Friday's newsletter, drafted from your calendar

From calendar to draft

Grantkeeper reads the week's events from the calendar link you connected and adds your notes. The draft has a subject line that says what's inside, preview text, a short body with dates, times, places and links, and alt text for each image. If you need Spanish, it writes a second version with the same facts and links.

It checks dates against the calendar and flags any event in your notes that isn't on it or has moved. Dates copied from an old issue are easy to miss, so it lists every date in the draft for a final look.

The body stays short: three to five items, each with a date, a place and one link. Longer stories can live on your website, with the newsletter linking to them.

Before it goes out

Paste the draft into Mailchimp, Constant Contact or the email tool you already use, and send it from there to your subscriber list. A donor list is not a subscriber list, so people who never signed up for the newsletter stay off it.

The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide lists what a commercial email needs, including an accurate subject line, a valid postal address and a clear way to opt out, with opt-outs honored within 10 business days. Coverage depends on the message's primary purpose, and keeping your address and unsubscribe link in every newsletter footer is a simple habit either way.

If the newsletter asks for gifts, it uses the same facts as the donation page, and any ticket or benefit wording matches the page word for word.

Keep the newsletter to a few items people can act on this week, with volunteer needs near the top and the sign-up link right there.