• Make sure your readers know who you are. It’s best to put your organization’s name in the subject line. You could also put a person’s name and the organization. That would make it a little more personal. Don’t just include a person’s name, unless that person is well known to your subscribers.

• Include a subject line that captures someone’s attention. You could try something like Five Ways to Engage Your Board or Meet Our Youth Advisors. That would be a little more captivating than News from X Organization. 

• Use a consistent template.  Have your logo in the same place and always use the same layout so your newsletter will be easily recognizable. Be consistent with colors, fonts, and columns. 

• Make sure it’s easy to read. Actually, most people probably won’t be reading your e-newsletter; they will be skimming it (sad, but true). Be sure to include short paragraphs, bullets, and lots of white space. Use one or two columns with black text on a white background. Remember that some people read e-mail on their wireless devices and can only see limited text on the screen. 

• Be personal and conversational.  Refer to your readers as you and your organization as we. Include stories and pictures and don’t bombard your readers with statistics and jargon. If multiple people are writing articles, you could include bylines. 

• Know your audience. Figure out what your audience would be interested in reading. If your newsletter is going to donors, they will want to know how their money is being spent. Highlight one of your programs or a client. Be sure your story is personal and conversational. 

• Make sure the content is good. This is kind of a no brainer, but make sure your articles are well written and free of grammatical errors and typos. Give your subscribers something they will want to read. 

• Send the right amount of messages. This will vary depending on your organization. Sending a short e-newsletter (two or three articles) every two weeks might work. People are busy and aren’t going to want to deal with a lot of information at one time. Short and simple is best. 

• Measure your results. Now that you have spent time trying to create a great newsletter, you want to make sure people are looking at it. You can use your e-mail service provider to measure open and click through rates. You could even segment your mailing list with different subject lists and stories, as well as sending out your newsletter on different days and times to see what is more successful. 

These are just few ways to make your e-newsletter rock. For more detailed information go Kivi’s website – Nonprofit Marketing Guide She also has an excellent blog.

Photo by  phaeldesign via Flickr