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ARDEN HILLS <br />NEWSLETTER REVIEW <br />EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />Over the last couple of years, the number of volunteers in the communications committee has <br />been in slow decline. Currently we have four individuals involved (staff, city council liaison, Susan <br />Cathey and Mary Nosek). Also, our current volunteer pool could decrease even more. The <br />average cost for design is $150, printing is $1,550 and postage is $600 for a total of $2,300 per <br />newsletter. Annual cost for our 10 newsletters is $23,000. <br />ISSUES <br />Is city council, staff or a volunteer the one to drive vision and implementation of the newsletter. <br />Currently, both a staff member and city council liaison are on the committee but we do not have <br />anyone pushing the newsletter forward. There is a big difference between a liaison: a person <br />who helps groups work together and provides information to each other AND a driver: one that <br />provides motivation, steers the direction and is responsible for the results. <br />Who is going to be responsible for content in the future if our volunteer pool continues to shrink. <br />Is this completed by more staff and city council member involvement, finding more volunteers or <br />paying writers. <br />A LA CARTE OPTIONS <br />Do nothing - does not impact the budget but does risk the burnout of current volunteers and <br /> the desktop publisher volunteer. <br />Recruit volunteers - does not impact the budget but someone needs to recruit and actually get <br /> people to help out. <br />City Council and staff write articles - the impact on the budget is based upon how much staff time <br /> is used up to write content for newsletters. <br />Pay writers - the impact on the budget would be minimal ($100-$150 per article depending on <br /> length) <br />Reduce number of newsletters - this could reduce the impact on the budget or allow the $9,200 to <br /> be used elsewhere. Possibly move from 10 newsletters a year to six. <br />Outsource design - the cost would be an additional $11,000 if we stayed with a 4-page design and <br /> 10 newsletters a year. The cost would be an additional $7,000 if we stayed with a <br /> 4-page design and six newsletters a year. <br />Determine who “owns” the newsletter - once this is clarified that person can define vision, <br /> direction and implementation of newsletter changes. <br />MY RECOMMENDATION <br />I’ll tell you what I think if you ask…