Table of Contents

• Description
• Mailing types and audience options
• Calculate Cost of Mailing
• Mailing Request Process
• Mailing Reference Chart: type, cost and delivery method
• Guidelines
• Common Articles
• Tips and Reminders
• Proofreading
• Help With Chapter Mailings
• System requirements
• Types of Mailings
• Chapter Member Newsletter
  • Title Suggestions
  • Topic Suggestions
  • Example
• Congregational Advocate Mailing
  • Title Suggestions
  • Topic Suggestions
• Chapter Activity Postcard
  • Required and Optional Content
  • Example
• General Postcard
  • Example
• Thrivent Builds Postcard
  • Required and Optional Content
  • Example
• Election Invitation
  • Suggested content
  • Example


CHAPTER MAILING SERVICE

Communicating to chapter members about your chapter and its activities is important for promoting your chapter and encouraging member participation in activities. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' Chapter Mailing Service is one option to help you reach your chapter membership with colorful, attractive newsletters, postcards and invitations. The mailings are delivered either by U.S. Mail or email (also known as eDelivery), depending on a member’s preference, and if an email address in on record with Thrivent.

(In compliance with privacy policies, mailings are not delivered to members who have requested not to receive mailings from Thrivent Financial.)

PLEASE NOTE: Chapter mailings sent via U.S. Mail are paid for by a chapter's operating funds. Mailings sent via eDelivery are of no cost to the chapter.  We suggest chapter leadership boards plan mailings for the year to be sure they have enough operating funds to cover the cost of their mailings. It is especially important that Thrivent Builds Chapter Specialists receive approval before submitting mail requests, because they very often perform their work somewhat independently from the rest of the board.

Mailing types and audience options:

There are different types of postcards, newsletter and election invitation templates available for you to send to your members. You can select from six mailing types and from four mailing audience options to communicate with your chapter members.

Mailing types:

• Activity postcard
• General postcard
• Thrivent Builds postcard
• 2-page newsletter
• 4-page newsletter
• Election invitation

Mailing audience options:

• Entire chapter membership
• Congregational advocates (within your chapter)
• Target by selected ZIP codes
• Target by selected cities



Calculate Cost of Mailing:

• Before you begin to create your mailing, you'll need to calculate the estimated cost of the mailing.
• On the Chapter Leadership Administration page, under Mailings, use the Estimate Mailing Costs feature (Chapter Leadership Administration > Mailings > Estimate Mailing Costs) – to calculate the estimated cost of the chapter mailing.
• The estimated cost DOES NOT include eDelivery.
• Once you've calculated the estimated cost select Manage Chapter Newsletters to begin creating your mailing (Chapter Leadership Administration > Mailings > Manage Chapter Newsletters).



Mailing Request Process

After you submit your mailing request to Thrivent Financial, it will either be printed and placed in the mail within three to five business days OR members preferring eDelivery will receive an email link to your mailing shortly after it is approved. You will receive an email confirmation as soon as the request is placed into the approved status, and it will immediately be posted to your chapter website.

• You will receive an email confirmation as soon as the request is placed into the approved status, and it will immediately be posted to your chapter website.
• The actual cost of the mailing will be withdrawn from the chapter's checking account and a new operating fund transaction will be posted automatically for the chapter.



Chapter Mailing Reference Chart

Mailing Template Type	Cost Per Piece for U.S. Mail ($)	Delivery method and process timeline
Newsletters – 2 or 4 page: Sent via eDelivery or U.S. Mail. Sent to the entire chapter membership, one per household. Can be sent to targeted audience, selected by ZIP Code or cities, or Congregational Advocates.	.20 No cost for mailings sent via eDelivery	U.S. Mail: Newsletters are sent non-profit rate. Allow 3 to 4 weeks for delivery from time request is submitted and approved. eDelivery: After request is approved, members preferring eDelivery will receive an email with a link to retrieve the full newsletter.
Postcards – Activity, General or Thrivent Builds: Sent via eDelivery or U.S. Mail. Sent to the entire chapter membership, one per household. Can be sent to targeted audience, selected by ZIP Code or cities, or Congregational Advocates	.24 No cost for mailings sent via eDelivery	U.S. Mail: Postcards are sent first class. Allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery from time request is submitted and approved. eDelivery: After request is approved, members preferring eDelivery will receive an email version of the post card.
Election Invitation (local chapter leadership board election): Sent via eDelivery or U.S. Mail. Must be sent to your entire membership, one per household.	.40 No cost for mailings sent via eDelivery	U.S. Mail:  invite sent first class. Allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery from time request is submitted and approved. eDelivery: After request is approved, members preferring eDelivery will receive an email version of the invitation.

