25 Ways to Improve Your Newsletter

Written by: Vanessa Chase Lockshin

www.TheStorytellingNonprofit.com

A practical workbook for non-profits

I’ve been teaching and coaching non-profit organizations about storytelling and donor

communications for years. My work has helped organizations raise millions of dollars.

Even though I’ve helped a lot of organization improve, the one thing that I see many of

them still struggle with is their newsletter.

Newsletters are an awesome opportunity to showcase your work, build your brand,

and even raise money. But many organizations’ newsletters are the exact opposite of

this – lifeless, boring, and costing them money.

Writing and producing a great newsletter does not have to be a mystery. This

workbook is designed to help you identify easy areas of improvement for your

newsletter. I’ll walk you through some of the common mistakes I see and give you

ideas for fixing them.

At the end of the workbook, you’ll also find some of my favorite examples of non -profit

newsletters. I hope this list gives you some fresh inspiration and ideas for breathing

new life into your organization’s newsletter.

I created this guide just for you, and I hope you enjoy it. Grab a pen and let’s get

started!

- Vanessa

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Hello there, friend!

How to Use This Workbook

Give yourself uninterrupted time to work

through it

Treat yourself to your favorite beverage

Keep an open mind

Get some fun pens or markers and make a

mess

Enjoy the process

Explore the possibilities

“Great stories happen to those who tell them.” – Ira Glass 3

Planning for Success Tips

The first section of this workbook will help you lay the foundation for success. There are a few key things to consider that will help you hone in on the purpose of your newsletter in order to make it a more effective communications tool. Even if your non-profit has had a newsletter for years, take a few minutes to consider these foundational tips. If you’re brand new to newsletters, let these tips set you up for success!

Know your audience for the newsletter – A newsletter can mean something different to every non-profit. Some use it

specifically as a donor communication tool. Others write it for a more general audience. From the outset, it is useful to think about who will read this newsletter because that will influence your editorial and content decisions. For example, if your audience isdonors you will want to focus your newsletter content on donor impact.

You could even think about creating an audience persona to help you hone in on the intended audience.

Who is your target audience?

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Define an objective for your newsletter - Once you know who your audience is, define an objective for the newsletter. In other words, why are you bothering to send this out? Be clear about your purpose and revisit it each month to make sure that you are on point. Your objective might include:• Connecting donors to their impact• Deepening relationships with current donors• Keeping relevant stakeholders up to date

What will your objective be?

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Planning for Success Tips

Set metrics to measure success - An even better way to track your long-term success is to have metrics in place. Choose

metrics based on the objective that you set as a way to increase your accountability and consistency. Metrics could include:• Open rate of email newsletters• Responses or feedback you receive from recipients • Money donated

What metrics will you use?

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Give each newsletter an editorial theme - As you think about each issue of your newsletter, it is helpful to give each

issue a theme. This can reinforce your objective as well as give the whole newsletter a sense of cohesion. This theme could be seasonal, it could be related to a fundraising campaign, or something else. For example, if you are running a fundraising campaign to help send at-risk youth to summer camp, your spring newsletter might be focused on summer camp.

What theme will you use for your next newsletter?

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Set and commit to regular publication - Believe it or not, many of your

newsletter subscribers actually enjoy reading your updates. And, they want to hear from you at regular intervals. This could be monthly, every other month, or quarterly. Choose a schedule and stick to it.

When will your newsletter be published?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Planning for Success Tips

Develop a layout template - Your organization likely has a brand and to the best of your ability, you try to have some

consistency in the look and feel of the brand. Similarly with your newsletter, it is useful to develop a layout that you’ll use each time. Not only does this help you develop trust with your audience, it improves your workflow process by establishing a system that you use each time.

Aim for 4 to 6 pages - There is a lot of debate about how long a newsletter should be. Personally, I think 4 to 6 pages is a

good length to aim for. This is plenty of content space, especially when you make strategic decisions about what content will beincluded. If you are going through a newsletter revamp process, consider looking at previous issues and identify what you like and what you could eliminate.

Share content relevant to your audience - Identifying your audience is an important step and one of the great things

that it will help you do is share content that is relevant to them. You do not publish this newsletter to please your non-profit’s internal audience. It’s for your target audience. So what you share in it needs to be relevant and interesting to that audience. You could even survey your target audience to get their feedback in this process.

