Welcome to this month’s edition of the Nonprofit Blog Carnival, where we are looking at trends in nonprofit newsletters.
The seemingly simple newsletter, and our reactions to them, aren’t so simple after all as Jen Gonyer-Donohue points out in E-Newsletters: A Riddle, Wrapped in a Mystery, Inside an Enigma.
Shari at VolunteerMatch shares the email newsletter overhaul they recently embarked on, including a reader survey.
Rebekah Gienapp, executive director of the Workers Interfaith Network, shared how overhauling their print newsletter helped them become more donor-centric.
Sandy Rees says that’s exactly what you need to do, as she explains why traditional newsletters don’t work anymore and offers a process to fix yours.
Mazarine Treyz says e-newsletters aren’t changing (they are as bad as ever), in large part due to staff turnover. Is your inability to keep good fundraising staff what really makes your newsletter bad?
Jessica Green questions whether newsletters are really all that newsworthy, and wonders how social media, etc. will continue to affect the good ol’ newsletter.
Bob Merrigan, like Rebekah did above, offers some compelling reasons for keeping your print newsletter alive and well even in a wired world.
Mariah Buckley, communications coordinator at Homeward Bound, suggests you always remember emotion, emotion, emotion in your newsletters.
Encore, a team of Georgetown University students, shares what they have learned about what donors want from email newsletters and why open rates are dumber than you think.
Finally, earlier this month, we at Nonprofit Marketing Guide shared some of the results from our recent survey on how nonprofit newsletters are changing:
- How social media is affecting nonprofit newsletters
- How often you should send email newsletters
- Other interesting stats about publishing schedules and newsletter length
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this discussion!
What about Websites?
Next month, the Carnival will be hosted by the fine folk at Big Duck. They want to hear about your blog posts with tips, guidelines, and examples for creating (and maintaining) a great nonprofit website. Get the details.
