Hong Kong nonprofit boards often freeze papers two weeks before a meeting. Impact report drafts that arrive three days prior force directors to skim—or worse, to skip the narrative entirely.
Work backwards from the paper deadline, not the printing date. Build in time for programme leads who travel, for bilingual review if needed, and for finance to confirm any figures that touch the audited statements.
A realistic cycle for a mid-sized charity is six to ten weeks once documents are available. Shorter timelines are possible when last year’s structure still holds and only figures and a few chapters change.
If your AGM and major donor dinner fall in the same month, decide early which document is the primary public piece. Trying to serve both with one overloaded PDF usually satisfies neither audience.
Put the figure freeze date in writing. Soft freezes invite last-minute spreadsheet edits that break charts already laid out for print.