Communications
Mailings
One of the nice services the IU Alumni Association provides to chapters is assistance with all chapter postal mailings. Anytime the chapter wants to mail an event announcement or newsletter, the IUAA can help the chapter in creating the piece, printing it, and actually mailing it to the designated chapter. Below are some samples of different chapter mailings.
Charlotte Party
Lexington Winery
Singing Hoosiers Mailer
Boone County Nicks Night
Tampa Indiana Day
How Do I Submit Materials for a Chapter Mailing?
The IU Alumni Association employs a team of graphic designers to help alumni chapter volunteers create a professional looking mailing pieces. What we need from you is simply text or copy for the mailing (who, what, where etc. regarding a chapter event or activity). Our design staff will take your information and place it into the overall design of the mailing. Chapter volunteers needn't worry about creating the actual design of the mailing. They simply need to submit written copy and photos to be included in the mailing itself. A copy can be sent in a word processing program such as Microsoft Word. Keep formatting to a minimum, as it will not carry over into our design programs. Once the volunteer has submitted everything, the staff will create the mailing piece and then send it to the volunteer to review, edit, and approve for final printing and mailing.
Each time a chapter wishes to send a mailing, they simply write the text and submit it to the Chapters Online Request Center. It's easy! Once you submit the text for the mailing (and attach any photos), you simply select your chapter's name from the pull-down menu, and submit your mailing request. From there, the request is forwarded to our staff where the mailing will be reviewed, designed, printed, and sent. After your chapter mailing is posted to the Request Center, IUAA staff will contact you to follow-up to ensure the mailing gets completed on time.
Give Yourself Enough Lead Time!
The most important thing to remember when sending a mailing to chapter members is to allow enough lead time! The staff at IUAA can't emphasize this point enough. If you want chapter members to receive a mailing well in advance of an event date, make sure you are submitting material for the mailing 6-8 weeks prior to the activity. This will ensure that we are able to get the mailing to chapter members on time! Depending on staff workloads, it takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks to simply design, edit, print, and mail a chapter newsletter or event mailing. Our staff not only coordinates all chapter mailings, but also mailings associated with most other IUAA affiliated groups.
Time Frame for Design
(Remember: additional time is required for printing and mailing!)
- One-Page Flier or Postcard
One week for design, proofing, editing, and client revisions. (Your promptness helps!) - Newsletters
Two weeks are required. Newsletters are labor-intensive, and time is needed to work them into the schedule and still have time for design, editing, and changes. - Brochures
Three weeks, to allow for scheduling.
Allow a total of four weeks to print and mail! Once the piece is designed, two additional weeks are needed for the IUAA Mailroom to print, fold, tab, label, and get the piece in the mail. The mailroom does a large volume of work and needs time for scheduling. Bulk mail delivery often takes two weeks once it actually leaves IUAA!
Keep it Simple!
Each chapter mailing should communicate simple or essential information about an upcoming chapter activity. In some cases, the chapter may wish to share information about a series of future events or news items (i.e. a newsletter from the chapter).
Submitting Art and Photos Many chapters include photos or occasionally a logo in their event mailings and newsletters. Photos in particular add a nice visual element to the piece. Please note that photos and artwork submitted for a mailing need to meet some basic criteria so that the images don't appear distorted in the final printed newsletter or flier.
Printing Our Printing and Mailing Services only print from files designed at the IUAA. They can print in one or two colors. Three or four-color pieces and those designed outside of the IUAA will need to go to an outside printer, which will increase your printing cost.
- Photos
Photos can be sent electronically, but they must be large files. The minimum file size for print is about three Megabytes. Resolution determines how clear a photo will look when printed. It is measured in d.p.i. (dots per inch). Photos need to have a resolution of 300 d.p.i. Please don't use photos taken directly from a Website, as they usually don't have a high enough resolution. When taking pictures, set the camera to the highest resolution possible. Electronic photos can be sent in tiff, jpeg, or eps formats. When saving a jpeg file, select “maximum” quality. Actual photos can also mailed to IUAA, and our staff can scan them. Prints are easier to work with than negatives. Please don't fax photos. If possible, try to include action photos (i.e. clear, close-up shots of people doing something), and include a caption or the names of people in the photos
- Artwork
All artwork submitted for printed mailings should be camera-ready (i.e. ). Corporate logos can appear on chapter mailings, but advertising is not permitted. IUAA and all affiliated groups are considered non-profit organizations, and thus advertising in a chapter mailing is not allowed. Don't fax art as it will be distorted. Art taken from Web sites won't work for print pieces. We use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
Chapter Event Mailing Fees
Mailing costs vary depending on the size of the chapter area and the mailing type. Each chapter will encounter different pricing depending on the size of the alumni population and the type of mailing being sent. For instance, in large metropolitan areas (i.e. Chicago, Indianapolis, or Ft. Wayne), the alumni population numbers well into the thousands. Consequently, postage costs for these chapters are generally higher since they are mailing to more people. Also, the type of mailing will affect the overall cost of the piece. For example, a newsletter with multiple pages will cost more to print than a one-page flier.
- One-Page Flier or Postcard
- Newsletters
- Brochures
Tips for Trimming Chapter Mailing Costs
There are a number of ways that a chapter can curb some of the expense associated with mailing information to alumni in a chapter area. These include limiting the mailing list, utilizing e-mail blasts, and allowing enough time prior to a chapter event so that the piece can be sent at the lowest postal rate possible (bulk rate).
- Send Mailings to IUAA Members Only
Most chapters send mailings to members only rather than send the piece to all alumni in a particular chapter area. This decreases the overall size of the mailing list, and thus decreases the postage costs for the mailing. By sending the mailing to members only, the chapter is creating an additional benefit of membership for chapter members (IUAA members) in a chapter area.
- Utilize Blast E-mails
While it's important to send chapter postal mailings from time-to-time, it's wise to utilize blast e-mails to communicate upcoming events and activities. Chapter e-mails cost nothing and it's proven to be an effective tool for promoting chapter related functions to alumni. Please note that while IUAA has an extensive e-mail list for each chapter area, the Association only has approximately 27 percent of all alumni e-mail addresses for any one chapter. By comparison, IUAA has 96 percent of all alumni postal mailing addresses for all chapters. Therefore, chapters need to remember that sending an e-mail to promote an event won't reach every IU graduate in a particular chapter (only small percentage of the overall alumni population). That's why it's important to send postal mailings periodically.
- Send Chapter Mailings at Bulk Rate
Whenever possible, it's important that chapters allow enough lead-time prior to a chapter event so that the mailing advertising the event can be sent at the lowest postal rate possible (bulk rate). By simply planning all activities well in advance, chapters can ensure that mailing costs are minimized!
What is an Indiana Day Mailing?
All alumni chapters are encouraged to host an Indiana Day event each year. This event is typically a signature event for the chapter or an activity which features a program from IU or annually draws a large gathering of alumni. As a service to all alumni chapters, IUAA will produce and mail, at no cost to the chapter, an invitation for each chapter's Indiana Day event. Be sure your chapter utilizes this complimentary mailing. With the exception of our largest chapter areas, most Indiana Day mailings will be sent to all alumni (including non-members) in a particular chapter area. Many alumni chapters create newsletters for their Indiana Day mailing since the overall cost of the mailing is covered by IUAA and is usually sent to the widest possible audience. An Indiana Day newsletter is a great way to expose members and non-members to all chapter activities and events.