Sending mail to a large group of people?

Question:

Things not to forget when sending an e-mail to a large group. This will get people to read your message (or not read it, if it is not relevant to them).

More information:

My top four e-mail tips:

Address it to the right person - If it’s just for the sixth grade teachers only send it to the middle school group. If it’s for two groups and someone belongs to both groups, they will only get the message once.

My biggest suggestion? Always put a subject, a relevant subject (not "important" or "read this"), this helps people find your e-mail message later when they are looking for it! This doesn’t matter if it is to one person or a hundred. If it says "Football Playoffs this weekend - 1/26/03" and I’m out of town this weekend, I can tell that I don’t even need to read it by the title. If you are replying to a message, change the subject to reflect the new message.

My second suggestion: Always put a source. If it’s info straight from you, include as much information as possible (see events below) if it’s information from someone else, double-check the information and find someone we can get more information from. If it’s something that seems odd (remember when you send a message to two hundred people out there, there are more that a few a cynics) it really needs a source, look it up at one of the hoax sites below, they list things that look like they might be hoaxes but aren’t (they also list items that have started out as truths but mutated along the way).

Posting an event? Here are how to get people to read your message:

  • Specifically what time(s) does it occur?
  • What is the location (what address and what town is it in)? Some staff don’t live nearby and don’t know where that is. Be more specific that Smith High in Livonia, give an address or an intersection.
  • In the subject put the title of the event and, date and location. This will either get people to open it (if interested) or save them the time of opening it (if not interested).
  • If you’re suggesting an event tell what the event is (sometimes people tell the name of an event but not what it is) or what makes it more interesting/different than other district events, if it’s a fundraiser what’s the money for, etc...
  • Do you have additional contact information (a phone number or web site) for more details?

    The above is all information someone is going to need to attend. So include it once and everyone will have it!

    Last modified by Gary LaPointe at February 27, 2007 11:09 AM. (ID #TT000322)
    This entry was posted in the following categories: E-mail
    • Printable version of this page.