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Alumnae NewsletterResource Guide

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Table of Contents

Introduction 3

What to include in a chapter newsletter 4

How to use Emma 7

How to log into Emma the first time 8

How to jump into your chapter’s Emma account 10

How to create a new mailing 11

Adding and arranging content blocks 13

Adding and editing text 15

Adding images 16

Inserting social media links 18

Reviewing and sending a test email 19

Pulling an alumnae list from Officer Portal 21

How to import a list 23

How to send your newsletter 26

How to add a team members 28

How to transition the account 30

Troubleshooting 31

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Introduction

The chapter alumnae newsletter guide is a resource for the vice president of alumnae & heritage. It is the “how-to” guide for producing and distributing an Alpha Sigma Alpha branded newsletter to chapter alumnae.

These materials have been developed to make life easier for you. The Sorority wants to help chapters succeed in producing quarterly newsletters with content relevant to alumnae.

Read through this guide thoroughly in order to understand the content to include in chapter newsletters, how to use the provided Emma template to create a newsletter, steps for transitioning officers and general trouble shooting.

Alpha Sigma Alpha appreciates your efforts in establishing a connection with chapter alumnae members. If you have questions contact your region alumnae engagement liaison or national headquarters staff.

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What to include in a chapter alumnae newsletter

When creating a chapter alumnae newsletter keep in mind the content is for alumnae with a variety of interests and backgrounds. Below are a few concepts to consider when compiling newsletter content:

1. Keep it simple. Less is more. Each newsletter should be broken down into interesting and relevant topics for alumnae.

2. Look for variety. Do not repeat what has been published on your chapter’s social media platforms. Newsletter content should be fresh, concise and insightful. Social media platforms should be linked to the newsletter.

3. The past and the future. Newsletters primarily focus on two things – events that have already occurred and upcoming events. Use the newsletter to highlight recent accomplishments of the chapter and individual members as well as to publicize and promote future events. Take advantage of this outlet to ask for volunteers, notify alumnae of advisor position openings, publish save-the-dates, inform alumnae of upcoming national events, etc.

4. Current happenings. Alumnae want to stay informed of big changes occurring in the chapter and on campus. Let them know of new buildings on campus, changes in administration, what chapters have closed and which new ones have expanded to campus in the last year and provide pictures if possible. The goal is to make alumnae feel in touch with the college/university in addition to being connected with the chapter.

5. The audience is alumnae. It is important to inform alumnae of collegiate chapter news but also provide them with fellow alumnae updates. Share what their contemporaries are doing: where they live, where they work, if they have recently gotten married or had children, upcoming alumnae reunions, recognizing women celebrating 25 and 50 years of membership, individual awards and recognitions, contact information, etc. (Please do no share personal information wihtout consent.) This information may need to be gathered from the alumnae. It is okay to ask for these updates by having alumnae email the vice president of alumnae & heritage with the information to be included in the next newsletter.

Please see the next page for a brief description of suggested newsletter content.

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What to include in a chapter alumnae newsletter

Recap of spring semester Chapter GPA, Greek week awards, spring service & giving event summaries, campus events attended/awards won, etc.

Recruitment preparations Fall recruitment dates and important detailsAlumnae assistance

• Supplies needed• Volunteer opportunities• Meal donations• Who to contact to donate, etc.

Graduating seniors Give a small recap of who graduated in the spring, where they are and what they are doing

Save the date Fall recruitment dates, service & charitable giving events, homecoming, ritual serices (Phoenix Degree Service, Sanctuary Degree Service, Ded-ication Days, etc.), national events, AΣA Night Out events, important campus dates

National announcements Call for nominations of national council (even years), The Academy volunteer opportunities and applications, Women’s Advancement Series information, how and why to pay alumnae dues, update email addresses on MyAΣA

Summer Newsletter (May, June, July)

Collegiate chapter updates Recruitment recap, report or pictures from women who attended national events during the summer, national awards won, etc.

Recruitment preparations Though fall recruitment just ended it is time to start planning for spring, provide tentative dates and how alumnae can provide assistance

Save the date Founders’ Day celebration, upcoming officer elections, finals week, holiday activities, tentative spring recruitment dates

National announcements Emma Coleman Frost Leadership Development Institute follow up - who went, what they learned, etc. (even years), The Academy volunteer applications available, call for nominations of national council (odd years), look for Crimson Collections Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales

Fall Newsletter (August, September, October)

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Recap of fall semester Chapter GPA, Greek week awards, fall service & giving event summaries, campus events attended/awards won, how the chapter celebrated Founders’ Day, highlights from homecoming, etc.

Meet the officers Introduce newly transitioned officers and provide contact information

Graduating seniors Give a small recap of who graduated in December, where they are and what they are doing

Recruitment preparations Spring recruitment dates and important detailsAlumnae assistance

• Supplies needed• Volunteer opportunities• Meal donations• Who to contact to donate, etc.

Save the date Spring recruitment dates, service & charitable giving events, ritual service dates, Valentine’s Day event, important campus dates, International Badge Day – March, advisor and volunteer appreciation weeks – April, AΣA Night Out events

National announcements Emma Coleman Frost Leadership Development Institute small group facilitator applications available (odd years), how and why to pay alumnae dues, update email addresses on MyAΣA

Winter Newsletter (November, December, January)

What to include in a chapter alumnae newsletter

Collegiate chapter updates Recruitment recap, highlights of the quarter, etc.

Save the date Senior recognition event, commencement date, summer gatherings, etc.

National announcements Be on the lookout for national convention & leadership conference registration information (even years)

Spring Newsletter (February, March, April)

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Every chapter has been provided with their own Emma email marketing account to help chapters create and send Alpha Sigma Alpha branded newsletters.

