Please see the calendar for upcoming events.

Faculty | Date & Times | Location & Price | Additional Resources | Technical Requirements

Email newsletters have become a mainstream practice in much of civil society. But very few of these newsletters have reached their full potential as tools for building and leveraging relationships with donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders. Many are impaired by common mistakes and most don't achieve clearly defined objectives. Over the course of two weeks and two seminar sessions, we will help you:

• identify and fix your newsletter's most damaging mistakes
• identify and build upon your newsletter's greatest strengths
• get structured feedback from other nonprofit professionals who produce newsletters
• create your own practical methodology and checklist for newsletter improvement
• develop both short term and long term improvement plans

This seminar, despite being online, will offer collaborative, hands-on analysis of your newsletter, leveraging the insights of both students and instructors. This seminar is right for you if you're looking for practical improvements to your newsletter and a framework for continued betterment.
 

Our seminars are intended for the professional staff of nonprofit organizations, specifically those working in communication, fundraising, or technology. Our packages tend to be tightly focused on a particular professional field and our seminars deliver lessons that can be immediately applied within a particular professional's field of authority.
 

These seminars will be taught by Michael C. Gilbert, who is the author of the prevailing model of email marketing in use in the nonprofit sector. He has been publishing email newsletters since 1992, including Nonprofit Online News, since 1996. He has overseen several of the largest studies of effective email practices among nonprofits and is the author of "The Guide to Nonprofit Email", Communication Centered Technology Planning, and "21st Century Fundraising Resources". He is the Founding President of the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network. For more information about Mr. Gilbert, please see his bio.
 

This is an open registration seminar, which means that anyone can attend, and it will be held online. (See technical requirements below.)

The base registration fee is $219, which covers the first student. There is a $15 fee for each additional student watching at the same computer, and at the same time, with the first.
 

This is a three hour workshop split into two parts, which are held one week apart.

Session 1: The next live online presentation of this seminar has not yet been scheduled by The Gilbert Center.
Session 2: (You can also hire us to present this and any of the seminars listed on this site, as well as custom sessions, for your group privately, online or in person at your location. Please contact us for more info if you are interested.)

New On-Demand Option: If you would like to attend this seminar, but our schedule doesn't work for you, then you can now request the "On-Demand" option. What this means is that we will schedule time for you to watch the recording of the seminar when it is most convenient for you, within a couple weeks after the live session. (There is no additional charge for this option.)

One on One Consulting Sessions: To be scheduled with the instructor, within two weeks after the sessions.
 

Additional Resources

To help support your implementation of what you learn.

Michael Gilbert has a proven track record of helping individuals and organizations move the ideas he has taught in a seminar from concept to implementation during one on one consultations afterwards. He will answer any questions you have regarding the seminar materials, of course. But more importantly, you'll have access to the discipline and focus that comes from his twenty years of experience. He can help you develop a plan and get it started. One call or many, it all depends on how much help you need in your particular situation. Also, you may have additional people join the call on your end, if you like.

Location & Timing: Each call is 30 minutes in length and can be held over the phone, in person, or online via chat with audio and video. The timing is somewhat flexible. The first one should be scheduled within two weeks after the seminar.

Pricing: The price for one on one consulting is discounted by more than 50% if you buy it as part of a seminar package.

Technical Requirements: This depends on how you decide to conduct the consultation. We will discuss this with you when we are scheduling it.
 

Publication

The Guide to Nonprofit Email: Essential Strategies, Practices, and Resources., By Michael C. Gilbert, et al

We're very pleased to be offering this extensive publication to you. It contains thirteen feature articles, seven Quicksheets, and 111 resources, which are divided into seventeen categories, including Communication Strategy, Email Newsletters, Fundraising, Knowledge Management, and Web Related Issues, and are meant to be perused in any order you like. (Read More Here)

You are responsible for making sure that you can meet these requirements before you register to attend one of our online seminars. Please feel free to Contact Us with any questions you might have.

Seminar sessions are broadcast to you via Quicktime, and you are able to send in questions during the session via AOL Instant Messenger. For this you will need:

• An internet connection (broadband will yield improved performance)
• A relatively current web browser
• An email account and email address
• A free AOL Instant Messaging account and client software (AIM Web Site)
• Directions to get a free screen name
• Install AIM on your computer
• Or see the help page linked to below for other options.
• The free Quicktime Player plugin (Quicktime Free Download)
  • The ability to access this test movie with Quicktime.

If you're having trouble, check the Technical Help page.
 

• A telephone connection
• An internet connection that you can use while being on the phone
• A current, standards-compliant web browser