Email Newsletters by Nonprofits & Other Organizations

Revised with new information as of April 4, 2010

Email Newsletters by Nonprofits
(& Other Organizations)

Do NOT write off email as an effective outreach tool. Even in this era of video and podcasts and RSS and online social networking and micro-blogging (Twitter), email is still the most popular tool of the Internet, and it's still a great way to reach people about your organization and to interact with others. And an email newsletter is simple, it's quick, and it can be easily forwarded by subscribers to new readers. It can be read anytime -- you don't have to be sitting at your computer when it arrives in order to experience it. For many organizations AND individuals, an email newsletter is still the best or preferred choice for online communications.

I have a blog that has an RSS reader. I thought for certain that my blog would mean the death of my own email newsletter. Nope! When I surveyed my email newsletter subscribers to ask if they preferred to subscribe to the blog instead, feedback was overwhelming: they wanted the email newsletter. For many people, Web 2.0 dominates their online activities, but believe it or not, a majority of my own constituency still prefers email. Yours? If you are a mission-based organization (nonprofit, civil society, non-governmental organization/NGO or public sector agency -- school, government department, etc.), you probably have a similar constiuency. It means you need to still use email, even as you adopt more advanced tools like A HREF="../outreach/blogging.html">blogs, online social networking, video blogging, etc. It doesn't mean creating entirely new content for each communication outlet: email can be used to prompt readers to visit your web site, subscribe to your blog, watch your online video, interact with you for an online event, or do your other advanced online activities. In short: an email newsletter can be used to augment your other online outreach.

By email newsletter, I do NOT mean attaching a .PDF or word processing newsletter to an email; I mean text within the body of the email. This makes it easier to read (a user doesn't have to switch to a different program to read the newsletter), quicker to download (not everyone has a great Internet connection), and easier to forward to individuals and online communities (many of which strip out attachments automatically).

CONTENTS

What can go in your organization's email newsletter?

Designing your email newsletter

How often to send an email newsletter

How to get subscribers

How to send

Measure success!

Examples of email Newsletters

Other Resources

What can go in your organization's email newsletter?

First, answer these questions:

How will this newsletter support the mission of your organization? Everything a nonprofit, civil society, non-governmental organization (NGO) or public sector agency (school, government department, etc.) does should be in support of its mission (that's why I call such organizations "mission-based"). Supporters will frown on communications activities that are not directly tied to the organization's mission.
Who are the targeted readers of this newsletter? Are you going for a specific demographic? Is this primarily for an in-house audience (such as volunteers or current donors)?
What is the mission of this newsletter? Increases in membership, donors or volunteers? Increases in the number of requests for your services? Volunteers feeling more supported in their work? More traffic for your other online activities (your web site, your blog, your online video, your live online event, etc.)? The public more aware of a certain issue or practice? You must explore these questions and really think about what you want -- and DON'T want -- as a result of this email outreach (i.e., could your organization actually handle more members, or an increase in requests for your services?).

Only after you think about these questions and their answers can you start thinking about what the content should be in your email publication. In answering these questions, your organization may decide to produce more than one email newsletter, each addressing a different audience (volunteers, donors, the general public, etc.).

Remember that, regardless of the intended audience, this newsletter can be forwarded by readers to anyone, including members of the press.

Some suggested topics for your email newsletter (but, again, what goes in your newsletter depends on your target audience):

recent accomplishments by your organization
an overview of upcoming events or workshops
additions to your web site
a new blog entry by your executive director
a tip of the month/week/quarter (for instance, if your target audience is volunteers who provide home-visitations to seniors, what's a resource or a bit of advice they might find helpful?)
announcements on new grants, new programs or new staff at your organization
announcements regarding new videos uploaded to your own web site or YouTube
a spotlight/reminder about one of your programs, such as a program focused specifically on children, or a printed publication you produce quarterly.
information about upcoming legislation and how it might affect your services or those you serve.
announce a live online event
updates about your organization's online social networking activities

Be sure you include "http://" as part of any web address in your email newsletter; many email programs turn these addresses into clickable links in received messages.

