E-mail
Broad aims
A CiviCRM powered monthly newsletter that appeals specifically to non-engaged or under-engaged user and implementors with a 'low tech' message about using CiviCRM and meeting others who use CiviCRM. The main purpose should be engaging end users and "selling" CiviCRM. (Geeks already know how to use the forum and read the blogs and IRC and don't need a newsletter) keeping them informed about new and upcoming developments on CiviCRM as a product and project.
Content
The newsletter should wherever possible link to content that lives outside the newsletter, preferably on the CiviCRM site.
Titles for content should make benefits to the reader explicit, e.g. 'See how X org increased their click rates with CiviMail'
| What | Description and editorial notes |
|---|---|
| News | Typically these come from the blog |
| Case studies / success stories | From people at an organisation that is using CiviCRM / these can link to blog posts or case studies on civicrm.org |
| Community member highlight | A spotlight on someone that is doing something cool in the community, either on an ongoing basis or on a one-off basis. They could be implementers or end users |
| Community tip | A sentence or two which is basically just a simple community tip, e.g.:
|
| Tip | Highlight some feature of CiviCRM that we think will be useful for people
|
| Events | List all upcoming events (online and offline). Highlight the most important ones. Link to the site for info for each one |
| Experts corner | Any blogs / articles we've seen out there that we think would be good to share w/ our community re best practices, trends, new ideas for how to engage consituents, etc. |
| Static content | Unchanging content:
|
Editorial process
The newsletter goes out once a month on the 1st of the month.
The Editorial process is:
- We have an editorial meeting at the start of the previous month to decide content for the newsletter. Each month, we have a guest editor to help us find and decide on content
- Editor liases with anyone who is responsible for creating new content for the newsletter
- Once all content is collected, we pass to the designer who puts the newsletter together
- Designer sends out to the editorial team for feed back, typos, etc.
- Newsletter goes out.
Check list for guest editors
Here are some ideas to help you prepare for the meeting so we can have a good and productive discussion:
- read this page so you understand how we put together the newsletter each month
- review previous newsletters - you can find them here: https://civicrm.org/newsletter - feedback on highlights / stuff you thought was really useful (and to whom), stuff that we could improve, ways that we could make the content more engaging, etc.
- have a look at the expected content for the newsletter (on this page) and give us suggestions for any of the content: http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRM/Newsletter, e.g. can you recommend anyone for the community highlight? what news should we include this month? do you have a tech or community tip that you would like to share, etc
Audience / messages that we want to convey
CiviCRM is a diverse and welcoming community so we should reflect this in the newsletter. The case studies and community member highlights should have a range of voices, people, skill levels, etc.
