Think about your nonprofit’s newsletter. Does this sound familiar?
- You send it out 4-6 times a year.
- If it’s in print, it’s more than 4 pages long.
- If it’s an email, you have to scroll through more than three screens to see it all.
- It’s all about the work your staff is doing.
- It’s written in the third person (“The Center invites community members . . . “)
- Everyone in the office hates newsletter time.
If you see your newsletter in any of these points, it’s time to rethink your strategy.
I’m hosting a free webinar ($10 donation requested) called Rethinking Your Newsletter Strategy on Thursday, September 23 at 1:00 p.m. ET (10:00 a.m. PT). We’ll take a hard look at nonprofit newsletters and talk about why we do them in the first place. After all, they are time-consuming to produce and if you are printing and mailing them, they can be very expensive too.
We’ll also look at the five critical elements of a successful nonprofit newsletter:
Frequency: How often should you send it out?
Direction: How much of your content reviews the past versus previewing the future?
Personality: Who is featured in the newsletter?
Next Steps: Does the newsletter inspire action, and if so, which ones?
Integration: How well coordinated is your newsletter with your other online and offline communications?
Think of these five elements as sliders on a mixing board. You can adjust each element up or down depending on the particulars of your nonprofit, with the sum position of the sliders blending into a newsletter that’s just right for you and your supporters. We’ll discuss the direction that most nonprofits should be pushing these sliders today, while leaving you with the guidance you need to make the right decisions for your organization.
You may register for this webinar for free. However I’m requesting a $10 donation, 100% of which will be forwarded to Positive Wellness Alliance.
I serve on the board of directors of PWA, which helps low-income people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS in the rural part of North Carolina where I live. Once a year, I host a free webinar where I accept donations for PWA. Last year we collected over $500, and I hope we can top that this year! I cover all of the processing fees, so your full $10 will be passed on to PWA. Julie Meyer, the executive director of PWA, will join us on the webinar to thank you for your generosity!
