Guidance for submitting a newsletter item
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The county newsletter is a valuable resource for sharing service news with the county’s volunteers. Anyone with a county role can submit an item for inclusion in the newsletter.
Below is some guidance for submitting your newsletter item. If your submission does not meet the requirements, we'll let you know that it needs some amendment and give some guidance. The item then won’t be included until you resubmit in the appropriate format, etc. Thanks for your help in keeping this vital resource alive and an interesting read for our volunteers. |
If you would like any further support or guidance beyond this document then please contact us.
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The right kind of content
Make sure it’s a service message
The bulk of our newsletters (probably 95%) are service emails. This means everything we include needs to be relevant to the guiding role our members carry out. On a county level this can include:
In a service newsletter we cannot include anything that includes the cost of an event or item (eg. badges), or promotion of a shop or items within it (eg. a depot or the Cowley Adventure shop). We can tell them about an event, eg. a Cowley Adventure event, but we then link them to the relevant information on the website, which will include the costs and booking information.
For more information about service and marketing communications, check out this Girlguiding webpage.
- Events and activities that form part of the Girlguiding programme (eg. badge days, Cowley Adventure days, DofE programme, etc.)
- Essential training from the L&D team
- Details about county meetings, eg. our social meeting.
- Information that is vital to the audience’s role, eg. subscription information, updates to policy, procedure, national programme, etc.
In a service newsletter we cannot include anything that includes the cost of an event or item (eg. badges), or promotion of a shop or items within it (eg. a depot or the Cowley Adventure shop). We can tell them about an event, eg. a Cowley Adventure event, but we then link them to the relevant information on the website, which will include the costs and booking information.
For more information about service and marketing communications, check out this Girlguiding webpage.
Every month?
Please don’t feel pressured to send something in every month. If there’s nothing to share or nothing new in your area expertise then it’s okay not to submit an item.
Sending your item
Where to send your item
Email to [email protected].
Deadlines for sending your item
There are two deadlines for submission: 14th and 21st of each month for the newsletter going out on the 1st of the next month.
No extensions to the 21st will be given.
- Items received by 14th of the month will be checked and any amendment guidance required will be sent back to the sender. This allows time for the article to be resubmitted before the hard deadline on the 21st. If the submission doesn't need any changes then a confirmation email will be sent to let you know.
- Items sent between 15th and 21st of the month will be checked, but there won't be any time for resubmission if required. Therefore they will only be included in that month's newsletter if no changes are required. An email confirming either way will be sent back to you.
No extensions to the 21st will be given.
Send your article as plain text
The main content of your article needs to be in plain text so it can be copied and pasted into the newsletter editor software. Text on images cannot be copied out.
Including links
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If you want to include a link in your item, include the words to be linked and then include the URL within [] brackets or on the line underneath. The URL is the text in the address bar of your browser.
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Using images
If you would like an image used with your item, please include that as a jpg or png and attach it to your email. Do not add it to a Word document.
If you have people in your photo, please ensure you have the relevant permissions from everyone before sending it in, and confirm those permissions in your email.
Images as headers with a few words on may be used in the newsletter, however images with the entire article’s information will not be used. When a newsletter lands in someone's inbox and they open it, if they use on offline email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird then it won't show the images by default. So unless they deliberatly choose to download images, they won't see your image with all the information in it.
If you have people in your photo, please ensure you have the relevant permissions from everyone before sending it in, and confirm those permissions in your email.
Images as headers with a few words on may be used in the newsletter, however images with the entire article’s information will not be used. When a newsletter lands in someone's inbox and they open it, if they use on offline email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird then it won't show the images by default. So unless they deliberatly choose to download images, they won't see your image with all the information in it.
Proof read your message
Re-read your article to make sure it makes sense. Check it for grammar and typos. Don’t worry if this is not your strong point, that’s why we have a newsletter editor, so please don’t be surprised if your article is tweaked before publishing.
Articles need to be different each time
If we just keep putting out the same message month after month, volunteers won’t read any of the articles. This will have a detrimental effect on all our communications, not just the area you are wanting people to know about.
If you do have a recurring message, the minimum we’ll publish that is once a term.
If you do have a recurring message, the minimum we’ll publish that is once a term.
Writing your item
Think about your audience
The newsletter goes to all volunteers, including YLs (if they have an email address on GO). Target your words to the audience, make your article sound fun and exciting. Don’t just repeat verbatim the words on the event booking for example, or the website.
Use a conversational tone & simple language
Write as if you are talking to a friend to build rapport and create a genuine connection with your audience. Remember, you know your stuff but your reader won’t, so ensure you’ve written it in plain English that everyone will understand. Don’t use jargon!
Include a call to action
If the purpose of your item is for the reader to take action, make sure you tell them what that action is and include the details of how they go about that. For example:
“Find out more and book on the website” with the relevant link.
“Share this information with your young leaders”
“Find out more and book on the website” with the relevant link.
“Share this information with your young leaders”
Including contact information
Our policy is not to publish any personal data so any contact information included in your item needs to be a generic Girlguiding Glos or Cowley Adventure email address.
Please do not ask us to include your personal email or phone number. If your role includes the need for people to contact you, we can set you up with a county email address. Email [email protected] to request this.
Please do not ask us to include your personal email or phone number. If your role includes the need for people to contact you, we can set you up with a county email address. Email [email protected] to request this.
Keep it short
Long articles don’t get read, and in turn people then don’t move beyond them either to read the next thing. Keep it short and to the point. Include links to finding more information, eg. on the website, or where to book the event, etc.
Need a hand?
Try AI
Gemini, Chat GPT, etc. are great for writing articles for you. Feed in the information you want to share and ask it to create a short, snappy social media post or newsletter article. If you’re not happy with the first iteration, ask it to amend it and tell it how, eg. for a younger audience perhaps if you’re targeting YLs.
Beyond the newsletter
Share in other ways
Once the information is on the website or your event is set up ready to book, as well as sending an article for the newsletter, you can promote it elsewhere. For example:
- Add a post to the volunteers’ Facebook group, linking to the webpage, etc.
- Email to the division commissioners and ask them to cascade
- Share the information at the county operations meeting
Sending mailings outside the newsletter
Occasionally we need to send a message outside of the newsletter process. If you have a message that is urgent then please email all the details to [email protected] along with who needs to know and why it needs to be separate, eg. it’s time sensitive or it’s marketing and doesn’t fit with our usual newsletter. We can then look at the best way to get the information out for you.
Please do not ask someone who has county GO access to send an email on your behalf as that’s when we have the potential to create a data breach by sending a marketing email to everyone.
Please do not ask someone who has county GO access to send an email on your behalf as that’s when we have the potential to create a data breach by sending a marketing email to everyone.
