Newsletter tips

Content first

Newsletters can keep your membership informed about your lake group's activities, educated about current lake issues, and entertained with personal stories about your lake and the people who enjoy it. Possible themes for newsletter articles might include:

• Lake Group activities:
  current lake issues and business, upcoming activities, follow up on past activities, meeting minutes and agendas, recognition of volunteers, volunteer opportunities, feature article on a lake group member, message from the group's president or board, etc.
• Educational information:
  current lake issues at both the local and state level, community issues that may affect your lake, new science that helps us understand Wisconsin lakes, interesting web or print resources, etc.
  Note: Wisconsin Association of Lakes members can reprint articles from our quarterly newsletter, The Lake Connection. You can also reprint information from our monthly e-lake letter as long as material is credited.
• Fun stuff:
  lake history, fishin' stories, photos, drawings, poems, lake trivia, quotations, website links, kid's corner, cartoons, recipes, etc.

Encourage your members to contribute articles, photos, and article ideas.

Photos (especially of your lake and members) add interest and appeal. Try to include at least a few graphics in every issue. Photos should be credited to the photographer.

When you are using articles from other sources (such as a newspaper, government publication, or website) make sure you tell your readers the source of the information and cite any author (if applicable).

Producing your newsletter

Having an editor to coordinate gathering newsletter articles, work with contributing writers to make sure ideas are clear, edit articles for length and grammatical accuracy, and layout the newsletter is important to producing a consistent and timely newsletter.

There are a variety of software programs that can handle newsletter layout work. Consider what program(s) you have access to and the computer skills of your current and future newsletter editors. Newsletters can be laid out in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, Adobe PageMaker (no longer made), Adobe InDesign, and Quark (Quark and InDesign are used by professional graphic designers). There may be additional programs available.

The cost of producing a newsletter can influence design decisions. Factors to consider include:

• Color or black and white:
  Printing a newsletter in full color is almost always more expensive than printing in black and white. Color usually requires a heavier grade of paper (so colors don't bleed through). Reproducing photographs in black and white can be more difficult.
• Type of printing:
  Consider whether your newsletter will be printed by a professional printer (using an offset press) or if a copy machine will be used. Printers can often offer advice on color and treatment of photos to maximize the quality of your newsletter's reproduction. Copy machines (especially if your newsletter is black and white) are accessible and may be cost effective.
• Newsletter format:
  The size of paper you use can sometimes influence cost. Standard sizes (8 1/2" x 11", 8 1/2" x 14" legal size; 11" x17" tabloid size) will generally be in stock. Also consider if you want the newsletter to be folded or stapled.
• Type of paper:
  Paper quality is an important consideration. In general, heavier grades of paper, glossy paper, and colored paper may add cost to production. Printers and copy shops can give you price comparisons between different papers.
• Number of pages:
  More pages may increase printing costs, and will increase the weight of your newsletter (which will increase postage). Consider your budget for distributing your newsletter.
• The number of newsletters produced.
  Many lake groups with smaller memberships do not need to produce many copies of their newsletter. Others may need to produce a large quantity. The price per unit (per newsletter) decreases as more copies are printed. The number of newsletters you need may influence your choices on the above factors.

Distributing the newsletter

Some lake groups have their newsletter editor distribute the newsletter. Maintaining a mailing list and having pre-addressed mailing labels will help make sure everyone gets their newsletter. Newsletters should be sent to all lake group members. You may also want to send newsletters to selected associates (such as local decision makers, local businesses, neighboring lakes, the local library, the Wisconsin Association of Lakes, and UW-Extension). Newsletters can also be sent to non-members along with an invitation to join.

Financing your newsletter

Printing and postage costs can be expensive. Developing a "newsletter fund" in your group's financial structure, organizing a fundraiser, finding a benefactor on your lake, and soliciting advertising from local businesses are all methods that can be used to offset newsletter costs. Advertising does take up newsletter space and some folks consider accepting advertising undesirable.