Extra Copies
NOTE: When a chapter leader submits a chapter mailing, the chapter leader may order up to 50 extra paper copies of the postcard or newsletter. The chapter can then hand these extras out at events or given to interested non-members. However, the extras cannot be resent in the mail unless new postage is applied. (Extras will arrive in bulk about a week later than the individual mail pieces.)




Guidelines

Messages that qualify for chapter mailings:
• Notification of chapter activities.
• Introducing the newly-elected chapter leadership board.
• Notification/invitations to chapter meetings/annual election meeting.
• Congregational Advocate news or best practices.
• Information/invitation to participate and volunteer in chapter service team activities through our chapter Care programs. Include the date, activity name and phone number of contact person (be sure the contact person has provided their permission prior to including in the newsletter). If you want to provide additional details about the activity, including recipient information, refer to CHIP for more information. See "impact on privacy on activity payees and recipients" in the Chapter Basics section.
• Recognition of volunteers in your chapter.
• Chapter News (e.g. tips that are beneficial to service teams, Join Hands Day, etc.).
• Information about the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans resources available to your chapter.
• Important dates, meetings, activities, etc.
• Announcements promoting Thrivent Financial representative-led educational workshops that chapters can host and support with chapter funds (chapter operating funds, Care Abounds in Communities® funds). See the Thrivent Financial educational workshops page on CHIP, the online chapter reference guide, for the list of eligible workshops.
• Promoting your chapter website.

Messages that don't qualify for chapter newsletters:

• Church activities and the activities of other organizations in which the chapter does not cohost or provide volunteer involvement.
• The service team leader or another person on the service team should be the contact for an activity. It's recommended that the contact is not a church office or church body.
• Any messages that give the impression you are representing the church (e.g., providing a devotion, commenting on or interpreting scripture). As a representative of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, it is important to refrain from positioning your chapter as a church, a branch of the church, etc. Our chapters are affiliated only with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, not with the church or any of its organizations.
• Articles that debate or question beliefs and practices of the various Lutheran church bodies and other church bodies.
• Stands on political issues.
• Announcements that promote financial management seminars, Thrivent Financial representatives, Thrivent Financial representative-led workshops other than educational workshops referred to above, or other events or information that may lead to the sale of a financial product. The Chapter Mailing Service is funded through tax-exempt funds, and therefore, cannot be used to promote our financial representatives or products. These events, however, provide a valuable service to members. Therefore, a sales-oriented workshop offered before or after an eligible chapter-hosted activity can be mentioned in a postcard or newsletter as long as the workshop is not the main focus of the mailing, and it's made clear that the workshop is an optional, separate activity not hosted by the chapter. There needs to be a clear distinction between the chapter-hosted activity and the sales-oriented workshop. You should also consider alternative forms of promotion including newspaper advertising or posting announcements in church newsletters or on the bulletin boards.
• Congregational Advocate personal information (unless you have received their permission) because privacy regulations require that members only have access to their advocate information from their own congregations. However, it is OK to direct members to the Chapter Member Administration area of Members/Chapters for information on their congregational advocates.
• Personal business or other advertisements.
• Soliciting for donations (funds must be raised through a chapter activity).

Common Articles

To help you provide accurate content, prewritten "common" articles on various chapter-related topics and descriptions of common chapter terms have been prepared that you can copy and paste into your mailing. You can find these common articles when adding or updating a mailing. Just click on the Common Articles button at the top of the Add/Update Newsletter screen and copy and paste any text into your mailing.

Feel free to use the articles that will help you communicate information you’d like to send to your audience. In many cases, you may want to combine multiple articles to help convey your message. In other cases, you may only need to use part of an article.

