How to Get the Most Out of Your Organization's Publication

A small-town animal shelter sends out its bimonthly Tail Mail to 2,000 adopters, donors, and interested citizens. A hundred people read it cover to cover—the same hard-core hundred who attend all fundraising events and don't miss a beat in their monthly donations. About 1,600 glance at the newsletter for an average of 12 seconds and then toss it into the recycle pile to go out with the next day's trash. And 299 people never even give it a glance, immediately equating its poor design and dull content with the stack deemed "junk mail."

That leaves only one other reader, the ornery woman who tries to make a statement about the quality of Tail Mail by bringing her copy straight back to the shelter with her week's worth of newspapers, a donation to be used as lining for the cat cages.

In a world where the phrase "lazy afternoon" is all but gone from the vernacular, where overloaded brain circuits have lost the ability to process anything that can't be understood in a nanosecond, shelters can't afford to make people work hard to learn about their organizations. Readers don't have time for obstacle courses. And if they snooze, you lose.

"If people get a scruffied, photocopied, stapled-together piece of paper, it kind of goes in the pile with the junk mail," says Sara Khurody-Downs, who recently created a newsletter for the Fairfax County Animal Shelter in Virginia. "You've got to be an animal activist to really want to read through that. And the point is, isn't it time to start reaching the people who aren't animal activists?"

But what is so bad about Tail Mail? Why is it more eyelid-drooping than a whole bottle of Nyquil? What is the shelter doing wrong?

For starters, this hypothetical (but all too common) four-page newsletter is filled to the gills with text. There are no illustrations and few photos. In an apparent attempt to disguise the lack of images, the creators of the newsletter have employed a menagerie of fonts, turning what's supposed to be a publication about animal protection into a visual maze. Just as disconcerting is the editorial content, which reveals next to nothing about the shelter's activities but instead presents long lists of donors and volunteers. Small boxes remind readers to spay and neuter their pets and purchase I.D. tags, but these are the same small boxes that have appeared in every issue of Tail Mail since 1988.

Call in the Doctor

If any of this sounds familiar, it may be time to perform surgery on your newsletter and pump some life back into your publication. The newsletter should be viewed as a vital organ of your operations. Even in the age of the Internet, there is still no replacement for the printed word and the messages it can convey. You can't force people to log on to your Web site, but you can put a newsletter in front of their faces. And although the Web is an extremely valuable part of a shelter's marketing and public education strategies, you can't take it with you.

By hiring a development director skilled in desktop publishing design, the SPCA Serving Erie County was able to revamp its small-time Tail-o-Gram newsletter into the much more professional Animals at Heart magazine.

The first step toward improving your newsletter is to identify why you're publishing one in the first place. A well-done newsletter can serve several purposes: It can educate the public about the services you offer, illuminate citizens about the basics of responsible pet ownership, raise money for your shelter, and promote your agency to the community and draw new supporters.

The ideal newsletter accomplishes these things not only because it looks good and reads well but also because the shelter saturates the community with copies. Making your publication available in public places not only heightens awareness but also provides another venue for fund-raising; if citizens who pick up copies at local libraries and community centers like what they see, it's likely that some of them will pop a donation into the envelope you've provided.

Some private humane organizations treat their newsletters primarily as tools for raising money and thanking supporters—without devoting enough space to public education. Many public shelters, on the other hand, often want to create newsletters that reach out to the public but feel they cannot afford it. "A lot of animal control agencies think they cannot take donations, and they are wrong," says Peggy Bender, humane education specialist and newsletter editor at Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control in Indiana. "You can fund-raise."

Since Bender created the agency's newsletter in 1993, Fort Wayne's monetary and tangible donations have increased substantially; a wish list published in the newsletter even garnered the shelter a custom-designed park bench to place out front. "The donations are very high from this newsletter," says Bender. "That was what was extremely cool to us because we had gone for so long [without asking for donations]."

From Slack to Slick—at Half a Cent Less

If you've often thought of creating or updating a newsletter but have been too daunted by the prospect of high costs, you'll be happy to know that it's possible to develop a professional newsletter without depleting your coffers.

About two years ago, the newsletter of the SPCA Serving Erie County in Buffalo, New York, underwent a complete makeover—and saved the shelter money in the process. By bringing design services in-house and paying only for the cost of printing the glossy, densely packed magazine, the shelter went from paying 49 cents per issue for a somewhat sappy newsletter to 48.5 cents per issue for a much more professional piece, says Executive Director Barbara Carr.

"[Before], we had this little stupid piece called The Tail-o-Gram. It was pages and pages and pages of memorials and thank-yous and 'this-volunteer-did-that.' [It was] like, who cares?" says Carr. "I wanted something that was more education, was more issue-oriented, that we could actually use to teach people something. And I think we're doing that to a certain extent. ... It seems like we went from just having to do a newsletter to having a purpose for it."

If you do it right, your newsletter can enhance the work of many of your organization's programs, acting as a surrogate humane educator, development director, investigator, behaviorist, and adoption counselor. But you have to start somewhere. Whether you're in the middle of a redesign or just creating a newsletter for the first time, you'll be able to glean some useful ideas from those who have already been there and done that. So read on to discover the top tips from those who have performed major and minor surgeries on their publications—without creating ulcers in their budgets.

1. Hand Out Your Business Cards

You could have one of the world's best newsletters, but if it doesn't have basic information about your shelter, it's like writing your name into the sand over and over while waves wash it out every second or two. To make a more lasting impression, always include the name of your shelter, your main phone number, your e-mail and Web site addresses, your hours of operation, a schedule of upcoming events, and directions (or a basic map) telling patrons how to get to you. Lists of staff names and departments are also helpful; at the very least, you should provide your executive director's name and contact information. Ideally, this information will appear as a masthead in the same place in every issue of your newsletter—perhaps on the second page, or as a vertical column down one side of the back cover. This way, the people you've reached can, in turn, reach you.

