Getting started

The TAR may form part of your annual accounts, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait for the final numbers before you can start writing. Preparing the TAR can be an ongoing process.

You might decide to have a dedicated charity trustee meeting to bring together ideas, or the preparation of the TAR could be a standing item on the agenda for charity trustee meetings so that it can be thought about on an ongoing basis or drafted in stages.

The first step is to go back to basics and make sure that you understand the purposes of your charity:

1. Look at your governing document to make sure you understand the charity’s purposes and that they reflect what the charity is actually doing. If not you may need to consider what you are doing or if the purposes need to be changed. See Being a Charity in Scotland and Making changes to your charity for more information.

2. Once you are clear on the charity’s purpose(s) you need to explain how the activities have advanced those purposes, or show what difference the charity has made in trying to achieve those purposes. News items on your website and reports for funders can be useful sources of information to include in the TAR.

3. Think about how the charity has actually been running and its finances.  Does the charity have reserves and a reserves policy? Being clear about the activities of the charity should help you to develop a policy if you do not already have one. See our Charity Reserves Factsheet for more information.

However you approach writing your TAR remember who your target audience is, and identify the key messages you want them to remember.

Download the pdf version of the 5 tips.