Annual Reports

At Mental Health Association Oklahoma, I led the design and content creation for the annual report. The purpose of this report was two-fold.

First, our objective was to thank the previous year’s donors. Several pages were dedicated to alphabetized names organized by the amount they contributed. My team and the development team spent hours pouring over these pages making sure no one was forgotten and that we spelled every name correctly. Additionally, as a part of that thank you, we’d showcase our work with their generous donations, often through storytelling and data.

Second, the report was a transparency tool. We’d ensure our annual income and expenses were easily accessible to donors and the general public.

While we did send out donor cards and ask for donations with this annual project, it was largely a donor-relations and awareness initiative. Our goal each year was to earn enough donations from this work to pay for printing and mailing the report to every donor on the list.

My role in these publications was to brainstorm with designers on the look and feel of the annual report and provide direction when needed. I collected data from other departments in the organization and worked with our team media specialist to find stories that helped bring the numbers to life.

Below you can open up both annual reports I was responsible for during my tenure.

2020Annual Report

The skill I practiced most in this annual report is flexibility. We struggled to find a new rhythm during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. In previous years, the organization always had plenty of professional photos to utilize—but not that year. Even the stories were harder to capture because of quarantine restrictions.

We were scrappy and innovative in trying to find art that was high enough quality for this print publication. With the help of a design employee and a contract designer, we developed a plan to use color, texture and shapes to hide some imperfections. Ultimately, it was a fun and colorful publication that we needed in an otherwise challenging year.

2018 Annual Report

This was the first project I completed as a director, and I had the opportunity to practice cross-departmental collaboration. During this annual report, I also learned my first tough leadership lesson— leaders should always ask questions and never operate under assumptions.

The short story is our photography bill was larger than expected. Since I was a new director, some conversations happened before I was hired. Rather than seeking clarifications, I leaned on my knowledge of the typical market price for photography. After receiving the unexpected expense, I communicated with my chief and the contractors. We came to an agreement that the scope of work for the project completed was smaller than the scope of work outlined in discussions during the previous year. We compromised on a price that was within our budget and made sense for the work we received.

As a bonus, I learned always to ask questions—especially if it was about our budget and expenses.