Greeting cards are a great way to communicate special messages to special people. This is why they have been around for hundreds of years. Even in this electronic age when e-cards can be sent, there are still a good number who choose to send the conventional greeting card.
We may want to send conventional paper greeting cards, but by no means do we want our cards to be commonplace. One of the best ways to make our cards unique is to design the card ourselves with our own photos on it.
iPhoto makes this task easy, straightforward, and even fun.
Steps in Making an iPhoto Greeting Card
First select a photo from your library or several photos from an event that you want for your card. In the tool bar, click the “Card” button.
A card sheet appears showing a large collection of themes you could choose from for the design of your card. Select one and click “Choose Theme”.
A layout of both the inside and outside of your card appears. iPhoto automatically inserts a photo (or photos if you have selected a theme that features multiple photos) into your card from those you have selected at the start. This selection appears in a strip at the top. If you wish to change the picture iPhoto selected for you, you can simply drag a picture from the strip into the card. The photos appearing in the strip that you have posted in the card layout will have small check marks.
If you want your friends to see the photo’s subjects up close, you can zoom in on them by clicking on the picture, dragging on the slider, and using the hand tool to adjust the position of the images.
If you are satisfied with the photos, you can now type your personal message. You can concentrate on your message and leave the spelling to iPhoto.
After this, you can click the “Buy Now” button and have Apple deliver the cards with envelops right to your doorsteps.
iPhoto keeps the card in your Source list. Because of this you can easily reorder more of the same card, or perhaps modify it further.
People always love to send and receive Greeting Cards on all special occasions. Birthdays are the most important occasion to send and receive greeting cards. Greeting cards has been considered the best way to express your feeling and emotions to your loved ones. You can find greeting cards in a wide variety of designs for every occasion like anniversary, birthday, wedding, farewell, congratulations etc.
You would get a huge variety of birthday cards in market to present your dear ones. Every birthday card is uniquely designed and contains some good birthday message. You can choose a birthday according to the suitability of the birthday wish written on the birthday card or by its attractive design. Personalized birthday cards are also available that are made for different relations. These birthday cards come with wordings like for my sister, for my loving mom, birthday wishes to dear brother etc. although a variety of designs are available in birthday cards but a self- created or self designed birthday card has its own special value.
If you too want to make attractive birthday card then you can buy a greeting card maker. These easily available greeting cards software are easy to use and are highly affordable too. The greeting card software enables the user to create attractive cards of various sizes like half fold, quarter fold etc. you can make greeting cards of various styles by making use of various tools provided in the software.
In case you don’t have much time to devote on creating attractive greeting cards then the software has various greeting cards templates. Majority of greeting cards software contain huge graphic library of images, artistic symbols, creative shapes, nice borders and attractive borders to help you design your birthday greeting card. If you want you can get hold of printable greeting card software that enables an individual to create greeting cards and then print them on the paper of their choice choice. Normally, people use A4 size white paper or card sheet to print greeting cards. The greeting cards sheet is mostly glossy or glazed on one side making your card look even more attractive.
Greeting card printing companies’ sites are designed for utility. You can easily make your way through the series of steps and buttons without really losing yourself. At the end of the day, you can be printing different products hassle-free.
However, it can be avoided that at certain circumstances, there are still unavoidable errors, mishaps and other unforeseen events that occur in printing. This involves how users understand or familiarize themselves with the terms and conditions and the requirements needed for printing.
And while the world wide web may be one of man’s greatest inventions, it still is under the workings of the human mind. It can be helped that certain misunderstandings occur and multiple interpretations arise from a single instruction.
Misconceptions too are sometime unavoidable. Certain instructions too can become vague for certain readers. Hence, a popular service such as a greeting card can become quite complicated.
Greeting cards can be ordered simply in online printing sites. Here’s a summary on how it can be accomplished in four easy steps:
1. Log in to the website by indicating your name, email address and other information which the printing site secures.
2. You can browse though the site’s products and services. Once you’ve finally decided upon which one to buy or acquire, you have to put in all the necessary information such as the type of paper you want to use, the volume of your order or the number of prints you want made, the size of your print, the turnaround time and the like.
3. Once you have done this, you can now upload the file or design on the site.
4. Once you have done this, you can pay for your job order. You also, at this point, have to approve a proof or a print-ready file in order for you to complete the transaction.