2. Avoid an Identity Crisis

Be sure to establish in the reader's mind a clear idea of what your organization does and why it exists. Newsletters that do this effectively are those that establish an instant connection with the reader. Pick up a copy of the newsletter of the SPCA of Monterey County in Salinas, California, and the publisher and purpose are immediately obvious; the name, For the Animals, is displayed prominently across the top in large letters filled with photographic images of animals (see page 2 of this article). Underneath is the name of the agency. "The old masthead didn't have the same quality of immediate recognition," says the newsletter's editor, Ronni Sweet. "And it didn't have the same heart-tug, either."

There's no mistaking who's behind the newsletter of Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control either; the agency's name is displayed at the top right corner of the front page, where, according to studies of reading patterns, people always look first. The prominent placement is no accident, says Bender, who examined a number of newsletters while creating her own. "One of the things that first jumped out to me was I couldn't tell where a lot of the newsletters were from," says Bender. "So when we did our newsletter I wanted to make sure that ours said right on the front, 'Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control.'"The two-inch banner also includes an image of a human hand and paw extended toward each other, and a message that instantly conveys the agency's mission: "Helping Animals, Helping People."

3. Choose Quality Over Quantity

When determining the frequency of your publication, remember that less may be more. If you have the resources to publish a high-quality newsletter six times a year, then by all means go for it. But if you find yourself struggling to squeeze in the tasks of writing, editing, and designing—and ending up unhappy with the results—maybe you're spreading yourself too thin. "I would rather see something of quality twice a year that highlights a lot of information that I'm going to look at," says Bender, "than something that comes every month that's maybe lower quality." If your resources allow for it, a quarterly newsletter is ideal; many readers have come to expect organizational publications to arrive on a seasonal basis.

4. It's Not the Size of the Newsletter That Counts

If you're having a hard time figuring out how to fill your pages, either you're not thinking creatively enough about what your readers might need, or you've got too many pages in the first place. If you fill your newsletter up with items that are only marginally helpful at best—or perform a rush job because you don't have the time to write all that copy with the care and attention required—your efforts may end up doing your organization more harm than good.

A newsletter by any other name is not the same. An effective logo establishes an instant connection with the readers, conveying not only who you are but also what you stand for.

"I don't think a 30-page newsletter at this point would be any more helpful to us," says Khurody-Downs, whose newsletter is six pages long. "I'd rather be in people's minds more frequently with shorter articles so that it's not overwhelming. I'd rather have it small and have it look like we've really made an effort."

When determining the length of your publication, also explore printing costs and environmental implications. Paper often comes in "signatures" of 16 pages or "half-signatures" of 8 pages that are folded a number of times and then trimmed around the edges. Because 8-page and 16-page publications usually require the least amount of trimming, they tend to be the most cost-effective and least wasteful. Also, by folding newsletters in half, you can generally save about a nickel per piece in postage; however, this is usually only possible with a smaller newsletter that is thin enough to be folded.

Cost-effective page counts depend on several factors, including who's doing the printing and how many copies you're making. To determine the ideal length for your newsletter, ask area printers for advice. Whatever you decide, many companies are willing to swing a deal with you to get your business, especially because of who you are and what you do. "[Our printer] does some donation printing throughout the year," says Megan Brooks, newsletter editor and adoption services director at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria in Virginia. "We have an annual dinner—which is sort of a formal to-do—and they do our invitations as a complimentary service. So we take advantage of that."

The Humane Society of Huron Valley (HSHV) in Michigan has also received free printing services. And a local mailing house that happened to be an organizational member of HSHV offered to do the shelter's mailing and labeling at no charge.

5. Cross Your Eyes and Dot Your T's

Notice anything wrong with that sentence? Well, your word-processing software's spell-checker doesn't: It simply recognizes "eyes" as a correctly spelled word. It has no ability to determine whether the word is used properly in its context, or even whether the sentence as a whole makes sense. A good editor will catch mistakes that a computer never will.

Sure, perfect grammar, spelling, and punctuation aren't the point of your newsletter, but they can certainly affect your audience's perception of your organization. A well-proofread document is a thing of beauty; it keeps your reader focused on what you're trying to say, not how it's conveyed. But if your newsletter contains errors such as Come visit your fiends at the SPCA or We don't had enough money to establishing a human education program, you may receive sarcastic comments from readers advising you to obtain a little "human" education of your own. Even more distressing, you may convince those same readers that your organization doesn't take its message seriously enough to convey it gracefully and well.

When a local editorial consulting firm created a free newsletter template for the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, the design of the shelter's newsletter took a leap into the future. More white space and rounded edges (below) took the place of an outdated, blocky style (above).

Bender in Fort Wayne recalls an instance when a member of the public rudely pointed out her newsletter's errors. "The very first newsletter I ever did, I sent it out, [and] didn't have anyone proofread it or edit it at all. Someone from the general public corrected it and sent it back to me." Instead of getting mad, though, Bender used the connections she'd made in her work as a humane educator: She asked for help from the communications director of Fort Wayne's public school system, who was more than happy to donate her services. Since then, Bender has also gotten editing help from a college professor, and most recently from a woman who edits publications professionally and wanted to volunteer her time. Similarly, the Humane Society of Huron Valley has received invaluable assistance from an editor at Ann Arbor-based Car and Driver magazine who began offering her services for free many years ago.

Such wordsmiths are out there in every community, correcting interoffice memos, frowning at people's slang, and poring compulsively over any text in search of incorrect spelling, improper punctuation, and bad grammar. You may never understand them, but you can put their obsessions to work for your newsletter. You can also enlist colleagues at the shelter to review your copy; after all, ten eyes are better than two.

6. Create the Framework

If you are considering a major redesign or are just beginning to create a newsletter for the first time, consider hiring a professional to create a template for you. By using a template, you can change the content with each issue but retain the basic structure. Not only does this professionalize the appearance of your publication; it also provides a framework that helps readers navigate through your articles.

