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Tash
Why add to an annual report…
There may be a number of inclusions in a package with an annual report. And there are good reasons for them to be, too.
Reasons to add materials to an annual report
On one hand, you may wonder why not just put all the information into the annual report itself and just send that. It’s a fair question, and certainly should be asked about each individual item you are considering adding to the package, but it doesn’t exclude everything.
Saving money, ability to add forms and marketing are just some reasons to have annual report inclusions.
Some reasons to add other items include:
- some things are too hard to incorporate into the annual report, such as long forms you need completed and returned
- some items are worthy of keeping visible which is a bit hard to do if it is in the middle of an annual report – things like an event calendar or a reference list or flow chart
- a loose flyer may be looked at, and then read, whereas an annual report may just be filed away (including in the bin!) without actually viewing any internal pages
- if something needs to be sent at a similar time as the annual report, putting them together saves money (in envelopes, postage and handling) and is generally less annoying for recipients, too
- it is a marketing opportunity as you are already contacting those people so at no extra cost you can make more of an impact (no extra mailing cost that is!)
Of course, it is very important to not overdo it, too. Nobody wants to open an envelope and have sheafs of paper fall out at them!
Any more than three or four inclusions would set off alarm bells for me and I could carefully reassess the value of each inclusion before sending so many items. Too many items in the package distracts, too, so the impact of each would be diminished.
How many inclusions would you find too many as the recipient of an annual report? Have you ever received a ridiculous number of items in a package from a business?
Annual report inclusions…
Annual reports can look very different to each other…
Any time you receive an annual report, is it alone in the envelope (or email these days) or is there something else with it?
More often than not, I bet there is something else with it, even if it is just a covering letter.
Certainly when I prepare and manage annual reports I also prepare additional items to be sent out at the same time.
what goes along with an annual report?
Pretty much anything could be added to an annual report, but the most common examples of annual report inclusions are:
- a covering letter
- a flyer about special offer or promotion (even if promoted in the annual report, a flyer can stand out and may stay on a desk longer)
- a flyer to launch new service/product
- a form to collect information on something promoted in the annual report
- a form to support a usual product to order (that is, if many people buy your product at this time of year or when reminded, give them a reminder! Also very useful for services that are often done annually.)
- a form to register interest in an upcoming event or change
- annual statement for members
- information about an upcoming major change or event, especially if there are regulations about how that information is to be presented or it needs to be personalised to each person
- some sort of marketing item, such as a calendar, notepad or magnet, that will stay visible even when the annual report is filed away
- perhaps a marketing based magazine although that seems pretty pointless to me as all that could be incorporated into the annual report unless you have a periodic magazine due out then anyway.
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