Are These 7 Things in Your Senior Center Newsletter?

When you are preparing to launch a newsletter for your senior center or aging services organization, it’s common to feel a bit overwhelmed. Before you dive in too deep, remember that LPi specializes in helping communities like yours create free, ad-supported, impactful print and digital newsletters every day! We help you start out strong with printing, design support, options for branding services, and even a content library of professionally designed graphics and relevant articles for you to use in your publication.

You might wonder what should go in the newsletter and worry about overlooking something important. Fortunately, there are no hard-and-fast rules to follow. Give some thought to the image you want to put out into the community and let that guide what you include.

Some organizations try to entertain their readers with a humorous newsletter. Others adopt what’s known as a reporter tone, meaning they keep it professional and avoid including too much fluff. Whatever you choose, don’t forget to ask for feedback from members and supporters until you find your voice.

As you are planning, we have some ideas for what you should consider adding to your newsletter. We also have a few suggestions that might help give your publication a little personality.

Essentials to Include in a Senior Center or Community Newsletter

• Recent news: One tip you might find useful is to lead with the news. Include stories about what your team and your followers have been up to. If there is a lot of news, ask different people to write short articles.
• Upcoming events calendar: You’ll increase attendance at special events and programs if you let people know in advance what you are planning. Depending on the format, having a way for people to sign up to attend can also be helpful. If your website doesn’t make that easy to do, use the Events tab on your organization’s Facebook page.
• Team members and contact info: It’s also a good idea to include a boilerplate piece of content or artwork that lists key staff members. Add their titles and possibly email addresses. If you don’t want to publish email addresses, make certain to include a main phone number for the organization.
• Letter from the director: This should probably be another standard part of your publication. Reading a real letter from someone in a leadership position can help people feel more connected to your organization. Don’t forget to include a photo! Learn more in our article, “What to Write in a Letter from the Director.”
• Opportunities for involvement: While it’s always good to extend a general invitation for people to join you for an event or activity, it’s especially helpful to give them some very specific ideas on how to get involved. For example, do you need people to help bake cookies at the center for a Mother’s Day event? Or maybe you’ve launched a project to send mail to our soldiers overseas and need volunteers to make cards? Include details about those types of activities in your newsletter.
• How to donate: If you are a nonprofit organization, don’t forget to tell people how to make a donation to support your cause. And the easier you make it to do, the more likely it is that they will. Share a link to your online donation platform or a fundraiser you have on Facebook. For those who prefer to write checks, also list the information they’ll need to do that.
• Lots of photos: Finally, don’t forget to take plenty of photos of everyday activities, as well as special events. Add as many as you can to your newsletter. Not only does that show people what happens at your center, it also increases the odds they’ll recognize a friend in a photo. That will likely make them more inclined to stop by.

Other Ideas to Consider for Your Newsletter

Finally, here are a few other ideas you might like to make a part of your publication every now and then:

• A volunteer spotlight every month or two
• Committee reports and updates
• Motivational quotes
• Funny cartoons/memes

Space permitting, the ideas listed above can help to personalize your newsletter even more.



For more content about crafting the perfect newsletter for your community, visit the “Newsletter Tools” section of our blog.