If you're operating a nonprofit organization, a newsletter is a simple and

cost-effective way to cut through the clutter and tell the people you want to
reach all about your organization. A newsletter is not perceived the same
way as a postcard, a flyer, or other forms of direct mail marketing which are
trying to sell something.
Newsletters are more informational, making them more welcomed when
they are received, and thus giving them a higher readership than other forms
or advertising. ince newsletters are designed to be a resource and not a
sales tool, people are automatically more receptive to what they have to say.
!his is the magic of newsletters as a marketing tool. !hey allow you build a
relationship with your members so that they will donate to your cause.
"eeping in regular and fre#uent contact with your members through a
helpful resource like a newsletter is known as $%uilding &our 'ence$. As a
nonprofit, you always want your members to remain close, which is
precisely what your fence is designed to do. An effective fence not only
keeps your members loyal to you, it keeps them away from those competing
for the same dollars they would donate to your cause.
(f course, to remain strong and effective, a fence must be properly
maintained. If you're not in regular and fre#uent contact with your members,
your fence will begin to deteriorate and you will lose business as a result.
!hat's why dollar for dollar, a regular newsletter is the most effecitve
marketing tool that a nonprofit can have. )very time you mail out your
newsletter you make your fence stronger.
In order to create an effective newsletter, there are certain steps you must
take. !hey are as follows.
1. Decide on either print or email for your newsletter.
%oth print and email newsletters have their own distinct advantages. )mail
newsletters offer easy access, speed, and convenience. !hey can also be
produced at a lower cost. !hey do have certain disadvantages however.
!he first problem is that people have to sign up for an email newsletter. !his
means that they have to go to your website, find the place for the sign-up,
and initiate the process. Not everyone is willing to do that. 'or those who do
sign up, there's the problem of clutter. )very message looks the same in an
inbo* filled with sub+ect lines, and people generally receive about fifty to
si*ty emails everyday. It's estimated that only around ,-. of email
newsletters are even opened.
/rint newsletters, on the other hand re#uire no special sign-up process, only
have to compete with an average of five or si* pieces of mail per day, and
are much more easily identifiable. And whereas the layout of an email
newsletter can be scrambled by spam filters and the different-sized screens
that they're viewed on, with print the newsletter you send is the newsletter
they get.
0aving one doesn1t necessarily preclude having the other, however. &our
most pressing #uestion should be, 23here are my donors45 0ave you gained
the ma+ority of your donors online or via direct mail4 Are you receiving
donations via both sources so that you need both types of newsletters4
6aining a greater understanding of your donors will guide you.
2. Decide how often you will send out your newsletter.
!he most important secret to generating a successful newsletter is
consistency. 6reat newsletters show up like clockwork. &ou can count on
them reaching you at a certain time. 7onsistency far outweighs the size of
the newsletter, whether it's color or black and white, or even the #uality of
the content. &ou simply must have fre#uency to build trust and relationships
with your members.
3hether print, email, or both, I strong recommend sending out your
newletter on a monthly basis. !his will give it a higher perceived value as
your customers can look forward to it at the same time every month. If you
publish less often, you will lose that top-of-mind position. If you publish
more often, your members may think your bombarding them with marketing
messages.
3. Decide on your newsletters name and tagline.
!he masthead is the ma+or graphic element at the top of the first page of
your newsletter. It should include your newsletters title and should identify
your organization. It may also include your logo or a symbol that represents
your type of organization.
!he newsletter title should be a name that sticks in the mind, rolls pleasantly
from the tongue, and easily conveys what your newsletter is all about.
%eneath the title is your tagline. &ou can think of the tagline as a subtitle.
&our title and tagline should work together. !hey should tell anyone who
picks up your newsletter what it's about. It should give them a clue about the
benefits of reading the newsletter.
4. Decide on the length of your newsletter.
It's a great waste of time and effort to creat a newsletter full of material that
noboby will read. !hat's e*actly what you get with newsletters that run 8-9
pages or sometimes longer.
I recommend you limit your newsletter to four :.8 * ;; pages, with two main
articles and a few shorter features mi*ed in. !his way you can focus on
publishing information that your readers will find useful and interesting.
5. Decide what kind of material you will have in your newsletter.
Another point of consistency is deciding what should appear in every issue.
After all, dependability involves more than +ust sending out your newsletter
at the same time every month. It's being consistent with the kinds of articles
you include and where you place them within the newsletter.
I recommend that your newsletter consist roughly of half material related
specifically to your organization and half informative material.
&our main article should be found on the front page. As the lead story, this is
usually where you will write about your organizations efforts. 3hen a reader
finishes this main article, you want them to come away one overriding
thought about your organization. <epending on the story you include, your
reader could think=
$I had no idea the 'oundation has so many programs. I thought they
+ust did walkathons for research.$
$>isten to how happy those people are. I'm glad we made that
contribution.$
$(h look, the hardware store is contributing benches to the
playground. 3e could get our name on a bench.$
&ou should also include some informative articles. !hese should be a short,
helpful articles where members can gain some knowledge. (ffer them
articles that help them learn. !hese are precisely the kind of articles that
generate pass-along referrals, which is a great way for your current members
to refer you to their friends and colleagues.
