**NPS Annual Report Style Guide**

-Abbreviate Fiscal Year with FYxx.

Ex: Park visitation was up in FY06.

-Abbreviate organization names after the first use. Put the abbreviation
in parentheses after the first mention of the organization.

> Ex: Badlands Natural History Association (BNHA) increased membership
> by 25% in FY06. BNHA also saw a significant increase in sales.

-Use of abbreviations for National Park (NP), National Historic Site
(NHS), National Monument (NM), etc. is acceptable after the first
mention of the park.

> Ex: Bryce Canyon National Park continued its Stargazing Program
> throughout the year. Visitors came from across the country to join
> Bryce Canyon NP's volunteer astronomers in viewing the spectacular
> night sky. (Omitting NP altogether is also acceptable.)

-Common terms can always be abbreviated (NPS, SCA, VIP, etc.). There is
no need to spell these out on the first use.

-Do not use first person. Instead of "We saw a large increase in
visitation," use "The park saw..." Instead of "Our community partners
co-sponsored the event," use "BNHA's community partners..."

-Do not capitalize Park, Preserve, Memorial, Monument, etc. when not
being used as a proper noun.

> Ex: Summer remained the busiest season in Grand Teton National Park.
> In 2006, more than two million people visited the park.

-Capitalize "visitor center" when used as a proper noun, as in
Yellowstone Visitor Center. Otherwise it can be left lowercase.

-Do not use bulleted or numbered lists. Put items or events in narrative
form with complete sentences.

-Avoid generic statements like "It was a great year" or "Volunteers
really helped out in the park." Use specific events or results to show
achievements and success.

-Do not summarize your organization's history or purpose, unless it is
significant to the annual report.

-Ideal length for each narrative is **300-500 words.** (**100-200 for
Volunteer Programs**)

-Highlight several important events or achievements in the report,
rather than listing all the things the park or association participated
in over the year.

**Numbers**

-Spell out numbers one through nine. Use digits for 10 or higher. Very
large numbers should be expressed with a figure and word, such as 450
million, or two words, as in two million. Large monetary amounts can be
expressed with figures and words, such as \$4 million.

-Spell out numbers at the beginning of the sentence or reword the
sentence to avoid spelling out a large number.

Ex: Eighteen people attended the event.

One thousand brochures were distributed to visitors.

In FY06, 19,762 VIP hours were reported.

-Spell out small ordinal numbers: e.g., first, second, third instead of
1^st^, 2^nd^, 3^rd^.

-Spell out simple fractions: e.g., one-third instead of 1/3.

-For percentages, round up to the nearest tenth of a point. Instead of
16.75%, use 16.8%.

-Include a comma in numbers of four or more digits, like \$4,500.

**Dates**

-If the exact date of an event is not essential, leave it out. Instead
of "The cleanup held on Monday, June 5, 2006, drew volunteers from
throughout the county," use "The cleanup held in early June drew
volunteers..."

-Do not use ordinal numbers (1^st^, 2^nd^, 3^rd^) in dates.

Ex: The celebration took place on December 1 and 2.

The Cowboy Centennial events took place July 8-12.

**Places**

-Abbreviate states with their two-letter code when used after a city.
Spell the state out when not talking about a specific location.

Ex: The conference was held in Jackson, MS.

The site is a popular recreation area in Northern Wyoming.

**Names**

-Use a person's first and last name when mentioning him or her for the
first time. Use the first or last name each time after that as you see
appropriate.

> Ex: VIP Amy Langdon headed the display committee. Amy's group then
> staffed a booth at the annual volunteer fair in March.
>
> Professor of Biology Mark Chan led the archaeology dig at the site.
> Dr. Chan presented his findings in a paper titled "Dinosaurs: Best
> Animals Ever."

**General Grammar Rules**

-Use a serial comma (the comma used immediately before a conjunction
such as "and" or "or" in a list of three or more items).

Ex: Demonstrations included basket weaving, blacksmithing, and firing
pottery.

\-*Italicize* titles of publications.

-Use a single space between sentences.

-End quotes go outside commas and periods.

> Ex: The project, "Documenting the American Indian Experience of Route
> 66," explored the interaction of Native American and Anglo cultures
> along Route 66.

-Dashes should be in this format: text -- text (not text \-- text or
text---text).

-Spell check, spell check, spell check!