Choose quality pictures - Sharing pictures in your newsletter is a great thing to do. Especially if these pictures tell a story or

complement a story. Think like a filmmaker, not a yearbook editor. If you have had difficultyfinding good pictures, consider working with a graphic designer to create interesting graphics for your stories.

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What stories will you tell?

Writing Tips

The next section of this workbook will focus on the actual content of your newsletter. Quality writing is key, but many of us finding writing to be a chore. I’m a firm believe that writing copy for your non-profit is a skill that can be learned. I hope these tips offer you a starting line to improve your writing.

Write for scan-ability - Think about how you read most things. Most likely you scan it before deciding what to read first. This

concept also applies to your newsletter. As you write and format it, think about making it easy to read. Think short paragraphs, 6th grade reading level, and reasonably sized text, especially if your audience is older.

Write great headlines - Another element that will be scanned as people read your newsletter are headlines. These are

essentially the titles of articles and they will be read first because they stand out due to boldface or larger text size. Think about writing headlines that capture the spirit of the article. It should also capture attention. You can do this by being intriguing, surprising, mysterious, bold or curious.

Use subheadings in longer articles - If an article is longer than 350 words, think about including subheadings. These are

similar to headlines in that they divide the article into parts, which make it easier to read. The additional benefit of subheadings is that they make the article easier to skim.

Write a great lead sentence - After the headline, the lead sentence is what people

will skim next. Knowing this, put extra thought into that sentence. You could lead with a surprising fact, a compelling quote, or a question.

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Writing Tips

Tell stories - Especially emotionally compelling stories, not scholarly articles. Again, this comes back to knowing your audience.

Chances are your newsletter audience is not reading it to hear about the nitty-gritty details for your programs and services. They want to read stories. As you think about what content is going to go into your newsletter, think about framing each piece as a story.

Be donor-centered - This is essential for a donor newsletter. In the case of a donor newsletter, you are using it as a cultivation

tool. The newsletter reports back on impact and tells donors how their gift has been used. Put donors at the center of the newsletter. Make the content about them and what they have done through their giving. Using the pronoun “you” is essential.

Make the donor the hero - If you choose to tell impact stories in your newsletter, donors MUST be the heroes of the story. Donors will not always connect the dots that they have made something possible through their giving. It’s your job to make that crystal clear to them. Think about using the last paragraph of the story to articulate this to your readers.

Connect with your audience - As you tell your stories, your goal is to connect with your audience. You want to use the

stories to deepen the relationship they have with your non-profit. Use can do this by using one of the following devices: ownership, mystery, familiarity, humanity, urgency or contrast.

Read more about these concepts here.

Proof-read before going to print - Have some quality control measures in place.

Ask at least one other person to proofread your newsletter for spelling, grammar, and Other editorial feedback.

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Content Ideas

What will you put in the pages of your newsletter? Here are 7 ideas.

Impact Stories – These are stories directly related to your organization’s impact and mission. They might stories about people,

places, or things that your organization has helped. Read more about impact stories here.

Donor Stories – Donor stories are my personal favorite. I love hearing about someone’s heart for philanthropy. Read tips for

collecting donor stories here.

Volunteer Stories – Ask volunteers to share their personal experiences.

Board Member Stories – Profile board members and have them talk about why they love your organization.

Staff Stories – Staff are often on the frontlines of the work. Ask them to share moving stories for their day-to-day work.

Answer interesting FAQs about our organization from donors

Share survey results from donors

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Newsletter Inspiration

Looking for more newsletter inspiration? Here are a few non-profit newsletters worth checking out.

Nashville Rescue Mission

Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway

Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art

Charity: Water

RSPCA

UNICEF

National Wildlife Federation

Gillette Children’s Hospital Foundation

Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver

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Your IdeasUse this space to brainstorm ideas for your newsletter.

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this workbook and have some new ideas for improving your

non-profit’s newsletter.

I’d love to hear how things go. Here are the best ways to keep in touch with me.

Twitter: @VanessaEChase

Email: Vanessa@thestorytellingnonprofit.com

Yours in Storytelling,

- Vanessa

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Farewell for now, friend!