How can I create a newsletter?

You can create beautiful newsletters - no design skills are needed. Newsletters are formatted emails, usually sent on a rotational basis. You can group messages into campaigns, to create matching emails for a specific topic. For example, you may choose to use one campaign for your weekly newsletters, one for promoting membership sales, etc. To send a newsletter, go to Communications from the toolbar and select Newsletters, and click Add Message. Choose if you want the newsletter to be part of an existing campaign or a new campaign and then work your way down the screen, filling in all the steps. 

If you're looking to send a quick message instead, you can do that from Messages.

Creating a Newsletter 

1. From the toolbar select Communications, then select Newsletters.

This page will show you a chronological listing of all newsletters sent from your organization. If you prefer to see a listing of campaigns, click "View Campaigns" at the top left. There is no limit to the number of newsletters or campaigns you can create. 

In either the newsletter or campaign view, you will see a list of newsletters, the number of sends, opens, and click-through rates as well as a button to copy each newsletter.

2. Click Add Message. You can also choose the copy option next to an existing newsletter. If you choose copy skip to step 5.

3. You will then be prompted to choose your campaign or to start a new one. This will create the campaign groupings described above.

Choose an existing campaign title from the list, to create another newsletter within that campaign, or click Start a new Campaign.

Note: Campaigns can be archived while individual newsletters can not. Archiving can help free up space for more newsletters.

4. If you started a new campaign click Edit Name under New Campaign and type the name of the campaign.

5. Select the Recipients. You can type names into the Recipients box or use the shortcut links below the box. Click Next.

• Everyone - Sends to everyone in your contact list except those who only have the role of Donor or Customer.
• Contacts - Allows you to select from your list of contacts.
• Hubs - Allows you to select specific hubs. The newsletter will go to everyone in the selected hubs.
• Roles - Allows you to send to specific roles such as Members, Customers, or Donors.
• Saved Filters - You can save filters under Contacts > All Contacts to use for messaging.

6. Enter the Subject that will show in the subject line of your message. Click Next.

7. Select the Template for your newsletter. You can browse lots of pre-created options which you can then edit for your organization. Or choose the basic option and completely create your preferred design/layout.

8. Customize your template. You can do so by clicking anywhere on the current template to edit that section. You can add new blocks and content elements to the current layout by dragging the items from the right to the main section in the middle. Don't forget to click Save at the top right of your template.

See this article for all you need to know about working with Templates.

9. Send your newsletter now or later.

• Click the Send Now button if you are ready to send your message.

• If you wish to send your newsletter at a future date and time, slide the toggle switch for Scheduled Send to the right. Click in the Select Date & Time box. This will bring up a calendar where you can choose the future day and time to send the newsletter. Once you pick your date and time, click Next. 

Click Save & Schedule Send at the top of the page.

Note: If you aren't ready to send your newsletter, it's ok. Just make sure you save the template. Your newsletter will be listed as a Draft. You can click on the newsletter to edit, schedule the send, or cancel the send.

Don't forget to share your newsletter. For more information see How can I share my newsletter on Social Media?

 

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