Put items that have upcoming dates associated with them, or items that require action by readers, near the top of the newsletter. Consider a table of contents at the top of the newsletter as well. But KEEP IT SHORT. Expect readers to spend no more than three minutes reading the newsletter. You can (and should) point to your web site or blog space for more in-depth information.

When preparing your email newsletter, include a "signature" at the end of the document. This should include:

the name of your organization
city and state of your location
a phone number
an email address
your web site address or blog address
an encouragement to readers to forward the newsletter to others, as appropriate (one of your goals with this email newsletter is to constantly build readership)
how to subscribe AND unsubscribe (as your newsletter is forwarded to others, this information allows those new readers to subscribe, if they wish).
a statement of how subscriber information is used (do you sell, trade or give subscriber addresses to other organizations? Are subscriber addresses used for any other purpose besides sending your email newsletter?), or a link to your privacy policy which fully details such.

Return to Table of Contents

Designing your email newsletter

Just like a print publication or a web site, you need to think about the design of your email newsletter, and create a particular look for this electronic publication.

Email programs vary from user to user. For instance, some read emails with line breaks for every 80 characters; others read line breaks for every 60 characters. Some read colors and different font styles, while others get error messages whenever such text is placed in an email. You have to take these factors into consideration, as they will affect the way your email looks on another person's computer.

I recommend that you layout your newsletter so that it is TEXT ONLY and that no line exceeds 60 character places. Yes, that's right: I'm saying DO NOT use HTML for your newsletter. Leave the fancy HTML for your web site. Turn off smart quotes, don't use colors or special fonts, don't use bold or italics, etc. Keeping your email newsletter as text-only keeps a newsletter easy to download (not every has broadband!) and, in my opinion, easier to read and forward. Text-only ensures that the newsletter can be read by anyone , regardless of computer or email software.

Also, be sure to use white space (indenting titles, putting extra spaces between sections, etc.) and borders to break up copy.

Borders can be made from any non-letter or non-letter character on your keyboard. Examples:

____________________________________

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>


<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>


[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]][][][]


|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||


/-----------------------------------\


_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_


x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Remember, however, that these borders should not exceed 59 character spaces. Otherwise, borders will be broken up into two uneven lines (not very attractive) when read by some email programs.

Broken border example:

(the line, that was supposed to appear as one line, appears as two uneven ones)

Return to Table of Contents

How Often Should You Send Your Email Newsletter?

Treat your email newsletter as a real publication. That means it should go out regularly. That can be once a month or once a quarter. But set a regular day for the newsletter to go out (the second Wednesday of the month, for instance) and respect that date. If you don't treat your newsletter as a real publication that people should anticipate receiving regularly and respect as a solid source of information, then your users won't treat it this way.

Return to Table of Contents

How Do You Get Subscribers?

Put a notice in ALL of your printed newsletters about this email publication and how to subscribe.
Put information about this email newsletter on your web site.
Post an announcement about the email newsletter to appropriate online discussion groups.

NEVER automatically subscribe someone to an email update. Receiving a regular email from your organization should be an "opt-in" choice, ALWAYS.

Return to Table of Contents

How Do I Send This Newsletter to Subscribers?

You can send your newsletter manually, meaning that you note on some kind of database who is subscribing to the newsletter and, when you are ready to send the publication, exporting subscriber email addresses from this database and putting them in the BCC (blind carbon copy) line of your email. However, this if quite labor intensive; someone has to input the addresses of new subscribers into the database regularly.

A better way is to use list mail software, such as listproc or listserv. There are many companies that offer this software. Check with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) FIRST to see if this is already a service they offer (you may be already paying for it). There are also a number of free services, that will put a short advertisement at the top or the bottom of your email in return for allowing you to use their services, such as YahooGroups.

Using these software packages allows users to subscribe or unsubscribe themselves. You will still need a staff person to help with unsubscribe problems, but that person's time spent on this will be minimal. Using these services, you will send your email to ONE email address, and this will automatically forward your message to everyone who has subscribed.

TechSoup has lots more information about sending email newsletters and what your software options are.

Return to Table of Contents

Measure Success!

How do you know if your email newsletter is having any impact?

