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.