Comms for non-profits

It's funny how people's usual preferences go out the window when it comes to Christmas. One minute you're all white walls and beige sofas and the next you're shinning up a drainpipe to stick a 10ft inflatable Santa on the roof. In November, you're sticking rigidly to a gym schedule and vitamin shakes, but come December you transform into a predominantly couch-based creature subsisting on pigs-in-blankets and mint thins. It can be the same for newsletter readers. Habits change

In a recent Kickstart Your Newsletter training session for creatives beginning a newsletter or wanting to revitalise the one they've already got, I shared lots of examples of artists, writers and other types of creators doing it well - but it took me ages to find them. That's because they take time to put together a fantastic email that engages with their community of subscribers - but they don't necessarily think about making it visible. There are lots of ways to grow your

The reason for starting a newsletter is usually about what you want - you're looking for a new way to increase visits to your website, you're keen to share some of the expertise you've built up over the years, you want the chance to write. Those things are important. Without a clear goal for your newsletter you're likely to fall out of the habit of sending it and you may start to wonder why you began it at all. But equally as important is what your readers want from your news

Every content decision should start with your organisation's mission - each story, update and call-to-action should be illustrating and supporting your cause.