1. Hillary Bond
Communications Coordinator
National Safe Place

2.  Form of direct marketing using
electronic mail as a means of
communicating messages to a
targeted audience
 Messages intended to:
◦ Educate/Inform
◦ Raise Awareness
◦ Establish ongoing relationships
◦ Spark action
◦ Promote organization/event

3.  Saves time and money
 Empowering
 Effective
 Reaches a targeted audience
 Great ROI
 What can it do for your organization:
◦ Increase website traffic
◦ Promote identity awareness
◦ Broaden your audience
◦ Generate donations/Increase donor base
◦ Promote special events
◦ Increase volunteer base

4.  Approximately 147 million people in U.S. use email, most use it
every day.
 45% of American adults (including non-internet users) send or read
email every day
 91% of Internet users between 18 and 64 send or read email
 46% of email users say they’re addicted to email
 51% check email 4 or more times a day
 50% check email while on vacation

6.  Manage email lists
 Provide easy-to-use templates
 Send readable formats (HTML
and/or Text)
 Handle unsubscribe links required
by law (CAN-SPAM)
 Ensure email delivery and track
results

7.  Standard email programs (ie: Outlook, Hotmail) not
designed for group messaging
◦ Limited number of emails sent at one time
◦ No formatting control
◦ List break up more susceptible to filters
◦ No tracking/reporting of email results
◦ Sending mass emails through Outlook means you’ll
receive all bouncebacks and autoreplies
◦ Takes more time

8.  Federal law that sets the rules for commercial email
 Requirements:
◦ “Real” (clearly identified) sender address
◦ Working “Reply To” address
◦ Clearly-defined content (reason to contact recipient)
◦ Working “Unsubscribe” link
◦ Clearly-identified corporate address
Read more about CAN-SPAM at www.ftc.gov/spam

9.  Build your list where you connect
◦ Website
 “Please sign up for our e-Newsletter”
 Single vs. Double Opt-in
◦ Social Networking sites
 Twitter
 Facebook
 LinkedIn
◦ Community events, meetings,
conferences, trade shows
◦ Email Signature

10.  Announcements
◦ Frequency: event-driven
◦ Press releases, holiday greetings, thank you cards,
etc.
◦ Use content to build deeper relationships
 Newsletters
◦ Frequency: regular (weekly, monthly)
◦ Lots of educational content (typically non-
promotional)
◦ Summarize information, be concise
 Promotions/Invitations
◦ Frequency: can vary depending on organizational
goals, events
◦ Focus on promotion, limited content
◦ Use content to invite click-through or other action

11.  Types of e-newsletter content
◦ Success Stories
◦ Interviews with industry experts
◦ Q&A Column
◦ Back Stage Passes
◦ Save The Date
◦ Empowering How-Tos
◦ Action Alerts
TIP: Survey your readers at least a couple times each
year to find out what they want to know about, what
questions they have and what kind of information they
want to receive from you.

12.  Share your expertise
 Use facts & testimonials
 Hold contests & giveaways
 Promote relevant partnerships
 Advocacy efforts
 Relevant media coverage
 Keep it short and to the point (About 1,000 words)
 Include photos and graphics
 Make people central to your content
 Microcontent

13.  If your readers don’t see something
interesting after skimming your email for just
a few seconds, your email is gone from their
minds and so is your organization.
 Every email has four key pieces of
microcontent:
◦ The Subject Line
◦ The From Line
◦ The Headings and Subheadings
◦ The Next Step or Call to Action

14.  Subject Line
◦ Change it every time
◦ Beware of telling people what to do (ie:
Register, Donate, Help, etc.)
◦ Describe the candy, not the wrapper
◦ Keep it short (30-40 characters)
 The From Line
◦ The same every time
◦ Organization/program name

15.  The Headings and Subheadings
◦ Descriptive headlines and subheads with
active verbs and vivid nouns
◦ Should answer question “Why should I
continue reading?”
 Call to Action
◦ Should stand out on its own

16.  As you write e-newsletter articles, ask yourself these
questions:
◦ How will this article make our readers feel?
◦ Does this article show our readers how important they are to us?
◦ Does it celebrate successes they helped our organization bring
about?
◦ Is this article educational or informational?
◦ Is this article promoting our organization?

17.  Simplicity and skimmable
structure over complexity and
size
 Make words easy to read
 Make sure your logo is present
and large enough to make an
impact
 Use a custom template
 Stick with basic fonts
 Design for the preview pane
 Use images wisely

18.  Appropriate timing (when to send your
email marketing) differs from industry to
industry
 Conventional wisdom: send messages
midweek—Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
Thursdays
 Best advice: send emails on different days
and determine which day has more
“opens”

19. “Public relations is the planned effort to influence
opinion (attitudes) through good character and
responsible performance, based upon mutually
satisfactory two-way communication.”
–Scott Cutlip, Fellow PRSA, APR

20.  Start by visiting your community’s Chamber of
Commerce and find a list of local media outlets
(newspaper, radio, TV)
 Search websites for contact information
 Find appropriate “beat” reporters (those who cover
the kind of news you have to share)
 Compile a list with contact names, their media
outlet, phone, email and notes about news
interests and preferred contact methods.
 Reach out to each contact and introduce yourself
and briefly inform them about your program or
organization

21.  Contact media ONLY when you have relevant,
timely news to share (an announcement,
important statistical information, an event, etc.)
 Adhere to preferred contact method
 Be short, to the point—who, what, when, where,
why must be focus of message
 Make it easy for reporter to use your
information—ask yourself “What’s in it for the
reader”

22.  Include organizational logo, name of contact person, phone number
and email address
 For Immediate Release or Embargoed until specific date
 Write a concise, informative, no more than six or seven words
 Start press release with most important information—lead sentence
should be no more than 25 words.
 Answer the who, what, where, when, why questions
 Provide a quote from your executive director or other relevant expert
in body of release
 Boilerplate: written in in smaller text and inserted into page footer is
this shot paragraph describing your organization/program.

23.  Informative and doesn’t sound like a sales push
 Answers who, what, where, when, and why
 It is short: one page or less
 Provides a quote or testimony, if needed
 Includes facts
 Properly identifies people referenced in the release
 Has been spell-checked
 Tense is correct
 Researched intended media and targeted the release
appropriately

24.  You should have a media kit on file and ready to send when at a
moment’s notice. Suggested contents include:
◦ Fact sheet about agency and Safe Place
◦ Press release specific to Safe Place or event
◦ Background information event or program being promoted
◦ Recent agency or program newsletter
◦ Suggested activities to help promote the event or program
◦ Contact information for individual associated with event or program
◦ Suggested interview questions

25.  A social media presence provides opportunity for
social engagement, allows you to learn more about
your community
 Easy way to disseminate information, links, PSAs,
event information, news, success stories
 Must manage your social media pages and strive
to update at least 2 times a day
 Content suggestions:
◦ Hold photo contests
◦ Poll your friends/follwers and ask questions
◦ Promote your e-newsletter and blog content
◦ Share success stories and honor donors
◦ Get relevant news updates from Google alerts and
share
◦ Use videos and graphics