Some non-profits, including church congregations, have not yet realized the communication world has changed. Every few months they gather stories and photos, send them to a designer or fight with a publishing program to put together an attractive newsletter aimed at their members and supporters. By the time the postal service delivers the information or people retrieve it from a church mailbox, much of it is interesting but somewhat outdated. Readers put up with it because it’s always been that way. Even stories in the daily newspapers are hours old.
Meanwhile, online, people receive up-to-the-minute information.
The production of a newsletter is usually a last-minute frenzy of writing and collecting items to meet a deadline. I’ve discovered it’s much more efficient to write and collect as things happen and publish them as soon as possible. That way, when it comes to a printed piece, all you have to do is gather the stories you have sent or posted online and reformat them for print.
A newsletter likely has an established audience, usually donors or members. However, material online expands your circle of influence well beyond those who already have a stake in your organization. Why keep good news to yourself?
When you publish a story on a website or blog, send the link via e-mail to everyone for whom you have an address. If they click on the link, it takes them to even more information about you. They may even spend time exploring other material you have posted. Encourage them to forward the e-mail to others who may be interested in what you have to say.
The communication paradigm has shifted. Don’t abandon print, but expand to all the opportunities presented by using all the vehicles available to you online.
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1 comment:
Hey Ian, after I saw your TDF post this am, thought I would share this with you.
A while ago we started producing Enews - an electronic newsletter we email out, post on the website, FB etc. Then we make print copies for our non-email friends.
This week we started a new social media and communications project and created a staff position for this - using the funds that normally went to our 1.5 X 1.5 inch ad in the paper @ $250 a month!
This gets us about 13 staff hours a month (at a decent wage).
One of our stay at home moms who loves social media, and is proficient at it is our admin/staff. She is also going to produce Ennouncements ( I know catchy eh) to roll on our screen on sunday am, and we are in the process of getting 3 big screen tvs to place in the gym, narthex and on the back wall of our sanctuary - to roll announcements, video etc. during the week. basically she will take the Enews items and convert them to facebook updates, web posts, Church email items, and Ennoucements for Sunday.
Trying it for four months, exciting to see what we can do with it :)
Vic Morris
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