Writing a nonprofit newsletter can be a serious drag. Back in my nonprofit days, I remember the monthly struggle to prize interesting (and coherent) stories & program info from my over-busy coworkers. So I thought I’d share the clever solution two of my clients, PDX Q Center and Hudson Pride Connections Center, have come up with to promote their upcoming events.

Rather than standard newsletter copy, both community centers use the bold graphics they already have on-hand for event promotions to create teaser images that link to the event’s page on their websites. The graphics stand on their own to create a visually appealing newsletter that’s easy to scan at a glance and see what’s happening at the center. I appreciate the simplicity of it every time I get one of their newsletters in my inbox. I’m also more likely to click on an image that strikes my fancy than read a mile-long newsletter, what about you?

Here’s an example of Q Center’s copy-free, ‘visual’ newsletter.

Now, both of my clients are community centers, so their newsletters are of the ‘upcoming events’ variety. I realize that graphics-only newsletters won’t be be appropriate for every purpose, but I think it’s a solution that is worth exploring if you’re struggling to create fresh and interesting content for each issue.

What do you think? Have you come up with a novel solution to address your newsletter blues? Tell me about it in the comments.

May 14, 2011 · Rebekah L. Hickey · Comments  

Tags: Case Studies