If you're an EventU user and haven't yet tried out the e-newsletter feature within this application, you're missing out on an easy and powerful way of communicating with your attendees. Many churches use the event and resource scheduling and online event registration features, but might not be aware that EventU offers great e-newsletter options to send out weekly event listings, special announcements, prayer requests and even customized newsletters with text and images.
The e-newsletter features within EventU have recently been enhanced to make it possible to send out weekly newsletters with event listings and special announcements on any day of the week. The application has a new layout and is more scalable to your needs, as this type of program is fast becoming one of the most effective ways to communicate with congregations.
Tom Ledoux of Grace Community Church in Raleigh, North Carolina says this about the EventU e-newsletter feature: "The e-newsletter has had a tremendous impact on how effectively we are able to communicate information about our ministries. Combined with the on-line registration and payment feature, it has increased attendance and made the entire process much more efficient and easier for our members and visitors."
More Control
EventU allows for users to not only select the day of the week their e-newsletter is sent out, they can predetermine the time as well. For immediate and scheduled newsletters, different templates can be applied to adjust the look and feel. Users now have the option to select a specific template, their default template, the "ServiceU" look or no template at all which gives full layout control. For some larger organizations, this can be of major benefit. Enhancements also mean that you can create a custom subscriptions options page as well.EventU e-Newsletter Enhancements
- The weekly e-newsletter can be sent on any day of the week.
- The program has a new design.
- Scheduled e-newsletters can now have a general time associated with them in addition to the day.
- Immediate e-newsletters and scheduled e-newsletters can now apply different templates to their look and feel. Previously, the only option was the look of the default template or if a default template wasn't available, it would have the generic "ServiceU" look. Now an organization can pick the following options: A specific template, their default template, the "ServiceU" look, or no template at all. This improvement is handy for those who want full control over the look.
- Newsletters can now be assigned to more than one department.
- Organizations can now have a custom subscription options page. Some organizations have their own subscriptions options page and others want more control over the look and feel of the subscription options page. This feature helps both of these situations.
- The message editor now works in browsers other than Microsoft Internet Explorer.
- It will now be possible for organizations to include more info in the event approval emails.
Did you know that when you set up the e-newsletter function, you have the option of creating groups for each ministry within the church? That's right. Depending on the size of your church and its ministries, you can offer subscribers the ability to register to receive any or all of your ministry's e-newsletters. This means that any time you send out news and/or events to the Men's Ministry group, any users that selected this checkbox will receive your emails. The goal is to target people within your church with the events and news information that is relevant to them. They won't have to sift through event listings for youth group if this info doesn't apply to them.
From an administrative standpoint, EventU makes it easy to set up the application by importing contacts from an Excel spreadsheet thereby making it simpler to add people to your newsletter groups. Users can receive as many newsletters as they would like to from as many categories as your organization makes available.
"The backbone of our e-newsletter application is the weekly events e-newsletter that is automatically generated by EventU," comments Drew Dawkins, Vice President of Sales and Support for ServiceU. "The e-newsletter is a combination of upcoming events, custom announcements that relate to specific groups and custom announcements that relate to the entire congregation. Combined, these three announcements assist in increasing overall church communications and ministry involvement."
With a few simple clicks, you can be sending valuable event listings, special announcements and even articles from your pastor right to your attendee’s inboxes. This can help to increase your church’s sense of community and keep everyone better connected in the long run.