Once you have accomplished both of these before the but-off time of the printing company, your design or file will be automatically sent to the presses for production.
In order to address some of your queries about printing greeting cards here are some frequently asked questions answered.
1. What are the inside and outside pages of the greeting card?
The outside pages are the ones you instantly see when you receive a greeting card. On the other hand, the inside pages are the ones concealed or hidden when you fold your greeting card.
In the color options of your greeting card, the format for this would be as follows:
4/4 = Both the inside and outside of the greeting card are printed in full color.
4/1 = The outside pages are the ones in full color while the inside pages, the part where you write personal messages, are printed in black and white.
4/0 = Only the outside pages are printed in full color.
2. What are the front and back pages of the greeting card?
The front and back pages of the greeting card is the whole outside page of your greeting card.
The front page of the greeting card contains the whole bulk of your graphic design. This introduces you as to what the greeting card is all about.
The back page of the greeting card is where the barcode usually rests. Most of the time too, it holds the greeting card company’s logo or label.
When it comes to your color options, be it 4/4, 4/1 or 4/0 the front and back pages will always be printed in full color.
The layout of the greeting card shows you just how, on one whole sheet, you can have a front page and a back page that is only separated by a fold, both facing outwards.
These, of course, are just some of the few things that can get mixed up. Some printers might have accidentally used the descriptions alternately but it is always better to sure. This gives you a better picture on where and how your greetings cards will be printed. Make sure to confirm and ask your printers so that you’ll have a more convenient and hassle free greeting card printing.
Oh Shoot! It’s Greeting Card Season again! It’s an absolute pain in the rear to send Christmas Cards or other holiday greeting cards to all your customers, but sending cards can be really good for business. The holiday season represents another promotional opportunity for businesses and smart companies can get themselves noticed prior to the new year – just before clients and customers reevaluate their company budgets and business relationships.
A company Greeting Card is hardly likely to “fill your customers heart with good cheer”, but it may well help to put your name to the top of their “friendly businesses” list. Also, if you’ve failed to impress a major client this year, it just might convince them to give you another chance. ‘Tis is the season of forgiveness, after all! You’d be surprised what a difference a simple a Christmas greeting card can make!
How do I make my Company Greeting Card look better than the majority of (yawn!!!) Company Christmas Cards?
Make it personalized
As the popular saying goes – “business is all about people”. So do something that informs customers about the people and personality of your business. Take a “goofy” office photograph; show your employees having fun at the last years Christmas Party; include a picture of a charity event that your company was involved in. Say something silly, sentimental, or sweet. Anything that will show your business in a positive light.
Try not to send something instantly forgettable. A photograph of your premises with a bit of snow on it, for instance, is a really horrible idea! And please don’t send out those “ye olde christmas scene” monstrosities (you know the ones; the snow covered field; the red-cheeked children playing in the snow; Robin Redbreast chirping happily on a branch; Victorian ladies and gentlemen ice skating on a pond!(Give me a break!)
The image below is an example of a company card that I received last year. There was no company information on it apart from “Seasons Greetings from Clearer Tech” scribbled on the inside!? If you’re going to send a company card, use the opportunity to distribute your logo brand, number, website, contact, and other company information! Just think, as your card sits on your customer’s desk throughout December, your business details will be constantly in their eye-view!
Looking at the greeting card below made me wonder: “Does this company also put such little thought into their business practices?” My advice is to not send a card at all if you’re planning to send a really crummy card. It could be counterproductive to your business.
What’s wrong with this Company Card?
- No Company Logo
- No Contact address
- No Phone Number
- It’s obvious that this came from a “bargain pack” of cards
- It’s the kind of card that Grandma likes!
- It shows a lack of effort
- It says nothing about the personality and people of your company
A personalized card shows your customers that you’ve put some thought and effort into your Christmas greeting. Clients will appreciate that you’ve taken the time to arrange a company photograph. While a photo of your employees wearing Santa hats may not be the most original idea, it’s far more personal than a card that came out of a packet that you bought at Costco!In comparison to store bought greeting cards, creating a custom greeting card is actually the smart thing to do. Even if you represent a small business, you should think twice about going to the store for your cards. The likelihood is that you’ll have to write your personal greeting on each card, address each envelope, seal each envelope, put a stamp on each envelope, and post all your envelopes! This adds up to a lot of work on your part. Not only is it much easier to get your Greeting Cards online than it is to drive to the store for your cards, it’s also a heck of a lot less hassle! There are now some online print companies, such as NextDayFlyers.com where you can upload your designs and photos, have your cards printed, and then get your cards mailed for you! This is a godsend when you need to send out a couple of hundred cards!
