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Newsletters That Stand Out! Are you looking for a good formula to put together your community forestry newsletter? TreeLink receives newsletters from all over the country by email and hard copy. Here's a sampling of outstanding examples in Urban and Community Forestry that provide solid elements worth noting for your organization. Go Mass - An Example from a State Bureau Citizen Forester, the newsletter of the Bureau of Forestry in the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, applies a solid formula including:
Citizen Forester staff try to "put real meat" in their newsletter and advise others to do the same. "There are so many important, technical and involved issues in UCF that it is much better to try to provide good info rather than focus on things like what trees are nice and why leaves change color," says editor Paul Jahnige. "Our audience includes professionals, semi-professionals and interested citizens. So while we often provide some basic info, we try to write to the well informed and actively involved." In addition, the staff rotates their lead article around different UCF topics including:
Citizen Forester makes the most of technology, linking to the state urban forestry web site to form the basis for updating that site. Each new link in the Citizen Forester is added to the web site, and the topics of the Citizen Forester often become topics on the archived site, located at http://www.mass.gov/dem/programs/forestry/urban/citForester.htm California Networking California ReLeaf has published an informative, well-designed newsletter, called California Trees, in a consistently recognizable style since 1991. ReLeaf works with 75 community-based groups in the California ReLeaf Network. Do you use a general formula in putting together your newsletter? Are there reoccurring themes for issues? Do you have any advice for other UCF orgs putting together newsletters? Knowing your audience and keeping the information relevant to them is also key. People are busy and nobody wants to read a newsletter just for the sake of reading it. There needs to be a catch or an angle that people don't find elsewhere. For local groups that might be important updates on community events or milestones for the organization. In our case, as a statewide organization we try to identify issues of interest to a wide audience, helping to broaden understanding on State level. For more info, email Ozonoff@nationaltreetrust.org or call California ReLeaf at 530-757-7333 Brief and Digestible Editors at CommuniTreelink, the newsletter of the Oregon Department of Forestry Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Program, look for 1-2 paragraph summaries of news that connect people to additional resources. Their simplified format includes "Bud Breaking News" for new items and hot topics; "Resources You Can Use" to list useful publications or websites, "Did You Know" for brief notices of interest, a Calendar, a Quote, and an UCF Fact, which is usually a research-based statistic that cities can use in their budget defense or program promotion. CommuniTreelink has evolved from a long quarterly publication to a bimonthly electronic newsletter that is quick hitting and points people to more information. "We were concerned people weren't taking enough time to read the longer articles," says editor Paul Reis, "and that the quarterly format didn't allow for timely information." Reis offers this advice for other newsletters: "Survey your audience and ask them what they want. Use an online survey service like www.surveymonkey.com to make it easy." See http://www.odf.state.or.us/pcf/Pub/ucf/OTL/OTL0704.pdf for the latest issue. For more info, email pries@odf.state.or.us Extra, Extra Green and Growing, one of the sharpest looking newsletters from the nonprofit sector, is published by Baton Rouge Green. Packing quality content in a short four-page, four-color format with careful attention to photos and graphics, this newsletter speaks volumes for why the local nonprofit organizations are so popular with community residents. The early summer issue of this quarterly includes survey highlights, science projects, sponsor/donor thanks, a financial report, "Pillars of Action," and accomplishments in education, advocacy and green spaces, as well as an advice column and photo gallery. For more info, visit www.batonrougegreen.com or call 225-381-0037. Research Newsletter Goes Electronic With an ever-expanding audience and diminishing budgets, the Center for Urban Forest Research decided to produce only an electronic version of their newsletter in order to save money. Information director Jim Geiger says: "This has also allowed us to add full color to our product and be more flexible with the layout and number of pages without diminis hing the overall quality and content delivery." The research center, located at the University of California at Davis, has established a solid reputation nationwide for information distribution, and now produces a quarterly four-page newsletter. "We focus exclusively on Center research and activities," Geiger says. He usually includes a feature article that supports a two-page supplemental fact sheet for a total of six pages. That feature article is generally a summary of findings from a recent research project or model. Other articles are usually updates of what is going on with other projects. "Often we will follow up our feature articles with a four-page research summary with details and references," Geiger says. Both the newsletters and summaries have links to the full research document. In-Depth Coverage Wisconsin Urban & Community Forests is a comprehensive quarterly produced by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Forestry Division. This outstanding newsletter targets six regions of the state. While the publication is primarily targeted to Wisconsin residents and agencies, several unique components profile successful efforts from other states in a practical approach to sharing good ideas. The Idea Exchange, for example, is a compilation of useful resources and noteworthy stories from around the nation. This newsletter is very user friendly, with smart layout and clearly labeled features. It generally includes:
The articles are well written and referenced. Reproduction of articles for educational purposes in encouraged. Hard copy subscriptions are free and the newsletter is online at http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/forestry/uf/resources/ufnwsltr.htm |