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Designing Newsletters
Many
computers have newsletter templates as
part of their standard software. This is
by far the easiest way to publish your
newsletter. Having got your template,
remember the following:
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Develop a consistent design and
stick to it for every edition |
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Make sure it includes your logo |
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Include your charity number if
you are a registered charity |
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Break the
newsletter down into sections so
that readers can find what they
want. Try and avoid underlining
headings. Use a bold text or a
different font instead |
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Use a maximum
of 2 font styles in the
newsletter. Use bold,
underlining, and change the size
of the letters instead. The
minimum font size is 12pt. |
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The amount of
space above and below a line of
text or a heading can make a big
difference to the visual impact
of your newsletter. Creating
space in this way creates “white
space” or “breathing space”,
making it more inviting to the
reader and easier to read. |
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Graphics and
images are important elements to
incorporate into the design of
your publications, as they are
another means of communication.
Simple graphics could be drawn
by someone with a little
artistic flair and scanned into
your computer, or you could look
for graphics on the internet.
For example
http://images.google.co.uk. |
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Colour can make your publication
a lot more attractive and
interesting to readers. You do
not have to have full-colour
pictures to bring colour into
your publication. Consider a
simple two or three colour
design to save on printing
costs. |
 Production
of the newsletter
A good
newsletter will cover news stories,
What's On’s and features just like a
newspaper. Get your readers to comment
and contribute to the newsletter.
Use information from other people's
newsletters, where relevant, for example
an article from your charity's national
newsletter. You can always add a comment
on what the local impact of the story
is.
Find out if your readers have access to
email and whether they would like to get the
newsletter on email instead.
There are
advantages and disadvantages to print
and e-format newsletters:
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PRINT
ADVANTAGES |
PRINT DISADVANTAGES |
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Readers can keep copies for easy
future reference. |
Designing the newsletter can be
time-consuming. |
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You have an actual product,
which can be one of the best
ways of marketing your
organisation and lifting its
profile. It also demonstrates to
your users (and funders), in a
concrete way, what you are
achieving. |
You have to allow extra time for
printing (if being printed
externally) and distribution. |
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You can reach people who do not
have access to e-mail and the
internet. |
Can be expensive in terms of
printing and paper. |
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Distribution may be expensive in
terms of envelopes and postage. |
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Possible wastage of money and
paper - no doubt some people put
them straight in the bin! |
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E-MAIL
ADVANTAGES |
E-MAIL DISADVANTAGES |
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Distribution is quick and
inexpensive |
Expense involved in setting up
and maintaining an e-mail system
(only a disadvantage if you
don’t already have e-mail) |
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Design of e-mail newsletter
could be very simple |
Some of your readers may not
have e-mail |
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Environmentally friendly - saves
on paper |
If your e-mail has lots of
photos, logos, or links to
websites in it, it may take a
long time to download. You could
“pdf” the file but not everybody
can download these types of
files. |
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Use of colour, to make it more
attractive, at no zero cost. |
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You can
include articles on fundraising events,
awards, recent success stories and case
studies. There is nothing wrong with
injecting a bit of humour or anecdotes
into the newsletter as your readers will
be more loyal if they feel they know
you. The most important thing to
remember content wise is that it needs
to be “new”. There is no point telling
people about stuff they already know.
If the newsletter is sent out by email
remember the content needs to be easy to
read as people don’t read online, they
scan. Having got people to sign up
online for a newsletter, make sure there
is an “unsubscribe” option. Another good
idea is to include a ”forward to a
friend” link to encourage readers to
send the newsletter on to their
colleagues
Finally
Get
someone from outside of your
organisation to proof read the
newsletter before you print it. Spell
check on your computer only checks
you’ve spelt the word correctly. It
doesn’t check you’ve chosen the right
word e.g. “cereal” killer!
NEXT >>>
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