You may be able to get the design service donated by an animal lover with an artistic eye. Also consider tapping into a local college with a journalism program or an art institute with graphic designers; students at these schools may be able to redesign your newsletter as a semester project. But if free design services seem to be scarce in your community, paying a designer a one-time fee to set up a template will be worth every penny. Once you have a format in place—with theme-based departments, stylized banners, and attention-grabbing front pages—all you have to do is plug in your articles and photographs. At the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria in Virginia, Brooks uses a design created by a local editorial consulting firm. The shelter was lucky enough to get the design for free; employees of the firm were working on a book about newsletter makeovers and asked if they could perform a makeover on the League's publication. "It was wonderful," says Brooks. "And if I had had to design a newsletter, it would have been painstaking for me. ... I don't have a degree in graphic design. ... To me, a template is just a great thing. It makes you limit your [content], which is a great time-saver."

Bender and Khurody-Downs created their own templates, even though neither had ever designed a newsletter before. But both studied every newsletter they could get their hands on, and Bender even attended workshops on the subject. Requiring a substantial investment of time initially, the efforts soon paid off in the form of professional designs that ended up saving valuable hours.

7. Get Hip

If your newsletter design is still stuck in the '80s or early '90s, hightail it out of there as fast as you can. Fresh design styles come and go with each decade, and a stale layout looks as outdated as a Farrah Fawcett haircut. The Reagan years called for conservative, blocky, Wall-Street-Journalesque blandness, but the last decade has given way to a more airy look that weighs in heavy on the graphics.

If you are lucky enough to have help from a professional designer, he or she will be aware of new trends. But if you are trying to create or redo a publication on your own, then you'll have to do a bit of legwork. For simple design ideas, flip through the magazines at your local grocery store. Check out other shelter newsletters and learn from those that you admire. You may not have the high budgets of these publications, but by paying attention to current styles, you'll be able to pick and choose those elements that your budget will allow for—more rounded fonts, more white space, greater use of images, and less unnecessary text.

8. Stop the Font Madness

Engaging in font foolery is a common mistake. When laying out a newsletter, you might be tempted to try to jazz up your copy with a curlique font here and a straight-and-narrow font there. Don't give in to temptation. The most professional-looking publications follow an old standard design rule of choosing one style for headlines and one style for body text. And typically, a curly-edged "serif" font such as Times Roman is deemed the most readable for body text, while a straight "sans serif" font such as Helvetica is considered preferable for headlines. This doesn't mean you can't stray outside these guidelines—choosing a different font for sidebars or shadow boxes, for instance. But whenever you stray from the norm, don't stray too far; make sure variations complement the theme instead of overwhelming it.

Although she was a novice to newsletters until recently, Khurody-Downs was able to draw on her background as an artist when she sat down to create her agency's publication. What she learned from researching other newsletters was that no detail—even font choice—is too small. "The bottom line," she says, "is that to get people's attention, you've got to be attractive."

When choosing fonts, also remember that it behooves you to avoid causing blindness. You may be able to fit more copy on the page by using minuscule font sizes, but what have you really accomplished in doing so? If most of your readers are people in their 50s and 60s, then it's likely they'll appreciate larger text with plenty of space between the lines; just look at Modern Maturity, the magazine of the AARP, and you'll see the success of this strategy. You could pen the most elegant phrasing in history, but if the words are scrunched up like fine print at the bottom of a tax form, you risk either destroying your readers' eyesight or losing people to a more legible publication.

Although serif (or curly-edged) fonts such as Times Roman are generally considered more readable for body text, the designer of this piece successfully took a chance on an untraditional style. This innovative design works well in this case because it still follows the time-honored rule of designating one font for body text and a second font for headlines.

9. Learn to Love White Space

Don't overwhelm readers with too much text. Many newsletters try to squeeze a War and Peace-sized chunk of information into just a few pages, a strategy that tends to backfire. "We have a lot to say, but we don't want to cram information in, because it is so important to have some white space," says Scott Delucchi, editor of the Peninsula Humane Society's newsletter, Pawprint. The quarterly publication has benefited from that spacious layout—it's a pleasure to look at and a pleasure to read.

Try looking at one of your newsletters and see what your eyes are naturally drawn to; if it's well-designed, with plenty of airy white space, your eyes will move comfortably over the page, taking in headlines, photographs, and other major information first. Only after you've absorbed the main elements will you proceed to the smaller type. But if your newsletter is nothing but small text, pressed together in dense columns, you'll feel stressed out before you even begin to read. Try this analogy: A newsletter with plenty of "breathing room" is to a jam-packed publication as a spacious, sunlit living room is to the cramped garage where you've been stuffing all your old junk for 20 years. There may be treasures in the garage, but who wants to take the time to find them?

10. Pump Up Your Circulation

Your loyal members, donors, and adopters should form the base of your newsletter's readership. But why be satisfied with reaching people whose lives your work has already enhanced? True, many of the folks who already support your organization can still use and benefit from the information in your newsletter—responsible pet care tips, lists of upcoming shelter events, and news articles. But there are thousands of people and organizations outside your established circle who probably need it even more.

Try to look at your newsletter as if you're seeing it for the first time. If it makes you feel like you're being choked by text, you're probably not doing what the Peninsula Humane Society's Pawprint does so well; the eye-catching newsletter makes effective use of white space while incorporating inviting headlines and beautiful imagery.

How do you reach new folks? Adding them to your mailing list is the first step. Recipients should include veterinarians, local legislators, breeders, breed-placement groups, boarding kennels, groomers, pet-supply stores, schools, and libraries—all those organizations and individuals who could benefit from understanding your perspective on animal protection issues. You can also send newsletters to those who have purchased licenses for their animals; Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control reaches more than 17,000 people this way. Darcy Beck, editor of the Nebraska Humane Society's newsletter, also recommends passing out newsletters at shelter events, and keeping copies of the newsletter at your front desk. And field service vehicles should always carry an extra stash of shelter publications so officers can hand them out to people throughout the day.

