What a Year in Review Can Do For You

With the arrival of December, newspapers and other media outlets are starting to roll out an old standard: The year-in-review story.
 
You should join them. 
  
Crafting a year-in-review story offers a great way for your organization to highlight some of your key accomplishments — and set the tone for what’s to come. 
 
Year-in-review content usually requires only a light lift. Often, you just need to spend some time reviewing your communications of the past year and then summarizing your best stuff in an easy-to-digest format. 
 
Obviously, the story will focus on key milestones and accomplishments. However, If you faced a notable challenge, don’t shy away from including that as well — particularly if you found an effective way to navigate through it. 
 
Peppering in a few challenges can demonstrate authenticity and transparency -- two things your audience will appreciate. 
 
A year in review can help you: 
 
Showcase results: A rapid fire list of what you accomplished this year is a great way demonstrate the scope and value of what your organization achieved to support your mission. The year-in-review format offers a rare opportunity to brag a bit — and demonstrate to the world that you got things done in 2022.
 
Acknowledge key audiences: Committed supporters, key stakeholders or loyal customers are essential to any organization’s success. A year in reviewoffers the chance to acknowledge the role they played in your success, and to thank them for their support.
 
Boost morale: Amid the daily grind, it’s often easy to forget all the great things that were accomplished over the course of a year. Capturing your greatest hits can serve as an excellent opportunity to heap well-deserved praise on your team.   
 
Provide fodder for other communications: A year-in-review story offers plenty of material for your CEO or another visible leader in your organization to riff in a personalized year-end letter to your audience. It can also be easily tapped for a fundraising appeal, a media pitch, and social media content. 
 
Set priorities: Looking back can often help provide clarity on how to move forward. As you review your content over the past year, you can assess what worked and what didn’t — and help you devise strategies for starting strong in the New Year. 

Creating a year in review will also help give you perspective. Whenever I’ve created a year in review, I’ve felt pride in what I and my colleagues have accomplished together.
 
And at a time of year where it’s easy to focus solely on what’s ahead, looking back can provide a welcome boost in holiday spirit.