Be original but be tasteful
Although you want to make a statement , whatever you do, don’t send anything rude or offensive (i.e, a card with a “sexy Santa Claus in a revealing outfit” might be fun for you and your friends but why take the risk of offending one of your good customers?) Be bold and original, but use your common sense when choosing a design! In business it’s always best to air on the side of caution. A good joke can be enjoyed by everyone, but you have to be REALLY careful not to be derogatory in any way.While living in the UK last year, I received a greeting card from one of my business contacts that included a joke about an Englishman, Irishman, Scotsman and Welshman (a joke that was likely to offend the peoples of all four nations!) Being of Irish descent, I could have taken great offense to it, and chosen never do business with that company again. That wasn’t the case, but I did hear that they lost business as a direct cause of that particular Greeting Card!
Designing your card
A montage of snapshots of your employees having fun at the office is a nice idea and would eliminate the need to organize a group company shot. If you do decide to take a company photograph, don’t use a cell phone camera! And don’t get the janitor who works in your office building to take the photograph! The result probably won’t be good. Either hire a professional or at least find someone who’s good with a camera to take the shot!Good ideas for Company
Photographs
- Snapshots of employees having a good time at last years Christmas Party (note: a snapshot of employees getting drunk and misbehaving at last years Christmas Party is a bad idea)
- A photo of the Company CEO dressed as Santa and the employees dressed as elves (or reindeer)
- A photo of company members dressed in anything festive
- A photo of company members hanging decorations
- A photo of company members exchanging gifts
- Company members popping champagne (to celebrate another successful year)
- Snapshots of company members enjoying themselves at company events or company charity events
These are just a handful of good ideas – pretty much anything that will generate a positive and happy image of your company
This Company card won’t win any awards for design or originality but it does the trick!Unless you know how to use Photoshop, Illustrator, or other desktop design programs correctly, or you have a design professional that works for your company, don’t try to design your greeting card yourself. I can almost guarantee that it won’t look good. Luckily, there are a lot of online resources that you can use. Most online print companies provide nicely designed templates that you can add your photo to. Some sites are far better than others and can provide more contemporary templates and better online design programs.Order from budget print companies, such as, NextDayFlyers.com and you can expect to pay around $80 for 250 cards. This is not a lot of money for glossy photo prints that look a million times better than the flimsy cards you get in those “budget packs” of cards.
Design and send your cards to print WAY before December 25th!
The ideal time to post your cards would be the 1st December. Keep procrastinating about getting your picture taken or sending your design off to print and you may end up leaving it too late! By around the 19th December, people start to take their holidays. Past this point, there’s not much point sending a Christmas greeting card. It will be highly unlikely that anyone will get to see your card or appreciate it. Fortunately, you would still get the opportunity to send a New Years greeting card. Wishing your customers and business partners great success in the new year is another effective way to interact with your customers.Most companies don’t go to the trouble of creating and sending holiday cards. This is a mistake. They’re missing out on a great opportunity to network with businesses and maybe even find some new customers! For the small amount of effort and cost that is required to create a custom card, it’s worth it.
Spread the cheers these coming holidays and share your festive spirit through greeting cards. Craft and design greeting cards that would liven up the nearing holiday seasons. Start your greeting card printing early and send them out early as well so you can be one of the firsts to greet each and everyone.
The holidays are a great reason to start making greeting cards which you can send out to friends, neighbors, family, employees, clients and business partners among many others.
If you want to keep in touch and even widen your social connections or circle of friends, start by designing your very own cards that would become an intimate taken of affection.
There are so many events or activities that occur during the holidays starting October that making a hundred or so greeting cards wouldn’t be a problem. Greeting cards are flexible enough you can use them as invitations or gift tags as well.
Practical Design Ideas for the Coming Holidays
The holidays are just around the corner. If you truly want greeting cards that are truly unique and those that truly communicate your message, then start designing, sketching one now. Use these ideas to help you remember and embody the spirit of the holidays in your cards.
1. Choose the right words to imbibe the theme. Greeting cards work nicely when the message is consistent with the image of the greeting cards. There are certain words that fit certain occasions, so be sure to choose your words wisely. But, do not be afraid to play with words.
