Brochure Basics

A brochure is a useful tool to spread the word about your collaborative. A brochure is usually made from a single sheet of paper but can have different dimensions or folds. Brochures are used to:

• Explain the purpose of the collaborative. Your mission, services provided, history, goals/benchmarks, and membership should be included.
• Answer frequently asked questions about Family Connection. What is a collaborative? What do you do? What is the structure? How are you organized? How do I become a member of the collaborative?
• Educate the community about a particular program or service. If your collaborative provides an after school program, sponsors a mentoring program, or is working with the faith community in a coalition to prevent teen pregnancy, your brochure can explain how to become involved, what fees might be charged, or when services are provided.
• Tell the reader how to find out more information about Family Connection. Your collaborative's address, phone number, contact name, e-mail address, Web site address, and meeting dates are things to include in the brochure.

Determining a Target Audience

You can use a brochure to target a group or you can produce a general audience brochure. You may need a specific brochure for targeting potential volunteers; you might want a different brochure that targets potential community partners or supporters. You may want a simple brochure that can be given to all new mothers in the community or a brochure that targets parents of school-age children.

Distribution

Distribution of the brochure can be quite simple. First, be sure to have them available at any function that your collaborative sponsors or hosts. Easy ways to distribute brochures include:

• Direct mail to targeted people (business leaders, the faith community, people who call requesting information).
• Distributing to families during home visits.
• Leaving them at easily accessible locations, such as your county health department, DFCS office, pediatricians' offices, recreation department, library, labor department, beauty shops/barber shops, board of education, and churches.
• Passing them out at health fairs, parent/teacher organization meetings, seminars, and workshops.
• Using them in press kits or presentation folders.
• Setting up an attractive display of your brochure in your office or reception area.

How to Design a Brochure

What should it look like? Gather ideas and look at other examples. Look at brochures done by other organizations. Model your brochure on one that you like.

Who is the target audience? The target audience will determine the content of the brochure.

How much will it cost? Do you have a budget? Are you producing it in-house on your printer or having it printed elsewhere? Cost considerations will determine the look of the brochure, including the type of paper used, the color of ink, and whether you will include photos.

How much content should I put in the brochure? Write an outline of key points you want to make. Fold the paper to make a mock-up and begin to think about layout. You can print the text and cut and paste, moving things around until it looks and feels right. Get others' opinions.

How to Write Content for a Brochure

When writing the brochure, here are some key points to remember:

• Keep sentences short.
• Avoid jargon. Don't assume that everyone knows that DFCS is the acronym for Department of Family and Children Services.
• Use correct spelling. Spell check and pass it to another person to read for spelling and grammar.
• Use active voice.
• Write a rough draft and begin organizing information. You will be surprised at how little text actually fits in a well done brochure.

Production of the Brochure

If you have the funds, you may want to hire professional assistance. Look for a community volunteer that is willing to help. If you are designing and producing the brochure yourself, here are some tips:

• A typical layout is an 8½" x 11" piece of paper, folded in a tri-fold. You also can use 8½" x 14" paper.

  Outside of brochure
  

Contact info or List of members (flap)

Mailing address (back cover)

Logo or graphic image Some text (front cover)

 

Inside of brochure

Introduction Mission History (Panel 1)

Features (Panel 2)

Action: What should the reader do to respond? (Panel 3)

There are many different ways to layout a brochure. One common approach is to have each panel on the inside be a stand-alone page. You also can flow text across panels two and three. Use boxes or shaded boxes to highlight or draw attention to information. One common mistake is to put too much in a brochure, resulting in a cluttered appearance. Crisp, clearly written text in a large, bold font is eye catching and draws the attention of the reader.

Key Components of a Brochure

• Contact information. Include all the ways someone can contact Family Connection. This information often is on the flap or on the back of the brochure.
• Mailing address. One way to reduce costs is to be able to mail the brochure without putting it in an envelope. If you are planning to mail the brochure, turn and format the back cover so you can place a label and return address on it. If you need the back cover panel for text and have funds for envelopes, you can format the brochure so that the contact information and mailing address go on the bottom of the back cover.
• Front cover. Keep it clean, concise and eye-catching. Include your logo, organization name, and slogan (such as "Community leaders collaborating for families").
• Introduction: Explain the mission, history, and purpose of your organization. Be concise.
• Features/benefits. Highlight your goals or programs/activities and how others would benefit from them.
• Action: If your brochure is targeted for recruiting volunteers or parents for a program, explain to the reader what he or she needs to do.
• Other information. You may want to include a list of members of the collaborative or the names of the organizations of your collaborative partners. You may want to include staff names and titles or funding sources.

Brochures are valuable tools for building public will for Family Connection, but they are only useful if you distribute them and keep them up-to-date.