Ruth,
 
Take a look at http://www.TechSoup.org they have lots of resources for
non-profit e-mail marketing techniques.  This month's featured topic is
actually:

"Upgrade Your Organization's Image with Slick HTML Newsletters

If you want your organization's message to get noticed, not trashed, an HTML
newsletter can help you upgrade your image. We'll show you some ways to help
you efficiently and effectively create professional-looking newsletters."

One thing I would definitely consider is NOT e-mailing a PDF file, but
rather posting the PDF to my website and e-mailing members URLs for where
the PDF is posted.  If your PDF is even a little larger than the regular
e-mail having it clog up a member's inbox could loose more friends than it
wins.  By e-mailing a URL I now have the choice of when to download the PDF
(the DigiCult newsletter is distributed this way, they also give me a choice
of a High Quality/High Bandwidth version and a Low Quality/Low Bandwidth
version for dial-up members.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Richard Urban
Operations Coordinator
Collaborative Digitization Program

http://www.cdpheritage.org
[log in to unmask]
(303) 871-2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 

________________________________

From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Ruth Lang
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 12:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Member newsletters by email?


 Our organization is looking into the possibility of sending our members an
online quarterly membership newsletter through email via a pdf file instead
of mailing hard copies of the newsletter.  If any organizations on this list
have had experiences with an online newsletter, please share with me the
pros and cons of such an endeavor.  How do you do such a mass email mailing?
Do you need a separate server? 
 
We figured we'd contact each member (by snail mail) to tell them of our
plans and request email addresses.  However, we are aware there may be older
members who may not have email addresses or may not want to give out their
email addresses, so maybe we will print a small run of our newsletters to
send to them.  If we scrap the newsletter idea, we still send our members
email alerts for upcoming events, etc. 
 
Any advice would be much appreciated!   
 
Ruth Lang
Oral History and Volunteer Coordinator
Fresno Historical Society
Fresno, California  
 
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