Times are tough, budgets are bleak, and print is pricey. Why not try something new this year? Save some paper, ditch unnecessary printing costs, and avoid an extra trip to the post office.

That’s exactly what Olivet Nazarene University did last year when they opted to forgo their usual printed report and instead asked Cultivate to build an online annual report.

“We ended up saving the university thousands of dollars by going with the online version instead of distributing a printed version, as we had been doing,” Director of Marketing Communications Heather Day said.

It’s no surprise that online annual reports are becoming increasingly popular, given the unsustainable nature of printing–and then re-printing–new annual reports year after year. For Olivet, re-thinking their long-time but impractical solution for presenting information certainly paid off.

Another bonus is an online annual report’s flexibility. No longer limited to text, static graphs, and a limited number of photos, annual reports can now include video testimonials, photo slideshows, interactive charts, and opportunities for direct user feedback and donations. The result is a more in-depth, interactive and personal experience for your constituents.

“Presenting our annual report online gave our supporters a glimpse of the stories beyond just the numbers,” Day said.

Due to a large amount of positive feedback, Olivet intends to utilize their existing microsite again next year, and the cost savings will be even greater this time around since Cultivate already built the framework of the site. Rather than starting from scratch, Cultivate can instead apply a fresh theme for 2009 and swap out last year’s news with this year’s updates.