Newsletters
are a valuable tool for communicating with your collaborative
partners and for spreading the word about your collaborative
and community activities. A newsletter can be considered
a private newspaper with special information for a special
audience; it influences the reader's perception of your
collaborative. Here are some quick tips for effective newsletters:
Define
your audience. Know who your reader is and what information
about your collaborative will be of interest to the reader.
You may have two equally important audiences: internal and
external. If that is the case, you may want to publish a
frequent, simple newsletter for collaborative partners and
a less frequent newsletter for the general community. Don't
risk losing one audience to please another. Internal newsletters
are helpful to keep staff, partners, and volunteers current
on issues and detail about specific goals of your community
plan. External newsletters help position you as a source
of information for community leaders and keep the larger
community informed about issues impacting children and families
in your community.
Make
it a quick read. Don't expect readers to wade through
stories or operating details that will not be interesting
to them. Use shaded boxes, bulleted points, outlines, etc.,
to highlight the most important information you want the
reader to retain. Use the Times New Roman font style. Use
a 12-point font size for the article text and an 18-point
font size for headlines. Be sure to include your organization
name, mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address
on either the front or back cover of the newsletter.
Keep
it coming. The best newsletters appear with continuity
and on time. Newsletters can be quarterly, bimonthly, or
monthly. Whichever time frame you choose, be consistent.
Your readers should anticipate that the newsletter will
come out on time.
Produce
the best. Don't publish just filler material. Just as
you wouldn't produce and sell a defective product, don't
publish a substandard newsletter. It's better to publish
a few pages of attention-getting, informative material rather
than pages of mediocrity. Your newsletter can be four pages
or 14 pages; it can be 8½" x 11" or tabloid size (11" x
17" folded to 8½" x 11"). It can be printed on newsprint
or copied on a copier, as long as the quality of the copies
is good.
Focus
on content. Give readers information they want, need
and can use. Types of information to include: "how-to" articles;
local evaluation results; calendar of activities and deadlines;
profiles of community or collaborative programs; and/or
biographical profiles on collaborative members or volunteers.
Maintain
an active mailing list. Update names and addresses on
a regular basis. Keep a folder with corrections and newsletter
subscription requests. Make sure you always include a return
address on your newsletter.
Get
outside help. Look for assistance from your collaborative,
local community volunteers, local high school or college
journalism classes. A high school English or journalism
class might be willing to produce the Family Connection
newsletter as a special project.
Look
beyond your own resources. Contact local nonprofits
or agencies for their calendar information or to submit
articles. Encourage them to submit articles by e-mail. Let
everyone know your production schedule. Remind your contacts
of deadlines by e-mail.
Tell
your story with pictures. Good quality pictures will
illustrate a point, arouse interest, or provoke a reaction.
Development