But you don't have to stop there. If you have a corps of dedicated volunteers, you can expand your readership with their help. Volunteers at the Peninsula Humane Society distribute the shelter's newsletter in 20 area cities, dropping it off at veterinary offices, schools, pet-supply stores, health food outlets, senior centers, and libraries. "If we just sent it to our members, we'd be preaching to the choir," says Delucchi. "But this way ... we bring in new members from our newsletter distributions all the time. Often our volunteers will even go back to places that have run out of the newsletters, because so many people have picked them up to read them."

11. Illuminate While You Educate

There's no doubt you need to take every opportunity to hammer home your messages. But there's also no rule that says you have to do it blandly. Instead of running a boxed ad that tells readers to license their animals, why not write an article profiling a pet who became lost and then found again because of his I.D. tag? While the first item states your message, the other uses a compelling story to illuminate that message. "Presenting things in a dry way is not going to get your message across," says Khurody-Downs. "If someone tells me something, I want to know why. I think if you understand the reasoning behind something, it makes it much easier to comply."

Headlines in newsletters should be intriguing enough to make the reader want to know more, while also clearly conveying what the articles are about.

When the Pennsylvania SPCA wanted to warn adopters about dangers to pets during the holidays, its newsletter editors couched the warning in a story headlined, "Holiday Puppy Shocked by Electric Cord." By profiling a pet brought back from the brink of death in the veterinary clinic, the article brought home the importance of avoiding holiday hazards. Rather than just rehashing the same words and phrases—"Keep your pets safe during the holidays," "Spay and neuter," "Identify your pet," "Update your pet's vaccinations"—you can create new twists on old concepts. "[When talking about the issue of] picking up dogs running at large," says Brooks, "you can say how you gave a dog back to an owner, who now keeps his dog on a leash all the time. It's like teaching by example."

In 1997, the Sacramento SPCA highlighted a cruelty case involving a dog named King in its publication, Heartline, in the hopes that the article would help readers learn how to report abuse and neglect. "This dog was in terrible shape, so bad we had to lift his head," says Sergeant Trish Keefer-Green. "And the people who reported it had been watching him get worse and worse for a long time—we couldn't believe they hadn't called us earlier.... We were hoping that with this article we could alert people to the fact that they should call as soon as they see something wrong." The tactic seemed to work, says Keefer-Green, because the shelter started getting more calls from people reporting cases of potential abuse.

12. Get In On the Action

Don't make readers work too hard to find the news they need. The best newsletters provide readers with focus, giving them something to fixate on with each new page and gently guiding them to surrounding items afterward. You can employ this strategy with the use of attractive photos and captions accompanied by compelling articles, or with interesting headlines that grab people's attention before they even realize they're hooked. Action-based photos and headlines are the most effective. Rather than running a standard podium shot of the executive director speaking at a fundraising event, for instance, show her kneeling to pat one of the animals in attendance. Keep the same rule in mind with headlines: Rather than giving the reader a simple snapshot of your story, seek to paint a colorful picture with your headlines. After all, which are you more likely to read: "Spay/Neuter Ordinance Considered by Council" or "A Quick Fix by City Council Could Save Thousands"?

13. A Picture Steals a Thousand Hearts

And if done correctly, it can also help earn thousands of dollars. Don't underestimate the power of a fantastic photograph or illustration. Photos, cartoons, and great clip art are a surefire draw for readers, so if the pictures don't grab their attention, what will? Few people will take the time to wade through even the most brilliant piece if it's not dotted here and there with visual imagery. Handshake photos generally won't cut it; too often they have an "insider" air about them. Pictures should have mass appeal, showing people and animals in action, or catching animals in telling moments.

Some newsletters make effective use of photos by pairing "before" and "after" pictures of animals with accompanying stories about cruelty cases. In an article about a puppy-mill case included under its "Animal Control Report," the Lee County Humane Society in Florida not only detailed the facts of the case but also provided the best evidence of all: a photo of a barely recognizable animal labeled "Dog #9" during the investigation and a close-up of the same dog—now healthy and happy—just before she left for her new home.

"We like to show 'before' and 'after' photos because they're so dramatic and so moving," says Debra Boswell, director of the Mississippi Animal Rescue League. "[We can show] how an animal's come around after proper care [and] show that dog who came in as a matted mess after she's been groomed and fed."

It's just as important to highlight those animals who come into your shelter already in great shape—the ones who are being surrendered because of allergies, death of an owner, or a cross-country move. Studies have shown that many people still mistakenly believe shelter animals are "problem" animals with illnesses and severe behavior issues, so it's critical that humane societies and animal care and control agencies set the record straight whenever possible.

The Ft. Wayne newsletter always includes an attention-grabbing photo of a beloved pet at the top of its back page—a space that's second only to the front for potential exposure, says Bender. "That is a strategic spot in my newsletter," she says. "I always make sure that spot has a great picture. If that newsletter is thrown down on a table, that picture will make someone want to pick it up."

