Choosing three numbers donors will actually remember
Most annual reports drown readers in indicators. Here is how Thai nonprofits we work with pick a short set that still feels honest.
When a fundraising lead asks for “all the metrics,” the resulting report often becomes a wall of tables. Donors skim. Boards ask for a shorter version. The stewardship letter then invents a new number set that does not match the annual report.
We ask program teams to name the three figures a major donor should be able to repeat after a ten-minute meeting. Typical choices for education projects include children reached, average attendance over the year, and the share of learners who completed a defined milestone. Health projects often use patients served, follow-up completion, and a single outcome rate with a clear denominator.
Everything else belongs in an appendix or a grant schedule. That discipline keeps the front pages readable and stops the habit of switching definitions between documents.
Before you brief a designer, write one sentence under each chosen number: what it measures, what it does not measure, and which spreadsheet tab proves it. That sentence becomes the caption later, and it prevents the common slip of presenting a partial count as a population-wide claim.