2- 4- 6- 8: How We Gonna Communicate?

I hope you've de-soggified from last weekend's torrential rains (particularly if you live and work in the mid-Atlantic States or New England). The sun has been good to us, we've mostly dried out. Some folks still don't have their power back, and some towns are still bailing out. I and my readers wish you all well. Hope you are finding help. Let us know if particular nonprofits stepped up in your community and deserve a special shout-out.
If you tweet on Twitter, give those great helping NPO's a #CharityTuesday hashtag. Regular contributors/followers on Twitter know about this, and look each week for a nonprofit to support based on tweets they receive. This is why every nonprofit should be working Twitter, Facebook, You Tube....various social media to extend out your network.
This week, I want to talk with you about the newsletter.
1. Use social media.
2. Communicate with a newsletter.
On a regular basis, let your followers know what's cooking at your nonprofit. How your primary customers are finding your service, employing your service, benefiting from your service. Some newsletter tips just for you, because you are special:

• Publish regularly: monthly is good. Your volunteers, primary customers (those who use your service), donors like to know what's up. Most of those people feel a sense of relationship with you, with an employee, with a board member. They feel the connection. They appreciate your effort of staying in touch.
• Highlight upcoming events. Your readers are interested in meetings, special speakers, special events. Repeat these each issue. Those who follow you, who make the link, will get the information on their calendars.
• Print or e-mail? Use e-mail. Use Constant Contact: the newsletter is embedded in the message. No attachments to mess with. Nice graphic design, if you like. Some of your followers, perhaps donors and/or primary customers over age 60 prefer snail mail. Limit the amount of snail mail. It's a green thing (that carbon footprint thing).
• Ask for letters, short articles. Print occasional pieces from your readers. Ask for photos. Link these to your website so folks can find back issues, point friends to your website to read their stories, see their photos.

While you're doing your newsletter thing, you're also building community in your nonprofit. Making the communication two-way, making the newsletter interactive, you're building your network, reaching new people.

Share your comments on this blog if you like. Or if you seek private contact, you can reach me directly at s.p.99smith@gmail.com, check my website www.itstheresults.com, tweet me @STEVENETWORK.