One example would be Have a Spook-tacular Halloween. For Christmas, it can be a simple Have a White and Merry Christmas.
2. Remember to use identifiable images. Identifiable images on your greeting cards immediately set the scene. It makes the readers aware of what the greeting card is all about.
However, this is not to say that you should limit your imagination to these popular images. Be sure to put your own creative touch especially if you don’t your greeting cards to look like anyone else’s.
Nevertheless, remember to use these images to help inspire you bring out the season’s theme in your greeting cards.
Popular Images and Themes for Halloween
Haunted house, spiders, full moon, witches, cauldron, costumes such as vampires, mummies, Frankenstein, bats, jack-o-lanterns, candy corn, the headless horseman, ghosts, spooky trees, eyeballs, black cats
Popular Images and Themes for Thanksgiving
Scare crows, thanksgiving feast with the turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, pilgrim scene and the like.
Popular Images and Themes for Christmas
Fireplace, snow men, the Nativity, snow angels, Christmas trees, presents, mistle toe, Christmas wreaths, egg nog, milk and cookies for Santa, Santa Claus and his reindeers, Christmas socks, and candy canes.
3. Thematic Colors are important too in achieving the look of a greeting card for the holidays. Halloween and Thanksgiving are dominated by the warm colors of autumn. Other than that, Halloween is identified too with colors of black and orange.
Christmas, on one hand, are the colors green, red and white like the colors on the stripes of a candy cane.
There are still plenty of ideas to go around for making greeting cards these holidays. And with these special occasions fast approaching, be sure to read more on various design tips for your greeting card printing.
One of the things you need to reflect on is how to target a specific market, when you choose to make a product from home. To make sure your cards will sell, target precise times of the year, like Christmas, Easter and Valentines Day. Greeting cards can fill all these roles and the Christmas greeting card would be the most popular.
The next thing to think about is how to make your Christmas greeting card designs distinctive. Everyone relates to the Christmas tree and baubles and many of the Christian topics e.g. the Three Wise Men. It can be a real dilemma to create a design that is truly unique. Perhaps you could contemplate using special Christmas props with your own children or pets integrated into the design.
To have a professional looking Christmas card you will need to have a photographer, a
well trained dog; a good printer and clear cello bags to put the cards in to protect them.
A good way to settle on what product to produce is to go to the free Google keyword tool to see what is being searched on.
For example if you search on ‘greeting cards’ you will find over 2 million others search on that keyword. You need to discover a keyword which suggests a niche market, with a search volume of between 1,500 and 40,000.
Large keyword search volumes are not as effective as the smaller volumes. You have a better chance of being found from a search if you had a more targeted keyword such as ‘Christmas greeting card’ which has a
search volume of 22,000. This Christmas Greeting Card design will be fascinating to all.
A more targeted market with a 2,400 search volume for the keyword ‘dog greeting cards’ may give you better results. Particular breed keywords usually do well, so do a search on them as well. You can go to Forums designed for your specific breed of dog and promote your Christmas card designs there.
The photos can be used for other purposes than your Christmas greeting card designs; just think creatively. You could also design something for the kids; Swap Cards can use the same photos and look great. You can end up with two products with same Christmas theme, using the same photos. Check out these Christmas Greeting Card designs and corresponding Swap Cards, featuring the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
No business can thrive today without proper marketing and promotion tools. A good postcard that conveys a complete picture about you as well as your corporation along with up-to-date information is critical to any business promotion. In fact, when it comes to promoting a business, there is absolutely no method or technique you can write off as being too simple. Many times this simple and cheap marketing tool has proved to be the most effective medium to reach out to people.
Today as the internet market booms, many might overlook the power of direct mail marketing and postcard marketing techniques. However these age-old proven methods are still the best way to help your business to improve its sales and profits. Let us look at how the new-age business post cards have helped business today to flourish:
o Business post cards help you to create a unique impression in the minds of your prospective customers. You can customize your postcards for your business in a way that makes you stand out amongst the crowd. You can use some clever designs with a truly inimitable creation to get that edge over your competitors.
o Better technological advances has helped to design new postcards for your business which are quite attractive and descriptive as well, compared to the earlier boring and dull postcards. New printing methods have helped to keep the cost at a minimum and using online printing solutions, you can now easily get these printed at the comfort of sitting at your home as well.
o Postcards have helped to keep the cost of marketing low and also this promotion tool can be easily reached out to people at the click of a button.
o Business post cards have an edge over the usual business letters since most of the time people just throw away business letters just having a look at the company’s name on the envelope. Hardly few of them bother to open up and read the contents within. The modern day postcards are so attractive and well thought out that they will help to convey the message as soon as someone gets it.
o Modern postcards used for business promotion are quite pleasing and that is why most people love to get one. Instead of looking at it as trash, people get drawn to it and tend to read the full contents of the postcard thus acting as a very important tool of promoting your business.
