Hi, all - I am looking for information on newsletters. Does your organization send out newsletters? If so, are they printed or electronic? How many times per year do you publish? Thanks for the help! Trish Morgan Associate Director Pathways Hospice Foundation [Email Removed]

We do two planned giving newsletters a year. In a perfect world I would like to do at least three. We send them through snail mail and as a link on our pg Web site. We are looking into sending it out electronically through our alumni online community. Cindy March Long Island University Assistant Director of Planned Giving 700 Northern Boulevard Brookville, NY 11548

Hi Trish, we currently alternate nesletter in March with askl letter, May straight out ask (No Newsletter)to coincide with tax time, September newsltter with ask letter and November Ask letter with small Christmas gift. Hope this helps

At my day job, we send out a large newsletter twice a year in printed form. There is a vehicle for giving included in that. Ideally, we time it to be published about 1 - 2 months before our major yearly appeals so that good news about the college is still fresh in their minds. Then for the alumni, we also e-mail out a smaller newsletter on a bimonthly basis in electronic format that is also available on the website. The small historical society that I volunteer at sends out a paper newsletter 4 times a year. The bulk of their consituents are elderly folks who aren't internet savvy. However, we are going to start putting the newsletters online. Teresa Carstensen Data/Information Services Coordinator Columbus College of Art & Design

We are going to do our first newsletter in the fall and I intend to have an opportunity for giving in the newsletter. Would you say that donors who give to your appeal give more than once because of the opportunity you present in the newsletter? Jim Friend Director of Development Diocese of Allentown

We send out printed quarterly newsletters to our members and donors as an information tool and to offer any specials to our museum store, etc. We also send out an e-newsletter twice per month where one of those is more informative and letter-like giving them both information about the coming month, events, specials, and the opportunity to give and the other is more like an update to events.

I work for a natinal non-profit organization that sends out a monthly e-newsletter with a link to our website for donations. We also send out 4 appeals each year and a magazine with an ask. All of these produce revenue, although I can't say specifically how much of the NetSolutions income is as a result of the e-newsletter. What I try to teach our supporters is that every time we send something to them, it is an educational opportunity for them to learn more about how we try to fulfill our mission. The more they know about how we steward their money, the more they give. Jane Sanders Director of Membership & Planned Gifts Compassion & Choices

We do a newsletter 4 times a year and include an envelope if donors want to make a gift, although there isn't any reference to it in the newsletter. We also do 7 direct mail appeals to our donors each year. We try to time the newsletter so it comes out a few weeks ahead of a direct mail appeal. Some of our donors only give in response to the newsletters, while others give every time we mail to them. The newsletter envelope also offers donors the opportunity to make their gifst in honor of/in memory of someone and that is very popular. It is also a great way for us to collect information as we have spaces for spouse name, their realtionship to us, their employer, etc.

Carrie L. Sorensen
Manager of Donor Relations and Grants
Humane Society of Indianapolis
[Email Removed]

Hi Trish, We send out monthly appeals, and quarterly (seasonal)newsletters. They all have remits and return envelopes. Oddly enough, the folks who typically respond to the newsletter don't respond to the appeals. The newsletter is informative and appeals to most older folks because it is such a soft ask. Our newsletters are also on our website. Generally, our newsletter is printed on 11x17 paper then folded in half to form four pages. For mailing, it is then folded in thirds and a 6 3/4" return envelope slipped inside. Minimal tabbing is needed and there is no expense of a mailing envelope. We send out about 9,000 so I email the data file to a mailing service. They tab, address and mail the newsletters for us. What they save us in postage pays for their service, and I am saved the work of labeling and mailing. Good Luck!! Susan Sutton Lighthouse Mission Ministries WWW.thelighthousemission.org

We normally send a fall and spring newsletters (8-10 pages) with an enevelope that allows the donor to give in honor or in memory of someone. Lisa Atkinson Pitt Memorial Hospital Foundation Greenville, NC [Email Removed]

Hey there. I am a member of the Blue Hill Troupe, recently migrated to Raiser's Edge (and by recent, I mean within the last two weeks) My organization sends out newsletters to our consituents monthly. They have the option of receiving them electronically, print, or both print and electronically. We also post the newsletters to our website. Ironically, I have just started working on how to extract email data to replicate the old functionality. Slightly annoyed that "email" is treated like a phone number in the system, as I am getting cell phones in my initial exports. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask (or answers to my current challenges!) ---- Bertram Tunnell Blue Hill Troupe [Email Removed]

We send out three printed newsletters a year. We do not yet have it available electronically, but plan to do so in the future.We would publish it in our web site, then probably send out an e-mail letting those interested in the electronic copy that it is available. Not exactly sure yet.

Thanks to all of you for your responses. We have been sending out 3-4 newsletters a year - it varies slightly based on other projects, each one has a remit envelope stapled inside. Our newsletters are usually 8 pages, but one issue each year is 16-20 pages, because it includes all the names of people in whose memory or honor gifts have been given and the names of the donors to those tributes. We're trying to decide whether we want to decrease the number of newsletters to 2 and add 2-4 eNewsletters, or change the format of the newsletter. At this time, our newsletters do not pay for themselves. I'm considering moving to a 4 page newsletter - perhaps instead of the current 8-page one, or in addition. I'm fascinated by the variation in what we all do. Thanks for the answers! Trish Morgan Associate Director Pathways Hospice Foundation [Email Removed]