Sending the Right Message is an Art Form You tell people every day to license their animals. You implore them to spay and neuter. You espouse the merits of keeping cats indoors and the importance of keeping dogs on leashes. You ask people to consider adopting adult mixed breeds as often as possible. Every issue of your newsletter is infused with these messages in one form or another. So what's up with that photo on your front cover—the one with the collarless, I.D.-less, leashless puppy sitting in a fenceless yard next to a similarly naked kitten? This may sound like an extreme example, but it's been known to happen. Enticed by the cuteness of a particular image, some newsletter editors will find a space to squeeze the picture into their publications—without considering the consequences. Photos have a powerful effect on readers, and every detail counts. Whether or not they consciously pick up on who is wearing a collar and who isn't, readers will absorb even the more subliminal messages. A cute puppy frolicking in the grass may translate into, "I can get a cute puppy and let him run around in an unfenced yard, and he will be safe and happy just like that one." Many shelters take careful precautions to avoid imparting the wrong messages through photographs and illustrations. At the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria in Virginia, Director of Adoption Services and Newsletter Editor Megan Brooks even dresses up clip art, going so far as to add collars to dog illustrations. She also makes sure she provides the name of every animal featured, believing that this sends a strong signal to the community regarding how much the shelter cares. "My biggest pet peeve in other people's newsletters is when animals aren't named," Brooks says. "If we're in an animal shelter business, we should know our animals. ...To me, it says, 'This is an organization that knows its animals intimately, and also knows what happens to them.'" To ensure that you present your photos in a manner in keeping with your messages, you can follow the guidelines adapted from those developed by The HSUS. Originally created to help editors of HSUS in-house publications select appropriate images, these tips can also assist shelters in choosing photographs and images for their newsletters. (Note: These guidelines do not apply to images selected intentionally for editorial purposes. For example, an image of a dog with cropped ears would be appropriate for a piece on the cruelties of cosmetic surgeries on animals; a photo of an outdoor cat with an I.D. tag would be appropriate for an article on a new state law requiring outdoor cats to be identified.) 1. All animals should be spayed or neutered. In practical terms, this means no visibly unneutered male dogs or female dogs who appear to have nursed puppies, and no photos of "mother" animals surrounded by litters. 2. All dogs and cats should be shown with visible collars and ID tags. The only exception is for a dog or cat whose thick or long fur obstructs the viewer from seeing the collar and tag; in that case, the collar and tag can be assumed to be there (even if, in fact, it isn't). 3. No cats should be shown outdoors. The only exception is a cat who is outdoors but safely confined in an enclosure or on a human-controlled leash attached to a harness (not a collar). 4. No dogs should be shown with cropped ears. 5. No dogs should be shown wearing prong collars, and no dog should be shown wearing a choke chain unless it is apparent from the context that the dog is participating in a training session. 6. No dogs should be shown tethered to trees, doghouses, etc. 7. No dogs should be shown unsupervised while outdoors. (Close-ups are fine because people are assumed to be nearby.) 8. Dogs outdoors should be on leashes when shown in areas with lots of people (e.g., in the city, in a neighborhood). 9. Images of dogs and cats should represent a variety of animals. Try to highlight mixed breeds as often as possible, but also slip in some photos of purebreds to remind the public that your shelter is the source for all kinds of dogs and cats. 10. Images of dogs and cats should represent mature animals as often as possible. It's okay to highlight puppies and kittens, but don't let their cuddly little faces dominate your newsletter. 11. Avoid showing wild and exotic animals as pets. While some shelters try to place surrendered exotics with owners who know how to properly care for them, it's not in any shelter's best interests to actually promote ownership of exotic pets.

14. Angle for Some Cheap Shots

You don't have to be Ansel Adams to take attractive photos for your newsletter. With a good camera and a few basic photography tips, you can learn how to take high-quality photos that will brighten your publication. If your shelter lacks the funds to purchase a camera, add it to your wish list of items you'd like donated. A camera with a macro lens can help you take the close-ups that capture the personalities of pets and shelter animals, and a digital camera can be used for both your newsletter and your Web site.

But if you think you may have fumble fingers when it comes to cameras—or if you simply lack the time to devote to photography—consider asking local professionals to provide discounted or donated services to your shelter. Newspapers and magazine photographers may be especially interested in helping your organization. One freelance photographer in Colorado often volunteers her time to help the Denver Dumb Friends League, showing up at events such as the annual Furry Scurry fundraising walk. In Alexandria, Virginia, a professional photographer shoots photos for the cover of Spotlight on Animals; in return for her donated services, she receives ad space in the back of the newsletter.

In Ft. Wayne, Bender gathers her photos from a number of sources: Great shots sometimes come from staff, and sometimes from a portrait studio photographer who volunteers her time at the shelter twice a year. Photos are also gleaned from "Picture Your Pet" fundraising events, where pet owners sign release forms allowing the shelter to use their animals' glamorous mug shots for promotional purposes.

15. To Ad or Not to Ad?

The businesses and organizations that advertise in your newsletter may be a small part of the publication, but they can have a big effect. For example, what if a local grooming shop pays your organization to run its ad, and then gives you a homemade ad that is so poorly designed that it makes the whole page look terrible? Or, more complicated still, what if a business pays for an ad that seems to advocate something you work against? For instance, a local pet-supply store supports your work and encourages its customers to adopt animals from your shelter—but store managers want you to run an ad depicting a blissful mother dog with her many puppies. How do you handle it?

The best way to avoid such complications is to insist on having the final say on what runs in your newsletter. That may mean telling the grooming shop to go back to the drawing board, and it may mean telling the pet store to come up with an ad that doesn't contradict your spay/neuter message. "We always handle advertisers nicely," says Alice Calabrese, who edits the newsletter of the Humane Society of Rochester and Monroe County. "But we have had to turn some of them down when the ads have been inappropriate."

Some newsletter editors run ads for those who have donated services—printers, photographers, and the like. Others run paid advertisements to cover some of their production costs. Bender includes up to three ads in each newsletter at the request of local business people such as groomers and pet-supply store managers. "I'm not interested in filling up our newsletter with a bunch of advertising because that takes away from what I'm trying to do," Bender says. "I'm doing that just to help offset the costs [involved in mailing] the newsletter."

If you already include advertising in your newsletter or are considering accepting ads, remember to read up on Internal Revenue Service regulations governing nonprofit organizations.

Sometimes nonprofits end up losing money on advertising ventures in their publications. To avoid such a loss, first examine the regulations and your shelter's financial situation. By calling the IRS's 1-800-TAX-FORM, you can request a free copy of Publication 598, which provides information on unrelated business income tax.

When considering including advertisements in your newsletter, you also need to be aware of postal regulations governing mailing rates for nonprofits. There may be several rules that apply to your situation, but the key requirement to keep in mind is that at least 25 percent of your publication must be devoted to editorial content in order to qualify for the lower rates.

16. Savor the Sweet Successes

Your readers want to know what your organization's been up to. So tell them about how hard it was to lose that recent cruelty case. Tell them about the condition of the cats your investigators saved from that hoarder. Tell them about the animals you couldn't save.

