Writing a one page information sheet about your organisation

Your organisation needs a one-page handout that answers the questions:
"Who are we? What do we do? and Why is it important?"
This fact sheet will be given to anybody who wants to know about you or whom you want to have know about you. It can be sent to funders, attached to fundraising mail outs, included with press releases, put in a rack in the waiting room, given to volunteers and pinned up on bulletin boards.
You may want to produce special versions of this fact sheet for special occasions or special purposes, but you will certainly need the basic version all the time.

The Format

You do not want it to look sloppy. Even if you are amateurs, you want to look like fully professional amateurs! Take a bit of trouble and get "the look and feel" right.

Try and have the look of the fact sheet consistent with the organisation's other publications, and with your letterhead. Everything you produce should be recognisably similar, so that if someone who has read the fact sheet sees your other publications they will link them with you

Layout
There are a number of clean, easy to use formats for your brochure.

a straightforward A4 page,
an A4 page divided into two or three columns which can fold into a standard envelope
an A4 page designed as a brochure.

Ideally, you will be able to swap the content around between a number of formats and print off small quantities, as you need them.
Don't use small font, especially if your target audience is over 40. If your copy won't fit on to a page in 12 point, cut some copy.

Colour or black and white
If the sheet is black and white you can run it off on the photocopier; if it is in colour it can be more effective in catching the eye. If you can't afford colour printing, you may be able to get an effect with coloured paper- but don't use paper so dark as to make the sheet difficult to photocopy.
If it is a matter of one or two copies to go in a submission or a report you may be able to print small quantities in colour.

Graphics
Break up the page with pictures or drawings, or even with blank space. Have you got any clear reproducible photos of your activities?
Check any picture you're thinking of by photocopying it, photocopying the photocopy, and repeating the process a couple of times, to see if it's sill recognisable after the kind of treatment it's quite likely to get.
Put an important line in large type, in a box.

The Content
The average person who picks up the page is going to read one paragraph, perhaps two. You must get your message into the first paragraph-even better, the first line-and then go into more detail later on. What do you do, and for whom? What is the community need you satisfy? Keep it short and simple. Try not to get technical. Include an example, if you can.

What you do
Give a brief description of the services you provide. Say who is eligible for your programs. The clearer you can be about this, the fewer people you'll have to turn away later.

Why you do it?
Explain why your services are a good thing. You need to sell your services, not just list them. Even people in your target audience need to be persuaded to go out of their way to take up what you have to offer and you have to show other people-potential funders, for example-that what you do is worthy and needed. Don't say you're wonderful-make what you do sound wonderful.

What you need
If people have read this far, they have had your sales pitch and should be told how they can help you. If you want volunteers, donations, customers, or publicity, this is the place to say so.

Operating details
Check that you've covered the basics.

Who can join the organisation? How do you join? What does it cost?
How can you access the services (if any)? What do they cost?
When is the office open? If you provide services, when are they open?

Contact details
Be sure to include your organisation's address, phone numbers, and fax numbers, e-mail address/es, and home page address. Have someone check them; a typing error here could waste all your work. Do you need a map? Give parking and public transport instructions and any special disability access you offer.

More information
Don't try to put in everything. An information sheet is meant to capture the attention of the public, and you just want to convey a simple message. You can attach other information for example price lists, publication lists, or membership forms. Include a way for the reader to get to know more about your organisation if they're interested. If you have a longer brochure, an annual report or a web page inform people how they can access them.

How to donate
If donations to your organisation are tax-exempt, say so. Even if they're not, point out that your work is dependent on donations from the public and that all contributions are very gratefully received. If you are listed on the free ourcommunity.com.au donations site, then make sure you list the url address in all your correspondence so people can donate straight away if they are moved by your pitch.

Things not to include
Don't put in anything except necessary information and sales pitches. Look at every paragraph and ask, "Will it interest anybody who knows nothing about us?" In particular, don't include

the history of your organisation
a photo of your president (unless the person is an integral part of the selling of your organisation)
photo of your founder (as above)
a photo of your office
any graphic from the standard Microsoft Word Clip Art file (it just shows you haven't tried very hard; everybody knows them, and you can download better ones from the Web)

How to use the information sheet
Run it off in quantities. Send a bundle to every information display in your area-community health services, local government, and libraries.