6. Decide which features will be in every issue of your newsletter.
In addition, you want to contain a few of the same types of stories in the
same place of every issue. !hese will be your regular features.
&ou want to include at least one or two regular features related to your
organization. !hese can include a a member survey, donor profiles, or
employee spotlights.
&ou also want to include regular features that are general and informative.
!hese can include a tip of the month, famous #uotes, or a trvia section.
)very issue of your newsletter should also include a response mechanism so
that it's easy for your readers to get a hold of you. Always give clear
instructions on how to reply. I suggest you give your members multiple
options such as e-mail, website, and phone number so you have the highest
chance for a response.
. Decide on the pictures you!re going to use in your newsletter.
3hile it's not mandatory to use pictures in your newsletter, I highly
recommend using photos, illustrations, and?or clipart in every issue. /ictures
have the power to pull the reader into your world. !hey can e*tract
emotional responses and connections that no article can compete with.
)ach photograph should include a caption which should consist of two
sentences. (ne sentence to tell the reader what they are seeing in the picture
and a second sentence to tell them why it is important.
&ou can use photos you have had taken yourself or purchase royalty free
photos online or on cd from an office supply store.
". Decide on the design and layout of your newsletter.
&our newsletters design refers to the elements that remain the same from
issue to issue. !his includes the masthead, response mechanism, and whether
you print in black and white or color. !he goal is that when your members
see the newsletter before reading it, they know it1s from your organization.
&our layout consists of how your various articles and regular features are
arranged within the newsletter. 6reat newsletters use the same basic layout
every time. &ou want your readers to be able to look in the same place for
their favorite features every month. A consistent design and layout help
present a polished and professional image for your organization and makes
your newsletter more user-friendly.
&ou can handle the design and layout yourself through a program like
/hotoshop or @icrosoft (ffice or you can hire a graphic designer to do it for
you.
#. Decide how you will print your newsletter.
3hen it comes time to print out your direct mail newsletter, there are a few
choices to make. &ou need to decide what size paper to print on. I
recommend going with one page for each newsletter, printed on front and
back. An ;; * ;A inch sheet folded in half to make four :.8 * ;; pages, then
folded again into thirds for mailing.
3hen it comes to the paper you print on, you don't want to use normal stock
like what comes out of your photocopier. &ou want to go with a heavier
te*tured paper between BA- and B:-. Although it will cost more, it also
looks more important and has more pass-along value.
&ou also have the choice or going with plain or coated paper. 7oated paper
costs more, but is slick like magazine paper and makes colors stand out
more.
3hen it comes to the paper color, bright white is fine for most newsletters,
but you can also go with a cream-colored stock for a more elegant look, or
gray paper for something more businesslike.
>astly, you need to decide on the font to use for your articles and features.
&ou want to choose one font for the body copy, and choose another for
headlines and captions. &ou want to keep your use of font absolutely
consistent throughout the newsletter.
'or the body copy, I recommend going with a serif font, which has little
lines at the edges of each individual letter. /eople find it easier to read serif
fonts in print than sans-serif fonts, which don't have those little lines. ans-
serif fonts work better as the secondary font that you use for headlines and
captions.
1$. Decide on how you will mail out your newsletter.
(nce it's time to send out your newsletters, you can send them out in
envelopes or as self-mailers, which means folded and mailed as is. I
recommend sending them out in a B;- envelope bearing a message like,
$!he latest issue of your donor newsletter enclosed$. &ou also want to
enclose a reply envelope for checks and make sure the newsletter promotes
online giving as well.
3hen it comes to distributing your newsletters via the C.. /ostal ervice,
first class mail is the easiest and also the most e*pensive. It's the easiest
because all you need to do is stamp your addressed newsletters and send
them out. 3ith standard mail, you get a cheaper rate, but you also have to do
the sorting yourself rather than having it done for you.
!he added cost of first class mail also means that you will be forwarded
misaddressed pieces. !ogether with the ease of mailing, this really makes
first class mail the way to go.
!hose are the ten steps to creating a successful newsletter for your nonprofit.
!here are definitely many tasks to complete to get there, but the fence you
build with your members will make it well worth the effort.
If you'd like to outsource some or all of the process, I'm available to help
you. I can write all the articles for your newsletter, and I can also arrange the
design and layout as well as handling the printing and mailing.
If you'd like to learn more you can contact me anytime.
Dohn D. Alen
++aE+ohn+alen.com
F:::G,:--,-:;
,H9 N >ouise t, B8
6lendale, 7A I;J-9
www.+ohn+alen.com