But while you're increasing their knowledge of the difficult issues and painful stories you face every day, be sure to highlight your successes as well. Too often, people are so overwhelmed by bad news at every turn that they begin to shut down emotionally. But you're in a position to tell them both the heartbreaking stories and the heartwarmers. You see the carelessness, the viciousness, the apathy toward fellow creatures—but you also see the dedication, the compassion, and the concern. What about that dog who was starving and neglected, until she was nursed back to health in your shelter and placed with a new "father" who had tears in his eyes when he hugged her for the first time? What about that local councilman who's finally come around to see your need for funding? What about that starving horse who came from a muddy backyard, through your stable doors, and out again to a caring home on acres of green pasture?

"I always try to have happy endings in our newsletter," says Beck at the Nebraska Humane Society. "Our adopters send us the cutest photos, and so often, what they write about their pets on the backs of those photos is incredible—so much better than what I could have come up with."

Stories don't have to be tragic to be noteworthy, and it's often the happy endings that will remind your supporters of why they believed in you in the first place.

17. Easy Does It on the Donor Page

Seeing their names in print may make your donors feel good, but are three pages of donor names really an effective use of your newsletter's space? While acknowledgment reinforces the idea of giving, a list of 500 names side by side may be somewhat impersonal—and may reduce the donor's sense of being a cared-for and valued contributor. For these reasons, it might be worth your while to consider an alternate medium for conveying your gratitude.

"I think that thanking donors for the things they do for your shelter is an absolute necessity," says Bender. "But a lot of shelters [spend] a lot of money on newsletters with these endless lists of names, and who really reads that?" Instead of including those lists in its newsletter, Bender's agency in Fort Wayne has volunteers write personal thank-you notes to those who donate both money and tangible items.

If lists of donor names are taking up too much space in your publication, take a page from the SPCA Serving Erie County in Buffalo, New York. The organization's newsletter editors insert a special pamphlet into the middle of each issue that lists memorial and honorary gifts.

If you decide you really want to acknowledge your donors in your newsletter, take a page from the Humane Society of Rochester and Monroe County, which lists donor names on an insert stapled into the center of its newsletters. It's cost them more—between $700 and $1,000 extra per issue—but Calabrese feels it's worth the money. "We used to have the list of donors and memorials right in the middle of the newsletter, but the list really stands out better this way, and makes it more special for donors," she says.

Alternatively, for the sake of space, the donor page is the one section of your newsletter where it's okay to use a very small font. If you do decide to include donor names within the body of the newsletter itself, you should always place them as far back as possible. That way, you'll be showing your gratitude while saving the best space for discussing your goals and programs.

18. Envelop Your Cause in an Envelope

Envelopes like these catch the eye and open the wallet, bringing in lots of extra cash for shelters that include them in their newsletters.

When you pluck at your reader's heartstrings, it may be a good time to gently pluck at their purse strings as well. By providing an envelope already addressed to the shelter and ready for use, you take a step out of the donation process, and make it that much easier for someone to say, "Hey, I've got a little extra in my pocket, why not send it in?"

You may be surprised by exactly how much the strategy pays off. Donor envelopes in the winter 2000 edition of the Peninsula Humane Society's newsletter garnered 325 donations totaling $14,636. That's $5,000 more than the newsletter's design, printing, and postage costs. And in general, says Delucchi, each issue of Pawprint more than pays for itself through the envelope donations.

The Sacramento SPCA's story of King, an abused dog, not only served its original purpose of educating the public about how to report potential abuse but also drew extra financial support from dedicated readers. The envelopes from that single issue came pouring in, to the tune of $14,000.

19. Give Them Your Stats

Not the batting average of your favorite New York Yankee, the other kind. How many unwanted animals did your community give to you during the last quarter of the year? How many were adopted? How many were returned home? How many animals other than dogs and cats did you assist?

Though statistics can't detail everything, they can provide a quick fix for people who want a general picture of your organization. These people could be high school students writing reports on the problem of pet homelessness in their area. They could be local civic leaders and animal lovers, who, armed with numbers, may be able to convince their boards to increase your funding. "We run statistics in every issue of our newsletter," says Calabrese. "It helps people see whether we're reaching our stated goals. And even if the numbers don't tell a good story, they usually lead to a good discussion [between staff and our supporters], which can help get that focus back."

When it comes to numbers and statistics, presentation is everything. The Michigan Humane Society uses a "pawprint" graphic to show readers how donations are spent, while the Peninsula Humane Society breaks its budget down in the form of a dog bone.

Presenting the numbers can also add weight to your arguments. In its newsletter Tails of the City, the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control ran an article explaining the agency's views about the vagaries of terms such as "adoptable," expressing pride in the progress San Francisco has made while also taking issue with the common belief that the city has achieved true "no-kill" status. Accompanying the article was a chart detailing the number of animals the agency has received, euthanized, and returned to owners or placed in new homes since 1996.
You can even use numbers to educate readers about the enormous efforts expended each day on routine tasks. For instance, you could run a quick chart detailing the number of vaccines you gave during the last quarter, the number of dishes you washed, the number of toenails you trimmed, and the number of towels you laundered.

