Hey parent group leaders, school administrators and after-school program organizers, this one's for you. Email communications distributed through schools ensure everyone plays nice on the playground. More specifically, keeping parents and teachers in the loop about school-related events is critical to their happiness - and yours.
What? Email's not part of your curriculum? K - have fun with this all year ...
Still here? Awesome - no one wants to face the wrath of an angry parent. So don't!
Email is the most cost-efficient, time saving distribution channel for school-related communications. The backpack express is anything but reliable, and word-of-mouth is lost on the young (i.e. they forget A LOT). We're sure you have plenty of content to pass along to parents and teachers.
So the only question that remains: How do you get everyone on the same page - or in this case, on the same school email distribution list?
The answer is simple. Most parents are plugged in - email, calendar alerts, Facebook & Twitter. And connecting to where your parents are is as easy as offering them a few choices in the places they're most apt to stay in touch with your school. Oh - and using JangoMail. (Duh.)
The choices:
- Add an Email List Signup Form to your school's website. Most parents prefer email, and it's highly effective way to communicate daily updates, weekly newsletters and time-sensitive alerts. You can determine what information you want to collect (name, telephone #s, address, etc.) on JangoMail's customizable, email signup forms to create distribution lists for specific grade levels, neighborhoods, volunteer rosters, etc.
- Share the announcement via Social Media. For parents who are less likely to open emails after work hours, but are plugged into social updates on their mobile devices, Facebook and Twitter are great ways to keep them in the loop last minute. Create a View as Webpage link in your email and share it on your profiles. It's a handy way to guide parents back to your email communication. If you know there's a lot of chatter on your profiles - or that of your PTO/PTA, take a few minutes to share your announcements on those pages.
- Backpack express? Sure, why not, you can try to send your signup forms through and hope they come back to school in one piece for you to then manually enter in your copious free time (exhale). But then again, save your sanity and skip straight to the bullets above. Plus, you'll be 'going green' by holding off on paper. Aren't you eco-clever?
Got questions? We'd like to think we have answers. Hit us up anytime. And to all the kids, parents, teachers and school staff heading back this month ... best of luck to all of you this year. It's going to be a great one!
