Creating Excellent Newsletters, Part 2 of 3

by Caroline Huth, do good Consulting Graphic Communications Trainer

Our continuation from last month’s issue of Doing Good on the basics of newsletter design brings us to the inside of your publication. In November, we talked about the need for a strong masthead, eye-catching headlines, and how to select columns, fonts, and font sizes. This month, we’ll review how to develop the inside pages of your newsletter to keep your members reading all the way to the end!

Interior Design
Now that you've succeeded in getting a reader to open up your newsletter, keep the interior pages of your newsletter as organized as your front page. Resist the urge to suddenly expand margins to accommodate a too-long story. Better to edit it, or continue to the next page. Add pages if needed. Do not alter with the page layout, either: keep the grid system the same on all the pages.

The Power of Pictures
Much evidence supports the idea that people learn more deeply from words with pictures than from words alone and, overall, several studies combined have shown a median percentage gain of 89% effectiveness.* Photos and illustrations give a sense of reality and excitement to the stories in your newsletter. They allow a person to understand immediately what they missed or need to know. Use pictures judiciously and they will likely increase donations, too. Here's a story from Derek Riddle at the McKinley Church & Foundation on the power of pictures:

"We use McKinley's newsletter, Foundation News, to keep in touch with our alumni and solicit them for support. Past newsletters were text-heavy and contained few photos. They brought in about $5,000 per mailing, sometime $10,000 at certain points of the year. Recently, we sent a nearly all-photo newsletter and $12,000 rolled in! I now carry a digital camera at all times and get as many pictures as I can, especially of programming activities and our new building project. I fill the newsletter with them, saving many for another 'Year in Pictures' edition. For me, the camera is as much a development tool as contribution envelopes and thank you letters."

Of course, the better the photo, the more helpful it will be. Readers must be able to see the images in order to identify with them. Don't use images that are smaller than the width of a column, and (with discretion) you can even break your margins if a larger image would pack more punch. Check out the Top 10 Tips of good photos in the sidebar to the right.

Captions are very useful tools. Often readers hurriedly flip through publications, with photos catching their eye; captions stop them to read further. Well-written captions accompanying great photos can draw a once-hesitant reader into your story. Captions should be short and to the point, giving away just enough information to pique readers' curiosity and draw them in. Recognizing people in your photo, too, helps readers identify with your clients, volunteers, and donors, also drawing them in.

In a photo pinch, a good source for stock images and illustrations is www.istockphoto.com. Most images are under $10 and come in a variety of formats. So if you forgot your camera at the annual dinner, you can find an image of some roast beef to accompany your article about it!

Cut the Clip Art
So you've set up comfortable white space, and stuck to your fonts choices. Great! Your images are well-composed, well-shot, and sprinkled into your layout. Perfect! Now, just resist the urge to toss in clip art images everywhere and you've got a nice-looking newsletter.

Clip art should be used sparingly and only when really necessary (like on pages where you might have mostly text and either small or no photos). Most clip art is childish, silly, and/or badly drawn, especially if it's free. A silly dancing cow to "decorate" your article about upcoming events is not only unnecessary, it makes your organization seem silly and childish. Instead, try a simple pencil or calendar, if a graphic is needed at all.

Printed newsletters can and should be a powerful tool in any nonprofit organization’s outreach and fundraising toolkit. They inform readers of your good work, keep them updated on your plans and growth, and solicit their involvement – but only if they are read. Stick to the tips outlined in these issues, and you are well on your way to designing eye-catching, action-packed newsletters that will keep readers turning page after page!

Tune in next month when do good Consulting’s Organizational Development Specialist, Amber Marks, writes on the power of storytelling in creating amazing newsletters.

Rethinking the Holidays

by Laura Huth, do good Consulting, President & CEO

The first part of rethinking the holidays started in early December: we "adopted" an 11-year-old girl. Through Cunningham Children's Home, my family – partner, Patrick, and his then 11-year old daughter Alice – got a holiday wish list from "Tara", who was staying at Cunningham Children's Home. Tara was the youngest girl in Cunningham's residential program. A typical 11-year-old, she loved music, stuffed animals, pink "girly" jewelry, and art supplies. Unlike many other 11-year-olds, though, Tara had no one to buy Christmas gifts for her this year. Until we "adopted" her.