10 Ideas That Can Make Your Newsletter Sing No matter how good your newsletter is, there's always room for improvement. Keep readers constantly interested by trying these ideas for jazzing up your content. 1. Engage in child's play. The children of your supporters may one day be your supporters. Help that happen by getting to them early! Have a regular kids' page, featuring a fun, kid-themed article or a humane education activity. Run a spay/neuter word scramble, where children have to unscramble words like tilrsezei to get sterilize, and then slip in a little education about why your shelter urges people to spay and neuter. Fairfax County Animal Shelter has a special "Just for Kids" section in its newsletter; a recent edition featured a smiling dog named Rally and asked young readers to list or draw his basic needs. 2. Lemurs and tarantulas and kangaroos, oh my! If you regularly have exotics in your shelter, you can tell one of their stories. The Peninsula Humane Society's recent article about exotic animals purchased through the Internet featured a wonderful sidebar about the little marmoset who recently came into the shelter. But even if you don't have a large exotics population, a story about an endangered or unique animal can broaden your readers' perspectives. If you frame the article right, both kids and adults will learn more not only about new creatures but also about the environment and the larger scope of animal protection. 3. Pick a theme—and then accessorize. When readers of the Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control newsletter picked up their fall/winter 1999 edition, they were treated to a mini-manual on disaster preparedness. The issue covered everything from disaster supplies for pets to emergency pet housing. A special kids' page featured a crossword puzzle based on disaster-preparedness factoids. (A side benefit of this issue was that it also alerted people to the area's animal-friendly lodging sites; this proved so helpful to one pet-owning family that they actually sent a letter thanking the agency for its advice.) 4. Rally your troops. A regular feature encouraging readers to write letters to government officials and/or corporations about animal issues is a great way to get people involved. Educate them about the issues, and then encourage them to add their voices to the discussion. (Just remember to research federal regulations governing these activities; the Internal Revenue Service sets limits on the amount of lobbying tax-exempt organizations can do.) 5. Get their profiles. Listing the names of local veterinarians who have assisted your organization is a nice nod to those helping hands, but it might also make your readers nod off. Why not thank your supporters with style? Help readers get to know the faces behind the names, profiling a different person with each issue. Interview the veterinarian (or volunteer, local business owner, or other contributor) about why she works with the shelter, what drew her to animal protection, and what kind of work she does at her veterinary practice. Look at your publication as a venue for storytelling; you'll be showing your gratitude while also making your readers grateful to you for taking such an interesting approach. 6. If you can't make 'em laugh, make 'em cringe. Consider running an article on recent "reasons for surrender" heard at the front counter. Since many loving cat and dog owners still assume that animals who are surrendered to shelters are most often misbehaved or sick, this type of piece has great potential to alternately amuse, illuminate, and horrify. It shows readers that the problems are most often not with the animals but with the humans—such as people who say they are moving to a smaller dwelling, going on vacation, or simply "getting rid" of this dog in favor of a "new and improved" one. 7. Promote your purebreds. Be careful with this one! Don't promote your purebreds to the detriment of your sweet mutts. But consider the general public: Do they know that, on average, a quarter of the dogs coming into shelters are purebreds? If you suspect that people in your area don't know about your pretty poodles or loving lhasas, it may be worthwhile to feature one of your purebreds in your newsletter. After all, they may not be the underdogs you like best, but they very well could be the top dogs of someone with a penchant for pedigrees. 8. Snap and win. A photography contest is a great way to get your newsletter recipients involved with your work. And while they're showing you their adorable pets doing incredible things, you can ask for their permission to use their photos in your newsletter. You can have seasonal contests; for example, why not run a contest with a holiday theme in your fall newsletter? Or you can promote responsible pet care by giving extra points to photographers who show pets wearing collars and I.D.'s. 9. Behave! A regular feature with fun behavior training tips is a great idea, especially since behavior issues are often a primary reason for relinquishment. You can use this special feature to address basic natural behaviors, or even to teach people how to (humanely) get their dogs to do basic tricks. The Peninsula Humane Society's newsletter, Pawprint, has included several articles written by the shelter's behaviorist; a 1999 issue addressed the reasons why some people choose not to take their animals to training, and how these folks could benefit from doing so. 10. Dear Tabby. Some shelters ask their mascots to write an advice column for pet owners that covers everything from the needs of finicky felines to the demands of cuddly canines. Through your mascot, you can offer tips on responsible pet care in a format that's fun but not intimidating.

Through your newsletter, you can help the public understand why exotic and wild animals don't make good pets, while also letting readers know about the broad range of animals you care for.

20. Show Them the Money

You need it, they've got it—and they want to give it to you. But they need reasons; they want justification. With all the hard work you do, it shouldn't be hard for you to show your donors what their money has done for your organization and the animals in your care. "We have to earn the public's support every day by showing them exactly what we're doing for these animals," says Beck. "We can't just say 'Oh, poor me, poor me; poor animals, poor animals.' The newsletter lets us tell them the specifics."

While a page full of numbers can be intimidating, some shelters have developed playful graphics for displaying their budgetary needs. For example, the Michigan Humane Society breaks down its budget costs in a color-coded pawprint graphic, designating a claw for general management costs, a claw for retail operations, a claw for cruelty investigations and rescue operations, and so on. The Peninsula Humane Society uses a graphic of a dog bone divided into different sections. If you present your statistics in an easy-to-read and visually appealing manner, readers can't help but take notice.

Several years ago, the Mississippi Animal Rescue League (MARL) followed this advice, detailing in its newsletter the horrible case of 30 starving horses rescued by the shelter—and the shelter's eventual court triumph. The case began in 1994 but wound its way through the court system until 1997, when the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld a lower court's decision that found the horses' owner guilty of 30 counts of cruelty.

It was a major victory for MARL, and the organization shouted it from the rooftops through a wonderful article in its newsletter. Titled "Coordinated Compassion: Many Help MARL Save 30 Horses," the article included "before" photographs showing the horses' conditions when they were seized and "after" photos showing how much the animals had thrived under the shelter's care. Also included were details of the grueling case from start to finish and thank-yous to the many people who had committed their time and money to the efforts.

At the end of the story, a list titled "What Compassion Costs" summed up the total resources—including feed, veterinary care, farrier work, photographs for court evidence, vehicle miles, and employee hours—consumed in caring for the 30 horses. "We try to choose feature stories that tug at the heartstrings, but that also show donors where their dollars are going," says Boswell. "We need members to know what we're doing—and that it's expensive to do it."

In concluding the article, MARL informed readers that "The Need Continues" and listed more cases that could benefit from donations. Like other issues of MARL's newsletter, this one brought in not only needed funds but also new members who were impressed and touched by the shelter's hard work.

