![]() It can help missionaries and other members who have moved away keep in touch with friends back home. It can act as a bridge of friendship to visitors and inactive church members. ![]() It can inform shut-in church members and help them feel they are still part of the fellowship. Whatever your need, there are a few simple pointers that can make newsletter production easier and more efficient.Ī well-edited newsletter can accomplish many things. This will keep your communication relevant and on target with your audience.Do your good intentions of getting the monthly newsletter out on time too often fall victim to your hectic schedule? Maybe you've wished you could get someone else to take over the responsibility for putting it together, or maybe you're just looking for some fresh ideas for doing the job more efficiently. When you are producing church newsletters or nonprofit newsletters it is important that you always measure to these best practices. This will be critical to maintaining your readership and their engagement with you. Invite feedback on what they like about your newsletter and areas they think you can improve. Survey your readers once a year and ask them how you are doing.Pay attention to which newsletters receive better open rates so you can track what approach has the best engagement level. There are many email solutions available which can manage the distribution and engagement levels of your newsletters. Qualify your time and track your open rates and engagement.Create a schedule and stick to it! A solid standard is to email monthly, if you choose to also physically mail your newsletters keep it to no more than 4 per year (quarterly).Keep the basics in mind: articles should be succinct, conversational, and jargon free.Don’t muddle the message by hugging them and then sticking your hand out for more. Your newsletter should be a donor communication piece which is informing them of your stewardship of what they have given you. It is important to keep these two communication pieces separate. Do not make your newsletter an appeal letter.Remember, you are painting a picture for them to understand they are the hands and feet of your organization. The overall tone should be of gratitude and thanks for how their support and involvement is making it possible for you to fulfill your mission.(Read our previous article on Donor Communication for more details.) Count the number of times you use the word “You” to make sure you are staying on track. As with all good donor communication, it should be about the donor. Your donors should be referred to as “you” and when speaking of your organization refer to yourselves as “we”. ![]() The voice of your church newsletter is important.Electronic newsletters are most often skimmed by you readers so your message needs to be succinct and clear: strong subject line with no more than 4 stories is a good rule to follow.You’ll want to find a style that you stick with over time so your readers are quick to identify your newsletter on appearance alone. In addition your layout needs to be intentional and easy to follow.If you don’t have the expertise or budget to do a well designed layout, there are plenty of template resources available to you like: is a great resource of church templates & design.This means your newsletter needs to reflect the brand of your organization so they immediately identity with you. Aesthetics matter and people are screening what they choose to read by how they viscerally react to a brand.Use this checklist of key tips to make sure you are creating a newsworthy newsletter: You can invest hours and dollars into producing a newsletter to reach your donors, but ghastly statistics say that many of them are not being read by donors. Newsletters for churches and nonprofits can be a powerful communication tool that reaches your donors during critical seasons.
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