1. I know and understand the purpose of the newsletter. Ask yourself this simple question, "Why does this newsletter exist?" If you can't readily think of an answer, you have two options; find an answer or discontinue the newsletter. Continuing on ignorant of purpose is a waste of time, money and trees.

Here's a statement of purpose that you may find helpful in finding your newsletter's purpose: the purpose of the newsletter to the Our City DOVIA is to foster a sense of belonging to the association. Does this statement then mean that every article has to be about how wonderful the association is? Absolutely not. People belong to professional associations for many reasons; to network, to continue learning, to mentor others, to advocate for their profession in the public sector. An association's newsletter can (and should) address all the reasons its members belong. If this is done well, then members will feel their membership is worthwhile and their sense of belonging is that much stronger.

2. I know and understand who the newsletter's readers are. Let's move on to the readers. Who are they? Where do they live? Are they predominately male, female or a good mix of both? If members of a volunteer manager association are your readers, why do they belong to the association? What are their job titles and whom do they manage? What other responsibilities do they have?

Be warned, that doing demographic research can be daunting. This is especially true when it comes finding out the intangibles such as why members belong to an association since surveys, the cheapest form of evaluation, are often not well participated by a representative sample. Understanding your readers is often a long term process and sometimes you will have to make assumptions. That's ok. Just keep going.

Don't despair, however, if you discover your readers cover a broad spectrum of careers. Remember, volunteer managers always want to know about recruitment, training and retention, regardless of their sphere of influence.

3. The newsletter's "look" is appropriate to its audience and mission. Once you understand your newsletter's purpose and begin to understand your readers, you need to address the newsletter's "look". The look includes many things, such as paper quality, use of color, layout, fonts, graphics, masthead and all those other aspects you subconsciously notice at first glance. Think of a newsletter for a bank and a newsletter for a food pantry. They each have a look which communicates something about the publisher.

The look for a newsletter for a volunteer manager association might say professional but people oriented. Or people oriented but professional, if you prefer. This can be a tricky balance to strike but by reading a few good books on design (see number five) you will understand how it's done.

Don't despair, however, if your readers cover a broad spectrum of careers. Remember, volunteer managers always want to know about recruitment, training and retention, regardless of their sphere of influence. 

One thing a newsletter to volunteer managers should never say is "This cost a lot of money to produce."

4. The newsletter's stories are well written. Your fourth grade teacher was right. Punctuation and spelling count as does good writing. Good newsletter writing is informal, often using the word "you", with certain slang words and casual, but not sloppy, grammar being acceptable. I recommend Write Tight: How to Keep Your Prose Sharp, Focused and Concise by William Brohaugh. The title says it all.

5. The newsletter's design and graphics enhance rather than detract. Design has become something of a pop culture art form in the last few years, which means that people are paying more attention to what things look like. Once you establish the look of your newsletter, you should do everything you can to make that look as effective as possible. If you have never taken a graphic design class, and in this world of desk-top publishing many people haven't, begin a course of self study. Robin Williams' The Non-Designers Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles For The Visual Novice is a practical, readable text which will make your publication look snappier in no time.

6. The cost of the newsletter is reasonable. The cold, hard reality of newsletter production is that you have to look at the bottom line, especially in smaller organizations. You may have worked your way through all the steps listed above and developed a beautiful, four color, eight page newsletter only to find that you have funds to do a one color, four pager. Think carefully, however, before discontinuing the newsletter for financial reasons. Your newsletter is a form of PR, which is an important part of a marketing strategy.

7. The newsletter is regularly evaluated. Newsletters should be reevaluated periodically. If your association experiences an increase or decrease in membership, if the leadership of the association has changed, if the budget has changed, these are all cues to re-evaluate the newsletter. To help you keep your eye fresh and objective, you may wish to walk through the process with different people.

Anne C. Lewis
[email protected]