TIP: Use wording from Chapter News or CHIP regarding policies/guidelines members should know if they are participating on chapter or congregational service teams.

If there are other chapter-related topics for which a common article would be helpful, please let us know by sending an e-mail to fraternal@thrivent.com with a subject line of "Chapter Mailing Suggestion."

Tips and Features

Here are some tips and features to help you create appealing paper and electronic mailings:

• For all postcards, election invitations and newsletters: in Manage Chapter Newsletters on the "Add/Update" postcard/newsletter page, what is created in the "enter the name for the postcard/newsletter" field will be displayed as the SUBJECT of the email sent to members. Think of something eye-grabbing and interesting!
• For all newsletters: in Manage Chapter Newsletters on the "Add/Update" postcard/newsletter page, what is created in the "enter the title for this newsletter" field will be displayed as the TITLE of the newsletter in the body of the email sent to members.
• For all newsletters: in Manage Chapter Newsletters on the "Add/Update" postcard/newsletter page, what is created in the "enter the headline for article x" field will be displayed as the HEADER of each article in the body of the email sent to members.
• For all newsletters: if you use columns when creating a mailing they do not translate into the email version.
• When members receive a postcard or election invitation via eDelivery, all of the information is viewable in the body of the email.
• When members receive a newsletter (2 or 4 page) via eDelivery the entire newsletter content is not viewable in the email because of its length. Two and four page newsletters show the first 35 words of each article and include link to view the entire newsletter on their Lutherans Online chapter website (Chapter Newsletters page).
• For all newsletters: think about the titles you use for your article headings. Let members know what the article is about so they want to keep reading. You may want to place the most important articles first. If the reader is bored, he or she won’t bother to continue reading. So put less important, "filler" information after the more critical or time-sensitive information.
• For all newsletters/election invitation: if you enter extra spaces to create columns or insert special characters to create a visual separation of text, this will NOT translate into the email version.
• Text appears left justified in ALL mailings sent via eDelivery. If you center text it will look ok in the paper version, but will always left justify in the email version.

Reminders:

• Include details that could increase interest and participation in your activities, such as information about a guest speaker, special entertainment or refreshments!
• Include the name and phone number of a chapter leader whom members can contact for more information about your chapter.
• Be careful not to overload your mailing with too much information. People are more likely to read your mailing if they can do so quickly and easily.
• When adding or updating text, click on the Save button often to save your work. That way, if you experience a temporary Internet interruption or any other malfunction, you will minimize the amount of work you lose.
• Currently, graphics (including pictures) cannot be included in a mailing. However, you can put them on your chapter website, and tell members to visit your site to view pictures.
• If you are working in the Managing Chapter Newsletters section for more than 30 minutes, you will need to re-enter your User Id and Password to access Chapter Leadership Administration.
• Delete all outdated mailings (published over one year ago) from your Manage Chapter Newsletters page. This will remove the mailing from your chapter website. However, it will still be displayed on your Manage Chapter Newsletters page in "deleted" status.
• Because the system does not have a spellcheck feature, consider creating your message in a program like Word and using its spellchecker before cutting and pasting into your Chapter Mailing Service mailing. Note: Any other formatting features you may use in Word, such as bold, italics, indentations, tabs, etc. will not translate into the chapter mailing service system (the use of columns does not translate into the electronic version of your mailing).
If you have questions about a mailing you're considering, please feel free to contact the Member Connection Center at 800-847-4836 or send an email message to fraternal@thrivent.com.



Proofreading

Proofreading your chapter mailing before submitting it to the Operations Center for approval is an important investment of your time. The Operations Center will only review your mailing for compliance (e.g., to ensure the message fits within guidelines stated above, information about chapter-related topics and programs is correctly stated, etc.), and reserves the right to edit information submitted by your chapter prior to mailing to chapter membership.

You are responsible for ensuring the information is correct and the format and organization are appropriate. This includes proofreading for accurate activity information, punctuation, spelling, grammar, names, titles, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, dates, day of week related to date, etc. The Operations Center will not proofread for these items.

When you submit your mailing to the Operations Center, consider it the final copy that will be printed and mailed to chapter members (even though edits may occur for compliance reasons). The Print Preview feature will help you when you're ready to proofread.

