Email Newsletters by Nonprofits & Other Organizations

I have a blog that has an RSS reader. I thought for sure that my blog would mean the death of my own email newsletter. Nope: I still have more newsletter subscribers than blog subscribers, and when I surveyed subscribers to ask if they preferred the blog to the email newsletter, 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.

That said, 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

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? 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?).

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

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
• 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.

 
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 59 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

Broken border example:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * *

 
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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.

 
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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.

 
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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, a service of CompuMentor, has lots more information about sending email newsletters and what your software options are.

 
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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?

• 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.

 
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Examples of email Newsletters

The following newsletter illustrate many of the suggestions followed above.

Virtual Verve
By the 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.

 
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Other Resources

• TechSoup, a service of CompuMentor, has lots more information 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 e-mails 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.

 
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