DU'rs: I need your professional advice

[graywarrior]

I write, edit, and design newsletters for non-profits. I'm trying to develop this into a fulltime gig. Check out one I did for a non-profit and give me you opinion. These are not e-newsletters. They will be made into hard copies.

Thanks. Any constructive criticism or suggestions are welcome.


http://www.scil4u.org/winter-spring-06-newsletter.pdf

[Floogeldy]

1. You're great, but . . .

. . . let's face it. A lot of people could do a newsletter. I fear that, in your business, it is not what you know but "who" you know.

[graywarrior]

2. Explain the "who you know" part.

[Floogeldy]

6. I mean . . .

. . . that those who hire folks to create newsletters may be more likely to hire their relatives and friends than someone who is "better at it" than the other guy.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[graywarrior]

9. I find that non-profits struggle to define themselves to the public

That's where I'm good. I can spend a week with them, and define who they are in a newsletter. Suncoast Center used the one here as a fundraiser and business card. It gave staff and board members the confidence to hand them out and talk about what they do.

[Floogeldy]

11. Perhaps the job requires more creativity than I thought.

:)

[riderinthestorm]

3. As a former full time development director

(and I still do some part-time stuff if it works into the schedule), I like a lot about your newsletter.

But....

I'm not crazy about the title/header. The unfilled font over the blah blue shadow drawing doesn't grab me. And that part should grab the reader or they are gonna pitch your newsletter in the trash.

Did you write those articles? Good job! Ample use of photos also is a good device for a newsletter.

Good luck. You're on the right track and definitely have the skills. Check out some graphic design packaging tips for your header problem (problem in my opinion only) to ramp up the appeal.

[graywarrior]

5. Yes, I wrote the articles.

The banner was a pain in the ass. One of the wealthy board members who paid for the newsletter wanted it that way. I agree, it's terrible. One of the most difficult parts of doing non-profit newsletters is trying to convince them nicely that they-re ideas suck.

Thanks for the feedback. You rock.

[speedoo]

17. I agree that the Title/Header needs work.

Too bad about the board member's dopey idea. He/she needs to realize that their bad idea costs readership. It really is the single most important visual thing about the product.

Have not read the content yet.

[graywarrior]

19. Board members can be dangerous sometimes.

[speedoo]

22. Oh I know that all too well.

Which is why I did not offer any suggestions to deal with that. Maybe the only thing you can do is make sure the person who directly reviews your work there knows you are not satisfied with it. But even that should only be done if you are sure they won't feed that back to the board memeber.

[riderinthestorm]

24. What's nice is that when graywarrior shops this around for more work

He/she can point out the terrible header and state upfront that a board member at Suncoast wanted that, and being the team player that graywarrior is, the board member got what they wanted.

It kills two birds with one stone: shows people that he/she recognizes the value of the Board, and also ensures the potential employer understands this banner wasn't his/her decision.

[graywarrior]

25. Very diplomatic.

[qnr]

4. Looks nice, but the border on pages 2 through 4 throws it off (for me) n/t

[graywarrior]

7. Thanks. That's something I need to work on.

[Whoa_Nelly]

8. Create a simple website with meta tags

and a brochure to send out to different businesses, community home association groups.

The website with meta tags would make your website come up in searches.
Purpose of meta tags:
http://www.anybrowser.com/MetaTagGenerator.html

and

http://search-engine-secrets.net/meta-tags.htm

[graywarrior]

10. Awesome. Thanks!

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. I'd offer a full-on critique, but...

through a lot of experience with non-profit newsletters, I learned that People Who Run Things too often don't want what's right, but what they think looks "snappy" or something. I've heard "I just like it that way" far too many times about type and design elements I know to be hideous and hard to read, so I just don't bother anymore.

I hope you have better experiences.

[graywarrior]

14. Guess I must scare the shit out of them, especially when I say

"here, you do it."

[riderinthestorm]

20. Amen.

I love working at organizations that have the resources to hire professionals like Graywarrior. Newsletters are really time-consuming to put together and I'd far rather hire out than design it and build it myself.

That said, I've seen crap like you describe happen to contractors, and had it happen myself, when a Director walks in and wants something that I know is wrong. That really sucks.

Some advice to the OP poster: keep good stats on the return you get from your newsletter. The organization should make a reasonable effort to track donations that result from your effort. Those numbers matter (I'm sure you already know this but as an FYI your newsletter should generate a response in real dollars. Get both the number of real dollars, and the number of responses vs. how many newsletters were mailed out.) Those are your selling points to other orgs.

[graywarrior]

26. Very good point. Thank you.

[RagingInMiami]

13. The layout looks nice

I don't like that picture of a bridge or whatever it is behind the headline. Or maybe it just needs to be another color. It's too much blue for my eye. Maybe you can try different colors with the fonts.

I think you need to use parenthesis around the area code in the phone numbers. And I think the phone number is too close to the zip code under the banner. There needs to be some separation, perhaps something like "Tel:".

You also need commas in that area to separate the name of the place, the address and the city and state.

And I would place a box around the board of directors, just to see how it looks like. Right now it's just floating out there.

[graywarrior]

15. Thank you!!

The bridge headline is the desire of a board member who paid for the newsletter and yes, IT SUCKS.

[RagingInMiami]

16. But would he be averse to making it a different color

[graywarrior]

18. Suncoast colors are blue and white.

If you could have been at the lunches I had with this guy. He's 80+ with macular degeneration and a millionaire. Very tough customer. At first, he wanted his "artist" wife to design the letter head. She gave me a pencil sketch that you couldn't even see. Took me a week to convince him it wouldn't work.

[RagingInMiami]

21. Even if you make the headline black, it might look better

But hey, you gotta do what they say. Especially if he's a millionaire. As long as he pays you for his work, then give him what he wants.

[graywarrior]

23. Paid is cash, plus weekly lunches with the dude.

How lucky am I?

[LuckyTheDog]

27. One thing

On page 2, I'd have made the photos bigger and not used the clip art. But that's a quibble, really.