Note: The system will allow you to enter more information than will fit on the page when printed, so it's important to use the Print Preview feature to check for this before submitting your mail request. When you use Print Preview this allows you to see how your mailing will look on the paper chapter stationery before submitting it. You are not able to preview the electronic version that a member will view.

Here are a few tips to help you proofread:

Punctuation - Does every sentence end in punctuation? Have I used a period where a question mark is needed? Are commas placed correctly?
Re-read - Have I re-read the document at least twice for spelling and grammar accuracy? Verify that names, titles, phone numbers, etc., are correct. Especially if it is an important document, you may also ask a fellow chapter leader to review it.
Organization - Is the main point of each article easy to find? Have I included a subject line summarizing the main point of the article?
Out Loud - Read the document out loud, if possible. Sometimes you can identify mistakes when you hear them that you may have missed seeing.
Format - Have I selected the correct format (two-page or four-page) for the amount of information I need to communicate? Have I used the correct spacing and indentation? Have I used the Print Preview feature to verify that the text fits on the page?





Help with Chapter Mailings   

• There is help available on most of the pages you will be using to manage your chapter mailings. Click on the Help button located on the top-right corner of the screen for instructions on how to use that particular screen.
• A Step-By-Step Guide for creating a chapter mailing is available on the Manage Chapter Newsletters page.
• For additional help with chapter mailings, contact the Member Connection Center at 800-847-4836 or send an email message to fraternal@thrivent.com.

Important: System Requirements
The recommended browser for use with the Chapter Mailing Service is Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher. Unfortunately, full functionality of the Chapter Mailing Service may not be available with other browsers such as Netscape or a lower version of Internet Explorer. We will continue to look at ways to enhance this service for all potential users.





TYPES OF MAILINGS


Chapter Member Newsletter (2-page or 4-page)

The purpose of chapter newsletters is to promote your chapter and activities within your chapter. Chapter newsletters also are available to members online on their Chapter.

Title Suggestions

The title of your newsletter will appear on the top of the first page (appears in the body of the email a member receives if they prefer eDelivery). Make sure to include the year in your newsletter title.

Here are some suggestions for the title of your chapter member newsletter:

• Aurora County Chapter of Thrivent Financial Newsletter, June 200X.
• Aurora County Chapter of Thrivent Financial Newsletter, 2^nd Quarter 200X.
• Aurora County Chapter of Thrivent Financial Newsletter, Summer 200X.
• Aurora County Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Newsletter, Issue #3 - 200X.

Topic Suggestions

Not sure what to put in your newsletter? Below is a list of suggested topics (by quarter) for you to consider. Note that Common Articles (CA) are available for many of the suggested topics. See the Common Articles section for more details.

Any quarter:

• List chapter leadership board and contact information. (CA)
• Promote chapter. (CA)
• Talk about activities coming up where volunteers are needed.
• Feature chapter leaders or other volunteers.
• Highlight activities completed.
• Benefits of membership. (CA)
• What is Thrivent Financial for Lutherans? (CA)
• Information about an educational workshop you plan to host (CA)
• Announce a chapter social event for members only
• Promote Thrivent Choice^SM

1st quarter:

• Introduce chapter leadership board. (CA)
• Highlight a successful Care Abounds in Communities® activity conducted in your chapter and how members can get involved through service teams. (CA)
• Explain the Care Abounds in Communities® program, how it works (including what community service teams are). (CA)
• How to contact chapter board with funding requests.
• Join Hands Day. (CA)
• Highlight last year’s successes (what impact was made to recipients; use recipient quotes).

2nd quarter

• Explain resources available to service teams to promote activities (bulletin inserts, posters, news releases).
• Highlight a successful Care Abounds in Communities® activity conducted in your chapter and how members can get involved through service teams. (CA)
• National Volunteer Week (in April) - thank volunteers.

3rd quarter:

• Start promoting elections and ask for people who might be interested in chapter leadership board positions. (CA)
• Make A Difference Day (4th Saturday in October).
• Promote your chapter (what's on it, where to find it). (CA)

4th quarter:

• Year-end deadlines to request activities.
• Fall chapter leadership board election announcement.

For more topic ideas for your newsletter, click on Common Articles at the top of the Add/Update Newsletter screen.

