Seeking excellent annual reports

The Best Plain English Annual Report award recognises excellence in communication with stakeholders. The judges are looking for an annual report that all stakeholders, including those who are not financially literate, will find easy to read and use to make informed decisions.

Each entry in this category costs $143.75 including GST or $74.75 including GST for registered charities. This fee goes completely towards running the Awards.

What you need to know

The report needs to clearly convey the organisation’s messages, be clear and concise, and be free of jargon. Technical terms must be explained and figures presented in an easy-to-understand format. Graphs, tables, and photographs must support key messages.

Performance measures must be explained, and indicators reported, in a way that allows readers to make useful comparisons with other companies or organisations.

The judges will focus on the body of the report including discussions about financial performance, but not the financial statements themselves.

On the entry form you’ll need to give information about the purpose of your document, your target reader, and whether your document was user-tested.

You can enter print (in pdf form) or online versions of your annual report.

Organisations from any sector can enter.

Prizes for this award

The winner of the Best Plain English Annual Report award will receive:

• a stunning steel and bronze trophy produced for the Awards by Wellington sculptor Campbell Maud
• the latest StyleWriter plain English editing software — single-user licence (from Editor Software)
• a place on any of Write Limited’s 1-day public workshops.

Please email [email protected] if you have any questions.