As a communications consultant, I write a lot of annual reports for non-profits, corporations and governments. While over the years they’ve evolved to be less text heavy, there’s still a common piece missing. People are forgetting the WHY.

Besides the financial data (which I’m not sure anyone reads), a typical annual report includes a summary of key programs and services. Sadly, some are still a dumping of information versus using storytelling to bring the programs and services to life.

Too often I see organizations wanting to share WHAT they did and HOW they did it, forgetting about the WHY.