The Cost Of A Hardcopy Newsletter—Is It Worth It?
Post written by Molly Gilberts, The Navigators. For more fundraising help, visit MPD Navigators here!
We all feel it. Prices are up. Why mail a paper newsletter (i.e. $$$) when email is free?
The average cost to print and mail a newsletter is $1.63*. A reasonable investment when you consider all a newsletter does!
Newsletters do these important things:
Tell ministry partners you’re grateful for them and their financial support.
Build your relationship with ministry partners.
Invest in partners’ spiritual growth.
Tell partners how their prayers for your ministry are being answered.
Assure partners the money they invest in your ministry makes a difference.
Help partners feel they’re a part of your ministry.
Stimulate continued prayer and giving.
Plus, a newsletter bonds you with your readers—they can pick it up and hold it and re-read it. It’s personal! And others might read it too as it sits on a kitchen counter or coffee table.
If the cost to mail to your whole mailing list now truly is too much, start here.
Long-term planning: Adjust your budget for the future so it includes a communication category that covers four paper newsletters to your whole mailing list every year ($1.63 x # of ministry partners x four letters). Raise the money you need over time for this ministry expense.
Now: Determine how many letters you can afford to mail this time. Then look through your mailing list for:
People who aren’t getting your email updates, and prioritize mailing a newsletter to this group.
As finances allow, add in financial partners.
As finances allow, add in more general ministry partners until you reach your maximum budgeted amount for this mailing.
Are newsletters costly to mail? Yes, but it’s more costly NOT to mail paper newsletters. Add four hardcopy newsletters to your communication strategy.
As one Navigator said, “Save a stamp now; lose a partner later.”
*Data from prayerletters.com, April 2023.