Every homeowner association needs to communicate regularly to the members on HOA related issues like finances, rules, meeting minutes and the like. Adding the personal touch with pictures of newcomers and volunteers makes the piece of greater interest to many.

Besides content, newsletters need to have an appealing and organized look. Software programs like Microsoft Publisher offers professional looking templates which require little more than filling in the blanks. With a little effort, the same effect can be cloned with word processing programs like Word and Word Perfect.

The internet provides a substantial number of resources to assist in newsletter execution. One of the best can be found here by Jacci Howard Bear. Ms. Bear gets into the intricacies of newsletters that will truly make them shine. What follows is her explanation of the twelve components that every newsletter should have. Knowing how to use them will improve the finished product. For specific examples, please visit her website.

Nameplate: The banner on the first page of a newsletter that identifies the publication is its nameplate. The nameplate usually contains the name of the newsletter, graphics or a logo, and perhaps a subtitle, motto, and publication information including Volume and Issue or Date.

Body: The body of the newsletter is the bulk of the text excluding the headlines and decorative text elements. It's the articles that make up the newsletter content.

Table of Contents: Usually appearing on the front page, the table of contents briefly lists articles and special sections of the newsletter and the page number for those items.

Masthead: The masthead is that section of a newsletter design, typically found on the second page (but could be on any page) that lists the name of the publisher and other pertinent data. May include staff names, contributors, subscription information, addresses, logo, etc.

Heads & Titles:

• Headline: After the nameplate, the headline identifying each article in a newsletter is the most prominent text element.

• Kicker: Often seen in newsletter design, the kicker is a short phrase set above the headline. The kicker can serve as an introduction or section heading to identify a regular column.

• Deck: The newsletter deck is one or more lines of text found between the headline and the body of the article. The deck elaborates or expands on the headline and topic of the accompanying text.

• Subhead: Subheads appear within the body of articles to divide the article into smaller sections.

• Running Head: More familiarly known as a header, a running headline is repeating text -- often the title of the publication -- that appears, usually at the top, of each page or every other page in a newsletter design. The page number is sometimes incorporated with the running headline.

Page Numbers: Page numbers can appear at the top, bottom, or sides of pages. Usually page one is not numbered in a newsletter.

Bylines: The byline is a short phrase or paragraph that indicates the name of the author of an article in a newsletter. The byline commonly appears between the headline and start of the article, prefaced by the word "By" although it could also appear at the end of the article.

Continuation Lines: When articles span two or more pages, a newsletter uses continuation lines to help readers find the rest of the article.

Jumplines: Jumplines, also called continuation lines, typically appear at the end of a column, as in continued on page 45. Jumplines at the top of a column indicate where the article is continued from, as in continued from page 16.

Continuation Heads: When articles jump from one page to another, continuation heads identify the continued portion of the articles. The continuation headlines, along with jumplines, provide continuity and cue the reader as to where to pick up reading.

End Signs: A dingbat or printer's ornament used to mark the end of a story in a newsletter is an end sign. It signals the reader that they have reached the end of the article.

Pull-Quotes: Used to attract attention, especially in long articles, a pull-quote is a small selection of text "pulled out and quoted" in a larger typeface.

Photos/Illustrations: A newsletter design layout may contain photographs, drawings, charts, graphs, or clip art.

Mug Shots: One of the most typical photographs found in newsletter design is the mug shot -- a more or less straight into the camera head and shoulders picture.

Caption: The caption is a phrase, sentence, or paragraph describing the contents of an illustration, such as a photograph or chart. The caption is usually placed directly above, below, or to the side of the picture it describes.

Mailing Panel: Newsletters created as self-mailers (no envelope) need a mailing panel. This is the portion of the newsletter design that contains the return address, mailing address of the recipient, and postage. The mailing panel typically appears on one-half or one-third of the back page so that it faces out when folded.

HOA newsletters provide timely information which help streamline the HOA business operation. If your community doesn’t have one, get the process moving today. It’s not just a good idea, it’s essential.

For more on this topic, see Regenesis.net Newsletter Basics.