21. Tell Them Your Truths

The next time you hear someone say, "I love animals too much to do what you do," wouldn't it be great if you could give them something that would instantly open their eyes? By now the phrase is almost clichŽ in the sheltering field, but it's no less painful for a shelter employee to hear than it ever was. Most people who say it aren't trying to be cruel, though. They just don't know any better. They don't understand the compassion, strength, and patience it takes to do humane work. And what better way to educate them than through your newsletter?

At the SPCA of Monterey County, conveying information about what shelters really do has been one of Sweet's main goals. "Most of the people in our community didn't know what the SPCA did—they thought of it as a benevolent 'pound,'" says Sweet, adding that the public's confusion was recently exacerbated by the passage of a state law that extends stray-holding periods. "The SPCA had dropped its contracts and wasn't going to be taking in strays anymore, and there was a real outcry from the public. They thought the SPCA was just closing down, and didn't understand what was actually happening. So I went in with the plan of covering all the different departments and all the ways that the SPCA helps animals in the community."

Sweet took a similar approach when she wrote an article addressing the euthanasia issue and the effect it has on shelter workers. "The public doesn't really know about that, about how hard it is to do this work," says Sweet. "I wanted to reach people with a heart-level understanding about what it's like to be a shelter worker. ... That was my hope: that if the newsletter was ever picked up by someone who was critical of the SPCA, they would read the newsletter and think, 'Oh, I didn't know that,' and re-evaluate their views."

The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria recently devoted an entire issue of Spotlight on Animals to animal control officers—who they are, why their positions exist, and what they do for the community. Brooks wrote stories about rescues by ACOs and sought to enlighten those who still see the officers as "dogcatchers." The concept worked even better than expected; Brooks received three random calls from strangers telling her they'd never known that ACOs do so much valuable work for the community.

22. Flesh Out Your Job Description

More than just covering those "big issues," take your newsletter to the day-to-day level as well. Let the people of your shelter describe the basics of their jobs and the history of their involvement in animal protection, showing how each person contributes to the larger goals and ideals of your organization. Highlight a cruelty investigator or kennel worker in your newsletter, and let them tell the public about an average day—or an extraordinary one—in the shelter. Ask your behaviorist to write about a special pet he helped, or see if your adoption counselor wants to tell the world about a case that has touched her recently.

"We like to have different voices in our newsletter; everything shouldn't be written by 'the newsletter people,'" says Delucchi. "The lives and work of kennel workers and cruelty investigators and adoption counselors are all very different. ... But they all come together to make up our shelter ... so we like to make sure that their voices are in there."

Delucchi says the Peninsula Humane Society frequently gets inquiries from writers wanting to do pieces for Pawprint, but that the shelter prefers to keep most of the articles in-house. "A lot [of our staff] end up liking that," he says. "They may not love to write, but we help them clean up the article, and it usually brings great results."

23. Steal Shamelessly

Newspapers and magazines do it all the time, borrowing story ideas from other publications and "localizing" them. In fact, some of the best article ideas for Animal Sheltering magazine have come from shelter newsletters. There's no sense in reinventing the wheel or wracking your brain to spot new trends and ideas; if you see them covered elsewhere, take the concepts and adapt them to your community.

When the Mississippi Animal Rescue League rescued and rehabilitated 30 neglected equines, the shelter highlighted the rescue—and what it cost the organization—in its newsletter.

If you're in an isolated area where you have little opportunity to view the newsletters of other shelters, call sister shelters in cities across the country and request that you be placed on their newsletter mailing lists. "We're never short [of ideas]," says Calabrese. "I have a stack a foot high. We read other newsletters, and we also try to deal with current issues that are coming up in phone calls to the shelter, such as dog poisonings. We try to respond to what the needs of the community are."

You can also check out other shelters' Web sites and glean ideas from their online pages. "I spend a good hour to an hour and a half a day—just in my own free time—researching," says Khurody-Downs, who became involved in animal protection only about a year ago. "When I was a volunteer I would spend a whole day looking at animal sheltering sites and people's personal sites, finding interesting ways that people have of presenting information."

Whatever you do, don't be afraid to pickpocket ideas; if you want to use an article in its original form from another newsletter, just call the publishing organization for permission. Most shelters will request only that you give them credit for the story; for example, when the Montgomery County Humane Society in Maryland reprinted an informative article on toxoplasmosis, newsletter editors simply added a tagline that read, "Reprinted from WHS/SPCA News, with permission from the Washington Humane Society."

In addition to gleaning ideas from colleagues, remember to take advantage of the wealth of resources outside the animal care and control field. By turning to books and Web sites such as those listed below, you can transform a "snooze-letter" into a publication no one will want to put down.

Write! Photograph! Design! Draw! Edit!
Here's a list of word-worthy resources to help newsletter editors do it all—or at least delegate it.

Writing and Editing

No newsletter editor should be without a dictionary and thesaurus. We recommend Webster's Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary and Roget's Thesaurus. The Chicago Manual of Style covers everything from punctuation to trade names to capitalization. And the old student favorite, The Elements of Style, written by William Strunk and E.B. White (author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little), covers usage, style, and basic composition issues.

Art and Photography

PSAs and clip art are available in the Reproducible section of Animal Sheltering magazine; check them out online at www.AnimalSheltering.org, where you can also order back issues. Clip art diskettes and CD-ROMs are available through a variety of companies; ask about rates for nonprofits.

Dover Publications Clip-Art Books and Diskettes, 516-294-7000
Quick Art, 217-359-6816, www.quickart.com
Horsefeathers Graphics, 509-276-6928, www.horse-feathers.com
MasterClips 1,000,001 (IMSI), 800-833-8082, www.imsisoft.com
Corel Gallery Magic 200,000, 800-772-6735, www.corel.com
In addition to these companies, many Web sites offer free clip art. Some of them are listed below; there are many more to be found through just a little Web surfing.

A+ Art, www.aplusart.simplenet.com
Barry's Clip Art Server, www.barrysclipart.com
The Clip Art Connection, www.ist.net/clipart/../../index.html
Softseek, www.softseek.com/Graphics_and_Drawing/Clip_Art