Design Your Story: Build Your Nonprofit Annual Report in Canva

This Workshop is Perfect for you if:

This workshop is for nonprofit professionals responsible for creating an annual or impact report, especially those working with limited time, staff or design resources. If you have plenty of information but aren’t sure what to include, you’ll learn a practical process for gathering and selecting stories, statistics, testimonials and photographs.

Then, you’ll discover how to use Canva to create a polished, engaging and donor-friendly report—without being a professional designer. Whether you’re starting from scratch or improving an existing report, you’ll learn how to strengthen its structure, storytelling, and design.

During This Nonprofit Workshop, You Will Create:

You will have an annual report blueprint and starter layout in Canva that you can continue developing after the workshop. We will not create an entire report, but rather the framework that makes it easier to organize content and create a full report in Canva. 

During This Nonprofit Workshop, You Will Learn:

• How to Deconstruct a Nonprofit Annual Report: Identify the strategic, editorial, and design decisions behind it.
• How to Define Your Direction: Clarify your report’s purpose, audience and primary message before writing or designing.
• How to Choose Key Stories: Select the three most important stories instead of trying to include every program, activity and accomplishment.
• How to Gather Relevant Report Content: Collect the necessary statistics, financial information, testimonials, photographs, captions, names and calls to action.
• How to Build the Report Structure: Organize content into a clear flow that guides readers through your story.
• How to Show Your Impact: Combine human stories with meaningful data to create emotional connection.
• How to Apply Design Principles: Use key design principles to make your report clear and engaging.
• How to Build the Report in Canva: Create a professional, flexible report using the Brand Kit and repeatable page layouts.

During This Nonprofit Workshop You Will Be Responsible For:

• Participating in the guided exercises
• Identifying at least one potential impact story to use during the workshop
• Having access to a free or paid Canva account for the demo (optional)
• Continuing to develop and refine the report after the workshop 

You’ll Get These BONUS Materials:

1. Annual Report Planning Workbook: A workbook for defining your purpose, audience,  message, statistics, impact stories and goals.
2. Annual Report Dos & Don'ts: A reference guide as you plan, write, design and review your report
3. Annual Report 5-Minute Design Checklist: A tool for reviewing the key design principles of color, typography, layout and imagery.
4. The Workshop Slides
5. The Workshop Recording 

About Your Topic Expert:

Lidia is specifically qualified to teach this webinar because:

• She has 25+ years of experience helping nonprofits and other mission-driven organizations communicate their stories and impact.
• She has designed over 30 annual and impact reports for nonprofit organizations across sectors.
• She is a Certified Brand Strategist and an experienced marketing designer specializing in nonprofit communications.
• Her annual report work includes projects for the National Benevolent Association, Carole Robertson Center for Learning, Hope for Widows Foundation and New Moms.
• Her approach combines strategy, storytelling, content organization, data visualization and design.
• She teaches nonprofit professionals how to create clearer, more consistent and more engaging visual communications in Canva.
• She has presented workshops for organizations such as Bloomerang’s GiveCon, NTEN’s NTC, and Association Forum’s Holiday Showcase.
• She understands the realities of small nonprofit teams, including limited time and budgets, as well as staff members who must create communications without design training.

Lidia Varesco Racoma is a Certified Brand Strategist and the founder of Lidia Varesco Design, a Chicago-based, woman-owned branding and marketing design studio. Since 2000, she has helped nonprofits, associations and other mission-driven organizations clarify their stories and translate them into strategic, engaging visual communications.

Lidia has designed over 30 annual and impact reports, combining program updates, organizational outcomes, and financial information into clear, compelling stories. Her report work includes projects for the National Benevolent Association, Carole Robertson Center for Learning, Hope for Widows Foundation, and New Moms.

In addition to her client work, Lidia is an experienced speaker and instructor who helps nonprofit professionals apply brand strategy and design principles to their communications. Her practical teaching style gives participants approachable tools, real examples and clear, actionable next steps. She is the founder of the Essential Nonprofit Branding Toolkit, a practical, self-guided resource that helps small teams clarify their brand strategy and create more consistent outreach.