That year, instead of loathing swiping the credit card and braving the crowds, we had one of the most satisfying shopping experiences we can remember. Overflowing parking lots and long lines could not stop us as we set out to bring joy to Tara's life that holiday season. Into the cart went markers and art supplies, a stuffed puppy, a pink watch, some earrings, and a Beyonce CD. We swiped the credit card joyfully, thinking about the smile on Tara's face when she opened gifts that would likely be treasured much more than we would have with ours. As we wrapped her gifts (in special pink holiday wrapping paper we bought for her) around the dining room table that night, Patrick, Alice, and I talked about our experience that day. "Should we do it again next year?" I asked. "Absolutely!" they said. And we are.

Then, as we were out shopping for Tara, my mom sent my siblings and me an email. "Kids, please no gifts for Christmas this year. Your dad and I have all we need. If you want, make a donation to charity instead." And it's true. We grew up in a comfortable middle-class home, and after so many years my parents really do have everything they need (or can afford to buy it). So my sister, brother, and I joined forces and wrote a check to the Eastern Illinois Food Bank – in my parents' names. The gift wrap wasn't fancy – a red envelope with a nice card and a letter inside which read: "We have always enjoyed the blessings of the seasons. Now, we share with others: a donation has been made in your names to the Eastern Illinois Food Bank. With it, $1,000 worth of food can be purchased for families in need, providing them with 370 meals." My mother cried; my father said quietly, "Thank you, kids. This means so much so your mother and me."

Giving to charity for the holidays is increasingly common for families looking for something other than a heap of unnecessary gift and piles of leftover packaging. Such donations – of gifts, money, or time – can mean a real difference in the lives of people in need in our community.

Which is, after all, what this time of the year is all about.

To “adopt” a child for the holidays from Cunningham Children’s Home, click here, or contact Cloydia Larimore at (217) 367-3728. To make a donation to the Eastern Illinois Food Bank to help others celebrate the holidays, click here, or contact Lisa Bralts at (217) 328-3663 x17.

Organizational Profile: BACH

by Shelli Drummond Stine, do good Consulting, Organization Development Specialist

Chances are, even if you are not a devotee of classical music, you’ve heard of BACH. If you’re thinking of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach, you are only partially correct. BACH is also a local group of talented, impassioned performers and music enthusiasts with a dedication to Baroque-style music.

Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana (BACH) is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 to teach, learn, and perform music of the Baroque era in central Illinois. It is the only professional ensemble in Illinois outside Chicago solely dedicated to live performances of works by Bach, Handel, Purcell, Monteverdi, Corelli, Vivaldi, Schütz, Rameau, Couperin, and other Baroque composers.

Baroque music describes an era and set of styles of European art music composed between 1600 and 1750. BACH specializes in vibrant, historically-informed performances of this style of classical music from the 17th and 18th centuries. Chester Alwes, professor of choral music at the University of Illinois and director of music at Grace Lutheran Church, Champaign, is BACH’s musical director.

BACH draws on local talent in Champaign-Urbana to perform as soloists and members of the BACH Chorus, made up of approximately 40 singers, to present the dramatic, yet clear, message and meaning of Baroque music. A small orchestra of 5 to 15 musicians complement vocal melodies with different levels of loud and soft music, varying instruments, and exciting contrasts of tone.

In addition to BACH’s year-round performance schedule of five major performances in grand venues like the historic Smith Recital Hall on the University’s campus, smaller groups of musicians occasionally appear in more intimate settings around town – you might enjoy BACH during an evening of dining at Champaign’s Great Impasta, for instance. And while Baroque music was written largely for monarchs and aristocrats, BACH’s performances are always “family-friendly.”

To learn more about BACH performances or supporting this great community asset, contact BACH at (217) 378-6802 or click here.