How often should you send a newsletter?

Why monthly is the right default

Monthly works for most small organizations for three practical reasons.

• You'll have something to say. In a month, most groups have a few events, a decision or two, and a story worth telling. In a week, many don't, and the newsletter turns into filler.
• You can keep it up. The person writing it is often a volunteer, an office manager or the owner, doing it on top of everything else. One newsletter a month fits around a real job.
• People stay glad to see it. Readers unsubscribe when email feels like too much. A monthly newsletter with real news rarely feels like too much.

A simple monthly calendar: write in the last week of the month, send on the first weekday of the next, and cover what's happening in the month ahead.

When to send more often

Go weekly or every two weeks when your news really changes that fast. Good reasons:

• A church with weekly service details, sermon topics or volunteer rotas.
• A restaurant or shop with a weekly menu, new arrivals or limited stock.
• A school or PTA during the school year, when dates and reminders pile up.
• A club in season, with games, results and schedule changes.

You can also add a one-off email between regular issues for something time sensitive, like a weather closure, a board vote, a fundraiser deadline or an event happening this weekend. Keep these short and about one thing, so people learn that an extra email means something.

When to send less often

Quarterly is fine when your news moves slowly. An HOA with four board meetings a year, a nonprofit that reports on a few big projects, or a professional practice with seasonal advice can all do well with four good issues a year.

The risk with sending rarely is that people forget who you are, then mark you as spam when you do show up. If you go quarterly, make the sender name and subject line obvious ("Riverside HOA: spring update") and remind people in the first line why they're getting it.

Send less if you see these signs: unsubscribes rising issue after issue, people replying that it's too much, or you struggling to fill each issue. Cutting back to a schedule you can keep is better than sending thin newsletters.

Consistency beats frequency

A newsletter that arrives on the first Tuesday of every month, without fail, does more for you than a weekly one that skips weeks and then sends three in a row. When people know when it's coming, they look for it, and inboxes learn that your mail is expected.

• Pick a day and time and keep it. "First Tuesday, 9am" is easy to remember for you and your readers.
• Put the send dates for the whole year in your calendar now.
• Keep a running note of things to include as they happen, so writing day is assembly, not invention.
• If you're going to skip an issue, skip it on purpose (for example, no August issue) rather than letting it slide.

Running out of things to write is the usual reason schedules slip. Our ideas lists for churches, HOAs, nonprofits and small businesses can help.

How MailWild fits

Some tools charge by the number of emails you send, which can make you think twice about an extra issue. MailWild is priced by list size and includes unlimited sends, with a fair use limit of 12 full-list sends a month. That covers a weekly newsletter plus the occasional reminder. You can also schedule a send for later, so you can write on Sunday and have it go out Tuesday morning.

See pricing for your list size, or read how to start an email newsletter if you're just getting going.

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