Helpful Newsletter Tips
Quality newsletters require planning, preparation, polishing, and passion
Plan
-
Schedule newsletters on your calendar every quarter.
-
Identify quarterly themes.
-
Allow more time than you think you’ll need!
-
Keep "good example" and "not so good example" files.
Prepare
-
Collect interesting stories from your ministry.
-
Keep story or topic ideas, notes, and photos in a newsletter file.
-
Take “in-the-moment” pictures.
-
Record ministry stories or insights as they happen.
-
Narrow the newsletter content to one topic or primary story.
-
Ask: What will interest the majority of my audience?
-
Use other stories or give more details in between-newsletter emails, a blog, on Facebook, etc.
Polish
-
Edit
-
Brush up on grammar (I/me, he/him), spelling, and punctuation.
-
“The Navigators” (not “the Navigators”). (And “The Navigators” is a singular noun, so write: “The Navigators is dedicated to…,” not “The Navigators are dedicated to….”)
-
Banish passive verbs (is, are, were, there, etc.); choose active verbs.
-
Use succinct wording.
-
Use understandable terminology (avoid TLAs - Three Letter Acronyms, jargon, slang, clichés).
-
Avoid “fewsletters” (a newsletter that includes a financial appeal).
-
Edit (or ask for editing help).
-
Technical tips
-
White paper, black ink (high contrast)
-
White space
-
Space around pictures
-
One inch margins on all sides
-
One full space between paragraphs
-
Left-aligned margin, not justified
-
Simple graphics
-
Serif fonts (Times New Roman or Garamond)
Passion
-
If you love what you do, let it show!
Other Newsletter Tips
Request
Add two people to your newsletter mailing list:
Molly Gilberts
The Navigators Staff Funding
P.O. Box 6000
Colorado Springs, CO 80934
Becky Grosenbach
The Navigators Communications
P.O. Box 6000
Colorado Springs, CO 80934