[LocalLeaguePresidents] Electronic Bulletins

[Laura]

Hi all-
As you all know, the NYS Voter went electronic in November using a service
called Constant Contact. I have received a number of questions from local
Leagues about this service and if we can get a "group rate" to use it. The
answer is yes - we can all save by coordinating our subscriptions. A few
local Leagues are already also using the service, eg, NYC and Scarsdale, and
they can join with us to save, too.

Constant Contact (www.constantcontact.com) is a subscription service for
organizations to use to create and distribute newsletter, notices, surveys,
etc. They have the ability to send out these documents to a full email list
that you provide and verify without being blocked by spam filters. Usually,
there are limits on the number of email addresses you can include in one
mailing; this eliminates that limit. They have agreements with most of the
internet providers to allow your emails.

In this service, they have templates for the creation of newsletters that
are simple to use, even for those with no technical computer knowledge. You
can simply cut and paste text (from word or elsewhere) right into the
templates. On their website, Email Marketing is the name for their
newsletter and announcement program. TO create the email address lists, you
can also just download email addresses from excel or other programs. It is
very user friendly. There is also a subscription service for surveys, but
that is an additional cost.

I haven't officially created our Business Partner account yet as I wanted to
give you all a chance to review the service and talk with your board about
this. The opportunity will be for a limited time once I create the account.
The one issue you should consider, however, is if you go electronic with
your newsletter, it will decrease your paper mailing size which could affect
your bulk rate, if you mail the newsletters under a bulk rate permit. You
have to calculate what the savings would be versus a possible increase in
the mailing cost for the remainder (if you choose to continue mailing a
paper copy to those without email as well).

The cost of the subscription is based on the number of email addresses you
would like to use. For example, the state League has a subscription
currently at $50 per month to allow for 2,500-5,000 email addresses.
Subscriptions up to 500 email addresses are only $15 per month and 501-2,500
are $30 per month. With our Business Partner account, each league could save
20% of that cost if they pay for 6 months and 25% of the cost if they pay
for 12 months. Each subscription would be totally independent; we would just
save by coordinating the subscriptions. There is also a non-profit discount
but because most leagues include some advocacy articles in the newsletters,
the 501c3 status (non-profit) cannot be justified.

SO, check out the website, www.constantcontact.com; you can even sign up for
a trial for free - see how it works and try a mailing to your board as an
example! Let me know if you have any questions - and what you think about
the program. Please let me know if you aren't interested in using the
program, too - we need to calculate how many Leagues might want to take
advantage of the group rate.

Thanks - and have a great holiday season!

Laura

Laura Ladd Bierman, Executive Director
League of Women Voters of New York State
62 Grand Street
Albany, NY 12207
(518) 465-4162
(518) 465-0812
www.lwvny.org
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