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Capability Company

A Message from our President

Dear Colleague,

What an exciting month we’ve had at Capability Company! We’ll jump right in and start off our ezine announcing the completion of 2 searches—congratulations to John Brennan on his new role as CEO of Make-A-Wish Foundation of Georgia and Alabama, and to Chelsea White on her new role as Director of Development for Casa Mañana. Both searches were extensive and thorough—we wish these leaders and their organizations all the best for years to come.

This month also marks the final article in our series on the media. Now that we’ve gotten everyone thinking about fresh, new media strategies, we shouldn't forget about more common communication methods, such as email. While it is tried and true, you’ll read about how it doesn’t have to be boring or overlooked. We hope this series has been helpful to you—we understand the importance of sharing your stories with the right audience, even with limited resources, and offered ideas on how to do so efficiently and effectively.

Don't forget to check out our current searches below, or in our Current Searches area of our website, and let us know about any items we should add to our Calendar.

Sherry Heuser
President, Capability Company

View Sherry Heuser's profile on LinkedIn

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Current Searches

Good business comes from good referrals. If you like the work we do, please remember to pass our name along to those in need of our services. Thank you.

Searches We Support

The Mallarmé Chamber Players

Good business comes from good referrals. If you like the work we do, please remember to pass our name along to those in need of our services. Thank you.

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Article of the Month

Word count: 305
Approximate Reading Time: 2 Minutes

Old Reliable…Email

by Mike Zlotnicki

In this age of social media, email might seem passé, but email is still an important tool in the media toolbox, especially when integrated with Twitter, Facebook and other social mediums. Some fundamentals to remember:

  • Target your Audience – This may not as obvious as it sounds. You may have your usual contacts, but get creative when targeting reporters and beats. A golf fundraiser might of interest to Sports or Business, or maybe a social page. Don’t make assumptions for mediums or reporters.
  • The Subject – The subject field should be brief and informative. It can be catchy, but never cute. Puns and plays-on-words make editors and writers groan. Like headline writing, try to include words like “new” and “first.”
  • The Body – Keep the body of the email to one page. Or, offer a few lines of the story and ask the recipient if they’d prefer the whole release as an attachment.
  • Photos – Shoot photos with high-resolution settings. Send photos in jpeg format and preferably in a low-resolution file. Hi-res files can make for difficult downloading and can be targeted as Spam. Be sure to tell the recipient hi-res files for print publication are available.
  • Three P’s: Personalize, Preview & Proofread – Whenever possible, use the reporter’s name to introduce your message, even if the rest is cut-and-paste. Preview the message before sending it. Don’t trust spell check, and AutoFill is seldom your friend.
  • Signature: Include your name, title, organization, address, telephone number and website at the bottom of the email.

Remember that many email servers have stringent Spam and virus controls, so messages with attachments may end up in the Spam filter or in quarantine. When sending picture or text attachments it’s a good idea to follow up with a phone call to make sure the recipient actually got the email.

Bottom Line: Do not forget to include quality email messaging along with all the new bells and whistles out there to communicate with the public and to promote your organization.

Mike Zlotnicki is a writer based in Garner, N.C. His resume includes newspaper and magazine editing as well as advertising and marketing experience. He can be reached at mikezz@bellsouth.net.

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Event Calendar

Visit the current calendar of events on our website.

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In This Issue

Current Searches
Article of the Month
The Bottom Line
Event Calendar

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A Client's Perspective

"Your position profiles are among the best I have read. I love seeing what other nonprofits are doing with management staffing and I find the position profiles effective and useful here at our organization. Thanks! Well done! and thanks for keeping me in your mailing list.”

Susan DeFoe
Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA)

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Give Us Feedback

Is there something you'd like to see? Something you'd like to change? Your opinion is important to us.  Please, send us an email and let us know.

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Submit an Event

Let us know about your upcoming professional development events by emailing us at info@capabilitycompany.com. Please give the date(s) and any additional pertinent information.

8300 Clarks Branch Drive | Raleigh, North Carolina 27613 | 919.791.3700
Visit us online at www.capabilitycompany.com or e-mail us at info@capabilitycompany.com



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