What Should Go in Your Newsletter

As great as they may be, Web sites are a passive medium. Often, they are visited only after something else — an email, an advertisement, or a link from another Web site — directs (or redirects) users to them.

Email, however, is proactive — and therefore a great way to drive people to your Web site. The most popular way to use the Internet, email is simple, quick — and easy for members to forward to potential new constituents.

If your agency communicates regularly with the public or a particular constiuency (such as volunteers or current donors), you may want to consider starting an email newsletter. Newsletters can be a great way to connect with your constituents on a regular basis, promote awareness about your cause, and even generate donations. Case in point? One researcher found that Stanford graduates who subscribe to the Stanford alumni newsletter donate to the university more frequently than those who subscribe.

By "email newsletter," though, I don't mean a PDF or Word file attached to an email, but rather a newsletter whereby the entire layout — text and all — is contained within the body of the email. This format is easier to read (users won't have to switch to a different program to peruse it), faster to download (not everyone has a great Internet connection), and easier to forward to others.

What to Include in Your Organization's Newsletter

Before you decide what to include in your organization's newsletter, ask yourself the following questions:

• How will our newsletter further our mission? Everything a nonprofit does ought to support its larger goals in some way; supporters may frown on activities that don't.
• What is the specific goal of this newsletter? To increase membership, support, or requests for your services? To educate the public? Ask yourself what you hope the outcome of your newsletter will be — and whether you are prepared for that outcome. (Could your organization actually handle more members or an increase in requests for your services?)
• Who is the targeted readership? Are you aiming for a specific demographic?

After answering these questions, may realize that your organization should produce more than one email newsletter, each addressing a different audience (for example, one for volunteers, one for donors, and one for the general public). Keep in mind, however, that regardless of its intended audience, your newsletter can still be forwarded on to anyone, including members of the press.

Suggested topics for your newsletter:

• Information highlighting your nonprofit's recent accomplishments.
• An overview of upcoming events or workshops.
• Additions to your Web site.
• A tip of the month, week, or quarter.
• Announcements about new grants, programs, or staff.
• A promotion of an upcoming program or publication.
• Information about upcoming legislation and how it might affect your services or those you serve.

Additional tips:

• Place time-sensitive items or calls to action near the beginning of the newsletter.
• Consider providing a table of contents.
• Include URL s in your newsletter that link directly to additional information. (Be sure you include "http://" as part of the address; many email programs turn these addresses into clickable links.)
• Keep your newsletter as short as possible. Remember that you can always link to your Web site for more in-depth information.
• Include a "signature" at the end of the document. This should contain:
  • The name of your organization
  • Your city and state
  • A contact number
  • An email address
  • Your Web site
  • An encouragement to readers to forward the newsletter to others. (One of your goals should be to constantly build readership.)
  • Information about how to subscribe (for those who receive the newsletter as a forward) and unsubscribe.
  • A statement about how subscription information is used. Are subscriber addresses used for any other purpose besides sending your newsletter? Do you sell, trade, or give away email addresses?

Designing Your Newsletter

As with printed materials or a Web site, it is important to create a particular look and feel for your email publication.

Email clients vary; while some read emails with line breaks for every 80 characters, others read them for every 60 characters. Some register color, while others will produce error messages when color is detected. Take these factors into consideration, as they will affect the way your email looks on another person's computer.

I recommend laying out your newsletter so that no line exceeds 59 characters. This ensures that users see your email just as you want it to be seen, with uniform line and paragraph breaks. Also, be sure to use white space (indented titles, extra spaces between sections) and borders to break up copy.

Borders can be made from any non-letter character on your keyboard. Below are some examples.

____________________________________

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]][][][]

/-----------------------------------\

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Remember that borders should not exceed 59 characters, or may risk being broken up into two uneven lines (not a very attractive sight) when read by some email programs:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * *

Finally, keep your newsletter in plain text only. Turn off smart quotes, and refrain from using colors, special fonts, or bold or italicized text. This ensures that the newsletter can be read by anyone, regardless of computer or email software.

Creating a Publication Schedule

Treat your newsletter as a real publication. That means it follow a regular publication schedule, whether that's once a month, once a week, fortnightly, or once a quarter. Once you set your schedule (the second Tuesday of the month, for instance), follow it. If you don't treat your newsletter as a reliable, regular source of information, your users won't regard it that way either.

Finding Subscribers

• Place a notice in all of your printed newsletters about your email publication and how readers can subscribe.
• Include information about your email newsletter on your Web site.
• Post an announcement about the email newsletter to appropriate online discussion groups. You can search for Internet discussion groups relating to your organization and mission at:
  • Topica.com
  • Tile.net
  • Yahoo! Groups
  • Google Groups
• Send an email to everyone in your database announcing your new publication. (Make sure to put all addresses in the BCC line of your email to protect users' privacy.) Because you are sending an unsolicited email, include a line at the top of the email explaining why you're sending it out and how you got the recipient's email address. ("This message is being sent to everyone who has contributed to our organization in the last two years.")
• Never automatically subscribe someone to an email update. Receiving a regular email from your organization should always be an "opt-in" choice.

Sending Your Newsletter

One way to send your newsletter is manually, meaning that you would export email addresses from a subscriber database into the BCC line of your email. This system can be quite labor intensive, however, and requires that someone input the addresses of new subscribers into the database on a regular basis.

A better way to send out your newsletter is to use list mail software, such as ListProc, ListServ , Majordomo, and many others. Check with your Internet Service Provider (ISP), too; it may offer a mailing service (and you may be already paying for it). There are also a number of free mailing services that will include a short advertisement at the top or the bottom of your email in exchange for their services. To learn more about all of these options, visit the Virtual Volunteering Project's 's Web site.

Mail services work by sending your email to a single email address that automatically forwards your message to everyone on your subscription list. If someone wants to subscribe or unsubscribe, they can do it themselves automatically.

Measuring Success

Some ways you can gauge the impact of your email newsletter:

• When people call or email to request information from your nonprofit, ask how they found out about you. How many come from your email newsletter? Were they already subscribers, or was it forwarded to them?
• When people sign in to any event, always ask how they heard about it.
• How many new subscribers are you getting each month? How many people are unsubscribing?
• Survey subscribers once a year about your organization's work as well as the newsletter itself. Are they getting what they want out of it?
• Track the responses that result from your posts, just as you would track responses to your advertising campaigns. It will help you plan more strategically for future posts and online activities.