The year was 1999 and for months, everyone was worried about Y2K and whether our computers would make the transition from New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day 2000 without crashing. It was at the same time that conversations among the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland’s communications department staff revolved around options to create a cost-effective way to directly reach our Catholic community. The decision was made to launch a weekly e-newsletter, through which the department would share uplifting news about happenings in the diocese via email with interested Catholics throughout our eight counties and beyond.
Launching the e-newsletter required key decisions to best support the creation of fresh weekly content delivery, including:
- Selecting an email marketing platform in which to build the newsletter and then distribute it
- Determining the best day of the week to schedule distribution
- Assigning and scheduling individuals to attend and report on a myriad of events, special Masses and services, meetings, and other gatherings, which included writing articles and taking photos
A challenge to overcome was building the email address list, as while the diocese had many email addresses in various databases, people had to “opt in” to receive the email or it would be considered “spam.” The email messaging process is governed by federal law to limit the transmission of unsolicited electronic mail, known as spam.
To solve that challenge the communications staff offered information and sign-up booths at large events including The FEST, the annual summer festival held on the grounds of the Center for Pastoral Leadership in Wickliffe, which is attended by tens of thousands of people. And adding a newsletter sign-up option on the home page of our website further boosted our growing list of subscribers.
As we celebrate 25 years of sharing our good news, we would love to have you invite others to subscribe! Send friends or family members this link and encourage them to sign up for the Northeast Ohio Catholic e-newsletter, for inspiring stories and the latest news and events from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.