Newsletter Information

OVERVIEW OF NEWSLETTER PROCESS Day 1 (Monday): You email us your final newsletter and photos; we read it over and send to Anna Cantrell (formatter extraordinaire) Day 2/3 (Tuesday/Wednesday): Anna Cantrell formats your letter and sends it back to us Day 4 (Thursday at 9:30am): Order newsletters from printer Day 5 (Friday): Prepare contact labels, benefactor cards and envelopes Saturday/Sunday: Office Closed Day 6/7 (Monday/Tuesday) Prepare contact labels, benefactor cards and envelopes Day 8 (Wednesday at 6pm): Newsletters delivered to Big Woods Day 9 (Thursday): Volunteers prepare mail-out Day 10 (Friday): Volunteers prepare mail-out/Take newsletter mail-out to post office

Here is an article for tips on writing a great newsletter check out this article: https://team.org/blog/10-steps-write-missionary-newsletter/

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS

1. Proofread and double check your newsletter before submitting. Ask a teammate, friend omember to edit your newsletter.

2. Send Photos

• Please include full-size photos with your submission. Send them as ATTACHMENTS, not included in the body of the email.
• A two-sided newsletter typically has room for two photos on the front (one regular plus the long horizontal header photo across the top) and two to four photos on the back, depending on how much text you have written.
• If you want captions for your photos, please include them in your email. We may shorten them depending on space.
• If order is important, tell us the order in which you want the pictures to appear (e.g. which photos to place first, second, third, or which photos correspond with which text etc.).
• If you wish to feature all photos submitted, please indicate that and we will make an additional photo-only page if necessary.
• If you email more photos than can fit in one newsletter, please clarify their order of importance or we will select what photos to use. If photos are poor quality and will not print clearly, we may omit them.

3. Email your newsletter to alicia@familymissionscompany.com

MAILING PROCESS/COSTS

• Contact lists with 200 or more are sent via bulk mail ($0.184/letter). Smaller mailouts can usually be grouped with other mailouts and sent via bulk mail. In some cases, smaller mailing lists must be sent first class ($0.49/letter)
• Estimated delivery time for bulk mail — nationally 10 to 14 days, locally 4 to 6 days

COSTS The expense of writing a regular newsletter to your benefactors is an investment in your ministry!

• A 1-2 page newsletter (double-sided) costs approximately .60-85 cents per letter to print and mail (material, printing, and postage costs – there are no charges from FMC for formatting and stuffing, which at this time we are glad we are still able to provide).

SHARE WITH CONTACTS VIA EMAIL Check out the weekly Messenger — newsletters are attached as PDFs and can be downloaded if you want a digital version to share via email or with your benefactors, friends and family. If you need it sooner ask the newsletter coordinator or me to email it to you. In the coming year, we are hoping to begin professionally emailing your newsletters to your contact list.

UPDATING YOUR CONTACT LIST We commend you for staying on top of these benefactor relationships and keeping a current contact list!!

• Please submit changes to your benefactor/contact list (adding new names, changing addresses, etc.). at least 2 weeks PRIOR to submitting your newsletter. Significant changes to your contact list after this point may cause a delay in the mailing process or your list may not be updated until the following mailout.

Click here to review your contact list on Donrohub:

Click here to submit updates to your contact list: