investment—whether it's time, money, or prayers—is making a tangible difference. Sharing how things are going and highlighting growth and change gives them confidence in you (and in themselves). This confidence can then more easily translate into giving again, increasing their engagement and sharing with others. You also honour your supporters and create an opportunity for them to take ownership of the work they help you to do!

Experience the benefit of looking back internally 

When we’re in the grind of the work - it can be hard to reflect. Hard to stop and look at the bigger picture and assess what you’ve achieved as a team or an organisation. However doing this has so many benefits, like refocusing people on the vision, encouraging you for the future and growing motivation for how every person's work is contributing to the overall impact. Don’t underestimate how the process of reporting on impact benefits your organisation.

So how do you report back well?

We hope you’ve been convinced to step outside of the day-to-day and look back. Reporting back on impact regularly (not just when connected to raising money) has so many benefits! So how do you do it well? 

It takes a three-pronged approach; be consistent, be a storyteller, be shaped by vision. 

You’ll notice that we don’t say ‘be a long report of complex data’. That is not to say using real numbers isn’t important, but rather it’s part of the story you weave! 

Be consistent - Report regularly and in a consistent format. This might be through an annual Impact Report or a short segment in your monthly news email or on social media. 

Be a storyteller - People understand and view the world through stories. So when we report back, we need to use the lens of stories to help them best understand and engage with our impact. This can include written stories about people sharing their experiences, as well as shaping data into a story by contextualising graphs and charts. 

Be shaped by vision - When you report back you are reporting on the vision you’ve cast or the mission you as an organisation are on. This should be clearly reflected in your reporting! Say it, show it, cast it for the year or years ahead. 

Get expert help to report your impact

At Crossbeam we love helping clients report back well to their supporters. Each year we prepare Impact Reports for many of our clients, as well as creating other impact-related campaigns and writing stories of impact. We’d love to be part of telling your story of impact too.