For this project, I redesigned a non-profit newsletter to make it more effective as a fundraising tool and easier to read. Tasks on this project included:
- Writing all stories in the newsletter, including interviewing story participants.
- Redesigning the newsletter with InDesign to fit into a standard envelope.
- Creating an email version of the newsletter with email marketing software.
Before
Prior to the redesign, the non-profit used a freelance designer to create the newsletter. The newsletter was filled with lengthy stories in a small font, which led to two key issues. First, most of the readers were over 60, making the smaller font challenging to read. Second, since the stories were long and hard to scan, it’s likely that people never bothered to read them while going through their mail.
After
For the redesign, I prioritized font size and made the layout easier to scan. Instead of each page of the newsletter have one long story, I chose to have shorter stories with more pull quotes, larger headings, and additional panels, such as infographics. This meant that the reader could scan the newsletter quickly and still pick up key information.
Another priority for me was to ensure the newsletter was raising funds effectively. With that in mind, I chose to have the first three pages focus on impact stories and the last page to focus on a story of an unmet need. People would read the newsletter, see that the nonprofit had done good work and then finally see that help was still needed. A donation envelope was included with the newsletter, allowing people to easily donate.
Dan Baird 