A business post card is a very effective tool of communication in recent times. Making the right first impression for you each and every time, the business post cards is one of the most inexpensive and yet quite useful marketing tools on the market.
In short, you can help the modern online printing services and other online solutions to use postcards and spread word about your business – all that without even moving out of your home or office. Now that is what a real technological advance is meant to provide you with!
Los Angeles is one of most popular cities in the world. Its famous sights and sounds have placed itself on the map at a global scale. Every year, hordes of tourists flock to this city. And every year, these tourists take with them memories and souvenirs – one of which is the postcard from LA post card printing companies.
With millions of people pouring in to the city every year, no wonder it takes a large amount of postcards to satiate their needs for souvenirs. And with this great demand, the LA post card printing answers.
More than anything, LA post card printing companies are just simply some of the most economical and practical choices. With the fast paced world and the ever growing demand for postcards, LA post card printing companies are more than geared towards facing the challenges.
Post cards have so many audiences. Tourists and locals alike can enjoy these print materials. While tourists use these as souvenirs, local immigrants use it as a convenient and cost effective way to say hello to its native homeland, and others residents, of course, receive this in this mails as promotional materials.
Yes. Even though post cards are intended for correspondence, the business sector has tapped into it in order to reach their market audience more directly.
With LA post card printing, you can create almost any kind of postcard you want to send out. You can use inspiration from common themes found in many post cards to start you off with your design.
Postcard Themes
1. The most common theme of postcards is scenic views like the ocean or landscapes such as the mountains and canyons. This can be alternately replaced by famous monuments, establishments or buildings that are signature of a particular place.
However, the key idea to this is to learn how to capture and create great composition in your work, be it with natural landscapes or cityscapes. Crop your images and see in which angle would clearly emphasize the immense size of the mountain or create a fascinating shot of the city lights.
2. Special and local events are also famous post card theme. It includes historical landmarks, parades, highlights of the festivities and the like.
3. Animals indigenous to a particular place are always featured in postcards.
4. Famous personalities, local or not, are always a popular choice.
Design Ideas
Los Angeles postcard printing companies also evolve through time and their designs also change as time goes by. Different styles are now used thus the range of potential clients also become wide. Since Los Angeles have a lot of audience to cater to, it has a few ideas up its sleeves on just how to design your own postcards.
1. Personalize your postcards. Have your own photos, which must be at least 300dpi made into postcards. Not only will you be able to have your own face printed onto paper, but you can send it to hundreds of people since post card printing is a cheap venture.
2. However, if you want a more photos in your postcard, then do it. Create a collage and put together the places you have been to while traveling and send it off. Postcard printing allows you the flexibility to create whatever you want and express yourself.
3. Added to this, LA postcard printing only takes a few days. And so, while you complete your vacation, you would have been able to send off your very own postcards to friends and family.
4. LA post card printing is easy since you can just go online, upload your design, pay up and it’s done. You can go back to your vacation while we process your prints. At the same time, we can mail them for you so you don’t have to worry a thing.
5. And if you are tired with the seemingly old looks of postcard, then change the way it feels. Die cut your postcard into a different shape and see how that will work for you. No more boring angular corners or rectangular shaped postcards. Now you can have it the way you want it.
Los Angeles post card printing makes your printing job a true convenience. You can relax and enjoy a full vacation while we print your postcards. Experience true ease, simplicity, service and value for your money with the leading postcard printing company you will only find in Los Angeles.
Isn’t it interesting how things such as paper quality, ink color, and even fonts can affect how we emotionally react to printed material? It’s all in the presentation and during this holiday time of year, that is clearly evident in the Christmas cards we send out to those we love and want to remember. It’s a generally happy season, and so we want to only utilize effects that will evoke joy in our recipients.