Example Below

Below are chapter newsletter examples (paper and electronic version). The paper newsletter is folded, addressed and mailed. This is what your newsletter will look like after you're finished!

Here is what a member will receive in an email if they prefer eDelivery. Note: due to the length of newsletters, members are directed to chapter websites to view the entire newsletter.




Congregational Advocate Mailings (2-page or 4-page newsletters; postcards)

The purpose of congregational advocate mailings is to keep congregational advocates informed and updated on chapter related activities and issues. The chapter leadership board (specifically the Director of Congregational Advocates) is the main communication/training resource for advocates. Congregational advocate mailings are also viewable online on the Chapter.

Title Suggestions

The title of your mailing will appear on the top of the first page of the newsletter (appears in the body of the email a member receives if they prefer eDelivery). Make sure to include the year in your title.

Here are some suggestions for congregational advocate mailing titles:

• Morningside County Chapter Congregational Advocate Newsletter, Issue #3 - 200X.
• Morningside County Chapter Congregational Advocate Postcard, June 200X.
• Morningside County Chapter Congregational Advocate Newsletter, 2nd Quarter 200X.
• Morningside County Chapter Congregational Advocate Postcard, Summer 200X.
Remember to "name" your mailing something relevant, and attention grabbing! The name of your mailing is the subject line of the email congregational advocates receive if they prefer eDelivery.

Topic Suggestions

Not sure what to put in your newsletter? Below is a list of suggested topics for you to consider. Note that Common Articles (CA) are available for many of the suggested topics. See the Common Articles section for more details.

• Partnering with your financial associate advisor. (CA)
• Publicizing and promoting activities. (CA)
• How to count volunteer hours. (CA)
• Introduce Director of Congregational Advocate.
• How to contact chapter board.
• Year-end deadlines to request activities.
• Where to go with questions or to get help. (CA)
• Care Abounds in Communities® - How to plan an activity. (CA)
• Promote Thrivent Choice^SM
For more topic ideas for your newsletter, click on Common Articles at the top of the Add/Update Newsletter screen.


Chapter Activity Postcard

The purpose of chapter activity postcards is to inform your membership of upcoming chapter activities. Postcard mailing requests will be accepted and processed only if the activity involves the chapter. Postcards are also viewable online on your Chapter website.

Remember to "name" your postcard something relevant, and attention grabbing! The name of your postcard is the subject line of the email a member receives if they prefer eDelivery.

Required Content

• Name of activity.
• Date(s)/Time/Place.
• Contact person's name and phone number (e-mail address is optional).

Optional Content

• Additional activity details.

Example Below (paper)

Note: the electronic version for each postcard type (activity, general, Thrivent Builds) is very similar to the printed version. The member will be able to see the entire contents of the postcard in the email.




General Postcard

The General postcard provides flexibility with an open field for your chapter to post content in the way you'd like it to appear. It is useful for making important announcements to your chapter membership. Although it does not have required fields (such as time, date, or place), if you include a person's name as a contact, you must also include their telephone number with area code.

Example Below (Paper)




Thrivent Builds Postcard

The purpose of Thrivent Builds postcards is to inform your membership of upcoming Thrivent Builds activities. Thrivent Builds postcards are available to view online on your chapter. Postcard mailing requests will be accepted and processed only if the activity involves the chapter.

Required Content

• Name of activity.
• Date(s)/Time/Place.
• Contact person's name and phone number (e-mail address is optional).

Optional Content

• Additional activity details.
• Common articles. Note: To find common articles for postcards, click on the Common Articles button at the top of the Add/Update Newsletter screen. All postcard common articles are located in the Thrivent Builds section.

Example Below (paper)




Election Invitation

The purpose of chapter election invitations is to invite your chapter membership to the chapter leadership board election. Chapter election invitations are available to view online on your chapter.

Content Suggestions

• Date, time and location of election.
• Optional event details (directions, parking, etc.).
• Ballot.
• Registration/RSVP form (for meal).

Example Below (paper)

Note: the electronic and paper versions of the election invitation are very similar. For the electronic version text entered on the first page will immediately be followed by text entered on the second page. A member will see the entire body of the invitation in their email.



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