When people call or email asking for information, ask them how they were referred to your organization. How many come from your email newsletter? Are these people already subscribers, or was it forwarded to them by someone else?
When people sign in to any event, always ask how they were referred.
How many new subscribers are you getting each month? How many people are unsubscribing?
Do you see a jump in visitors to your web site, your blog, your online video, or your online event after sending your email newsletter?
Survey subscribers once a year about your organization's work as well as the newsletter itself. Are they getting what they want out of it?
Track the responses that result from your posts (just as you should track responses to your advertising). It will help you plan more strategically for future posts and online activities.

Also see Evaluating Online Activities: Online Action Should Create & Support Offline Action. Hundreds of "friends" on an online social networking site. Thousands of subscribers to an email newsletter. Dozens of attendees to a virtual event. Those are impressive numbers on the surface, but if they don't translate into more volunteers, repeat volunteers, new donors, repeat donors, more clients, repeat clients, legislation, or public pressure, they are just that: numbers. For online activities to translate into something tangible, online action must create and support offline action. What could this look like? This resource can help organizations plan strategically about online activities so that they lead to something tangible - not just numbers.

Return to Table of Contents

Examples of email Newsletters

Virtual Verve

Virtual Volunteering Project

National Service News
By Youth Service America.

Food For Thought
News, information, opinion and online resources for the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley, California nonprofit community.

Return to Table of Contents

Other Resources

TechSoup, a nonprofit organization, has lots more information on its web site about the various software options for sending and managing email newsletters, as well as information on the latest computer tools for such.
Online culture and online community
It's becoming the norm for mission-based organizations (NGOs, NPOs and others) to use Internet tools to work with volunteers (including board members), staff, donors and others. This section of my site has been greatly updated, providing even more ideas and resources on how to work with others online, in language that's easy to understand for those considering or just getting started in using online technologies with volunteers, donors and other supporters.
Outreach Via the Internet for
Mission-Based Organizations
It's more than just putting up a Web site; it involves finding and posting to appropriate Internet discussion groups, sending emails to current and potential customers, perhaps even starting your own online community.... it's proactive, interactive and ongoing. It needs to be nurtured and fully supported, just as with all your public interactions. Online outreach and online service delivery should accurately reflect your agency's mission and culture.
Handling Online Criticism
Online criticism of a nonprofit organization, even by its own supporters, is inevitable. It may be about an organization's new logo or new mission statement, the lack of parking, or that the volunteer orientation being too long. It may be substantial questions regarding an organization's business practices and perceived lack of transparency. How a nonprofit organization handles online criticism speaks volumes about that organization, for weeks, months, and maybe even years to come. There's no way to avoid it, but there are ways to address criticism that can help an organization to be perceived as even more trustworthy and worth supporting.

Subscribe to Tech4Impact, a free monthly email newsletter!

Return to the index of resources for "Community Relations, With and Without Technology"

Quick Links

my home page

my consulting services & my workshops & presentations

my credentials & expertise

Affirmation that this web site is created & managed by a human.

My book: The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook

contact me or see my schedule

Free Resources: Community Outreach, With & Without Tech

Free Resources: On Community Engagement, Volunteering & Volunteerism

Free Resources: Technology Tips for Non-Techies

Free Resources: Nonprofit, NGO & other mission-based management resources

Free Resources: Web Development, Maintenance, Marketing for non-Web designers

Free Resources: Corporate philanthropy / social responsibility programs

Free Resources: For people & groups that want to volunteer

linking to or from my web site

The Coyote Helps Foundation

me on social media (follow me, like me, put me in a circle, subscribe to my newsletter)

how to support my work

To know when I have developed a new resource related to the above subjects, found a great resource by someone else, published a new blog, uploaded a new video,
or to when & where I'm training or presenting, use any of the following social media apps to follow me on any of these social media platforms:

Disclaimer: No guarantee of accuracy or suitability is made by the poster/distributor of the materials on this web site.
This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied warranty or liability.

See my web site's privacy policy.

Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited amount of material from my web site without charge if the information is kept intact and without alteration, and is credited to:

Jayne Cravens & Coyote Communications,
www.coyotebroad.com

Otherwise, please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials (for instance, in a class or book or online event for which you intend to charge).