Communicating to your members
Once you’ve created a support group, it’s important to communicate regularly with your existing members. Think of your communications as the doorway for more families to enter. When members receive scheduled updates about your group, they will perceive your organization as having value. When meeting someone who is looking for support, your member will be more likely to mention your group. Here are some common methods of communication.
Email distribution list
Many small groups use distribution lists to send out information via email. This is typically a single piece of information such as a link to an article or god resource. However, sending out emails more than once a week can clog up a person’s email box and label you as a nuisance. Limit your emails and make sure that the content is worth sending.
It is becoming more difficult to send out emails to a large group of people. If your list is over 100 email addresses, your emails can be labeled as spam. For instance, Yahoo’s mail may eventually start limiting you to a certain number of sent emails per day. Other mail accounts like Comcast or Ameritech may block you from reaching your intended recipient. Always have your members add your email address to their online address books to help stop these inconveniences.
Newsletter
Organizations that have a website may opt for an online newsletter subscription service on their home page. People doing Internet searches might come across your site and sign up. This allows you to showcase the great things your organization is doing on a monthly basis. There are many newsletter services that can help you manage your email lists. Just do a search on Google for email newsletter service.
Online communities
More groups are moving to online communities. This provides the dual purpose of communicating information to your members and allowing members to network with one another. As opposed to emails, information is archived so members have access to it at any time. Some social community sites like Ning and Meetup require you to pay fees for extra services. Others like Yahoo groups and Facebook are free but you share space with less serious groups.
One Place for Special Needs has free groups in an exclusive special needs community. If you don't have your own discussion group or listserv on your own website, it is easy and free to set one up a group here. You can create a public, moderated or private group. This is a great way to grow your membership and build a supportive community. It also allows you to disseminate news and information quickly to your members.
Each group can add events to their own group and/or our main events section. You can engage in live group chats. You can set a time for members to have a live group talk or even bring in a special speaker to talk to your group online. Our classified section extends to your own group so members can have their own personal marketplace. Members can receive email notifications on new topics and events.
Mail distribution
Large organizations with significant funding may consider mailing fliers or newsletters. This is expensive but it allows you to provide more detailed information. If the newsletter is valued it will remain in the home as a physical reminder about your group for at least a month. If your newsletter contains information about events or workshops, make sure your members receive it before the actual event. There is nothing more annoying than receiving old news.
Add your contact information
The most important thing to remember for all your methods of communication is to add your contact information. Include your organization name, email, website address and phone number. Sure your members know who you are, but in many cases they are forwarding this information to people who don't know you. Make sure they have a way to find you.
Promoting your organization beyond your membership
Once you’ve built up your internal communications, it’s time to expand to the public at large. As an organization you may decide to do broad marketing, niche marketing or a combination of the two. See our article, Promoting your organization, to learn about these types of marketing to the community.