Ever wonder about fonts? Who creates them…how they are developed…what goes on in the mind of those who do bring them into being? It’s clearly an art form, something that never existed before – and then is. When I think about creation, things such as music and literature are easy enough to process. We put together words, and come up with something someone else reads and reacts to. We string together sounds, and the result is music that can stir someone else’s soul, or make them want to run and hide with their hands over the ears.
Yet fonts, while they truly are art, take an existing reality-a letter-and that letter is developed into various shapes, sizes, and formats to bring about a completely different set of visualizations for that one previously-simple reality. It’s almost like a math equation. Take one letter, add one shape and another slant, and the final count is a completely different creation.
The best-recognized fonts used for the Christmas holidays are often the traditional ones, those we have adjusted ourselves to seeing year after year. Times New Roman or something old-fashioned like Bookman Old Style, or a script such as Royal Classic-these bring to mind, somehow, turn-of-the-century snow rides, cocoa by the fireplace, Victorian houses decorated in fir trimmings and snowmen in the big front yards…and Currier and Ives-esque lifestyles.
Then there are singularly-recognizable Christmas fonts, created just for the holidays…fonts called Snowcaps and Snowdrift, both with the images of dripping white at the top of each bold and solid letter; or Christmas Regular which shows letters drawn inside of tree ornaments; or of course the so-traditional Christmas Tree or Christmas candy letters or snowflakes, all of which are self-explanatory and logical to the mind’s eye.
Fonts created out of recognizable pictures are more literally artwork than developed fonts, and it becomes your choice to decide if you’re looking for something which compliments the holiday artwork, or which becomes the holiday artwork. There are many sites online these days offering free fonts, and they can be beneficial to someone who wants to develop their own Christmas cards with an online printer. Find that font that speaks directly to you, go to your printing choice, and use the online options to design your own cards.
Your creativity is limited in today’s world only by that which your imagination-or your search engine-can bring to your mind. And, really, we don’t have to understand the art of fonts to appreciate them and the senses they create in our hearts and minds. Mix it up and make something unique for this holiday season!
To send a holiday card or not send a holiday card, that is the question. Each year since 1991 I’ve wrestled with this question, not personally but professionally. My family sends Christmas cards to family members, friends, and a few acquaintances. That’s not a problem–it’s a good way to share news, convey best wishes, and in general stay in touch.
So what’s the problem professionally? Aren’t these same benefits available to a nonprofit organization when it sends Christmas cards, or more broadly, any kind of holiday card to its constituents? It depends.
If nonprofit organizations send personalized cards than I think they generate a positive return on investment. In other words, if nonprofit organizations, no matter how many cards they choose to mail, insert some individualized news, note, name, than it seems to me the card is worth the effort. Without this personalization I’m not so sure.
Mass Mailed Cards
When I served for 17 years as a university president my name and title popped up on innumerable organizations’ V.I.P. lists. In the vernacular, I was, “somebody.” Since I was apparently considered worthy, or at least my position was considered important, my office received scores of cards: Christmas but eventually also Thanksgiving and sometimes birthday cards.
What I found fascinating was that virtually all of these cards were computer generated. My name was nowhere to be found other than on the envelope label. No message pertinent to my relationship with the organization could be found inside. No news that connected in any way with who I was or even what the university was vis-à-vis the nonprofit sending the card. No actual signature of the President of the nonprofit, even many times when I knew the fellow nonprofit executive personally. Nothing.
This even happened with birthday cards. I’d receive cards from nonprofits during the week of my birthday, but the card contained no written message and no name. Amazing. Try this with your spouse: give him or her a birthday or anniversary card sans a message or your name. Not good.
Even more interesting to me, since I’ve left the university presidency I no longer receive cards from most of those nonprofit organizations. This is true for organizations with which I personally had a close relationship and it’s true for organizations where I still know the leadership.
The message I glean from this is that I don’t matter much now and I only mattered “back then” because I was in a position nonprofit organizations deemed influential and possibly of use to them. But even back then, to repeat myself, I apparently didn’t matter all that much because I received a card simply generated by a tickler file.
Some nonprofit organizations and their executives, I know, pride themselves in how long or large their Christmas card list has become. I’ve heard presidents proclaim a number as if it’s a sign of grand achievement. You know, my Rolodex is bigger than your Rolodex. Or in more contemporary terms, my Mailing List is bigger than your Mailing List.
But does this matter? Does it mean anything? Do all these impersonal cards actually reinforce the mission and vision of the nonprofit organization? Are constituents overwhelmed with glee when they receive such a card? Is the practice of sending non-personalized cards to scores or hundreds or even thousands an effective advancement tool? I don’t think so.
Personalized Cards
When it came time for me to decide whether to spend the university’s hard-won funds I asked myself, “Is it worth it?” I still consider the same question each year now in a different nonprofit leadership role. Why should I spend or how much should I spend of the nonprofit’s funds to send a card? It depends.
I’m not recommending nonprofit organizations send no holiday cards. Nor am I against a long list, per se. What I’m suggesting is that sending cards in an impersonal manner will not make as positive an impact as sending personalized cards. So if I’m responsible for deciding to spend a nonprofit organization’s funds–resources that could go to operations or programs fulfilling the mission–than I want to adopt a method that is as high-impact and ultimately as effective as possible. For me, that’s personalized cards.
Each Thanksgiving I spend several hours in front of football games signing Christmas cards. I choose a pen usually with blue, but really anything but black, ink. This assures my name and message stand out against the typical black font of the card’s printed message.
It takes longer, but I like to write the person’s name, whether Fred or Fred and Mary or Mr. and Mrs. Smith, depending upon how well I know them. Follow that with a sentence about the nonprofit organization’s work, for example: “It’s been a challenging but fruitful year” or “Thank you for helping us touch lives” or “As the year ends we’re excited to launch the new program…” Then follow this with some kind of Christmas or holiday season greeting: “Blessings to you and yours in this season” or “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” or “Best wishes in this wonderful time of year.” Finally, I sign my first name.
I guarantee this method will get the attention of the constituent receiving the card. Why? Because I respond to personalized cards so I know others do, and because people who’ve received these cards have later expressed appreciation for them. And, a personalized card will stand out in the pile on the dining room table or office desktop, because it’s the only one carrying a hand-written personal salutation.
Now you say, “I don’t have time to do this.” To which I say, “You don’t have time not to do this.” Or if you really are pressed, pare back your Christmas card list. Don’t send any more than you have the time and willingness to personalize. However many this is, the people who receive them will feel special and valued, which after all is what a nonprofit hopes its constituents feel.
E-Cards
The e-card phenomenon is still relatively new. Some nonprofits are using this method to send holiday greetings to their constituents–it’s inexpensive and instantaneous. But the same rule applies. Personalized e-cards yield higher ROI than non-personalized e-cards.
And though I am not anti-tech, I’d still argue that a hand-written note sent via snail mail engenders a greater positive response than something emailed and easily deleted. This may be an old-school attitude or assessment, but the now shopworn adage, “High Tech, High Touch,” is still applicable. People enjoy and remember being “touched.”
Customized Mass or Emailed Cards
After all this you may say, “If I reduce my list to a handful I personalize, our nonprofit organization will miss a key opportunity to share news and engage our constituents.” OK, maybe.
If a nonprofit organization concludes it must send scores or hundreds or selected thousands of holiday cards I’d still highly recommend these cards be customized in some identifiable way. Don’t just pick them up at the printer and drop them in the mailbox. Don’t just acquire an e-card and forward it to a vast database. Customize.
Customize is different from personalize. To personalize means the recipient’s name is on the card and the nonprofit executive has signed the card with a personal message, even if on an e-card. To customize means the nonprofit organization has added content that in some way identifies the card as the nonprofit’s card, not a stock purchase or even special design that includes no nonprofit news or name.
The customized card should include current information, an expression of thanks, and someone’s name and title, even if not personally signed. Don’t send cards from “The Staff” or, worse, no source of origin at all other than the return address on the envelope, or an institutional name like “The University” or “XYZ Ministries.” Put an individual’s name, maybe the Chair of the Board, President, or Vice President for Advancement, on the card. Almost any name is better than no name.
Conclusion
Nonprofit organizations spend thousands of dollars each year sending holiday cards to constituents. But this practice, especially long lists, may be more cultural tradition than good advancement methodology.
The question to send a holiday card or not to send a holiday card should be answered on the basis of perceived mission-enhancing effectiveness. Since the best advancement is about relationships it seems logical to conclude the best holiday cards reinforce personal connections with the nonprofit. We build relationships by at least customizing a mailing, but better yet, personalizing it.
Sign nonprofit holiday cards with news, notes, and names.
Source by Rex Rogers