To help you get acquainted with how to use your Emma account, the following pages include step by step directions on:

• How to log into Emma the first time• How to jump into your chapter’s Emma account• How to create a new mailing • Adding and arranging content blocks• Adding and editing text • Adding images• Inserting social media links• Reviewing and sending a test email • Pulling an alumnae list from Officer Portal • How to import a list• How to send your newsletter • How to add a team members• How to transition the account

Instructional webinars that provide an overview of how to use Emma are available in the “My Notifications” section of MyAΣA. The webinars provide the vice president of alumnae & heritage with a basic overview of Emma and demonstrate the following:

• How to build newsletters• How to review and send newsletters• How to add team members• How to transition the account to the next vice president of alumnae & heritage

How to use Emma

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How to use Emma

STEP 1Go to myemma.com/login.

STEP 2Type in your username and password. The username will be your email on MyAΣA and the password will be 1901Alpha.

STEP 3You will need to change your password the first time you log in. To do so, click Menu and then Settings.

How to Log Into Emma The First TimeThe vice president of alumnae & heritage should use the following step to log into Emma for the first time.

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How to use Emma

STEP 4Press the Edit button.

STEP 5Type in a new password then press Save.

How to Log Into Emma The First Time Continued

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How to use Emma

STEP 1Once you are logged into Emma click on Search for an account.

STEP 2A drop down menu with your chapter’s name and university will appear. Click on the chapter and university name.

STEP 3This will bring you to your chapter’s dashboard. From here you may create a new mailing, upload an alumnae list, view past mailings, etc.

How to Jump Into Your Chapter’s Emma AccountThe vice president of alumnae & heritage should use the following steps to access the chapter’s account.

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How to use Emma

STEP 1Navigate to the Campaigns tab.

STEP 2Click the blue Create a new mailing button.

STEP 3National headquarters staff has already created a template for your alumnae newsletters. You will use this template every time you create a newsletter. Click on the template to open it in the Emma email builder.

How to Create a New MailingFollow these steps to create a new alumnae newsletter mailing.

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How to use Emma

STEP 4Part of the template will not be editable. For example, you cannot change the color of the header or footer, or switch out the logo. Anything between the chapter name and footer is editable - you can delete and add items as needed.

STEP 5To rename the mailing, click the pencil icon next to the mailing name. Then type in a new name and click Rename. You are the only one that will see the name but naming your mailings will help you stay organized.

STEP 6Type your chapter’s name into the header.

How to Create a New Mailing Continued

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How to use Emma

STEP 1Click on a content block to the left of your mailing, drag it over to your mailing and drop it in any drop spot marked in yellow. The yellow drop spot will turn green as you hover it, so you know where the content blocks will appear in the mailing.

STEP 2To rearrange the content blocks you’ve added, hover over the content block to reveal the yellow editor border. Click on the four-way location button on the top of the block.

STEP 3Drag the block to another location in your mailing. You will see yellow drop spots again - and one will turn green as you initiate the drop.

Adding and Arranging Content BlocksYou will build your layout with an arrangement of content blocks.

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How to use Emma

STEP 4To delete the content blocks you’ve added, hover over the content block to reveal the yellow editor border. Click on the trash can button.

STEP 5It is easy to customize your content blocks. Hover over the content block, and click the gear icon. The panel that appears lets you change the way the content block looks. There are two menus, Styles and Settings.

STEP 6It is suggested to leave the options in the Styles menu alone. Under the Settings menu you can turn on and off images.

Adding and Arranging Content Blocks Continued

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How to use Emma

STEP 1The newsletter template comes with filler text. Click on the filler text to reveal the editor’s tool bar. Begin typing your text within the text field or paste in plain text from another source.

STEP 2Use the tool bar to: • Bold, italicize or underline text• Insert bulleted lists• Select a style set• Set text color and size• Insert a link

Adding and Editing TextUse the following sets to add and format text within a text box.

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How to use Emma

STEP 1Click on the gray image placeholder in your mailing to open the library.

STEP 2In the library select an image to be added or upload a new image by hitting the blue upload button to locate images in your files.

STEP 3Next you will see this screen where you can add a link and alternate text to the image. Since not all email recipients will have images turned on in their email program, it is a good practice to add alternate text. The text should be a short description of the image.

You can click Edit This Image to access the image editor.

Adding ImagesUse the following steps to upload an image to an image placeholder.

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How to use Emma

STEP 4You can determine the size of your image using the Size drop down menu or add padding to the image. Padding determines the amount of white space that surrounds the image. It is suggested to leave padding at the default of 10 pixels.

Adding Images continued

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STEP 1Click on social media links included in the newsletter template.

STEP 2Next you will see a screen where you should type in the links to your social media accounts.

STEP 3Only the buttons for the accounts you type in the links for will appear.

Inserting Social Media LinksUse the following steps to link to your chapter’s social media.

How to use Emma

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STEP 1Once your email is completed, it is important to preview the email to ensure all content is appearing correctly on a desktop and mobile. To see the preview, click the preview button in the top right hand corner.

STEP 2Toggle between the different screen sizes by clicking the icons at the top of the screen. Click back to editor once you have checked everything.

STEP 3Before sending you should also send a test email to your chapter advisor and president. They will be able to look over the email for an errors. To send a test, click the send test button.

Preview and Send a Test EmailOnce your email is built out there are some additional steps you need to take before sending the mailing.

How to use Emma

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STEP 4Fill out all of the information in the sidebar that appears. When you are ready to send the test click the blue send now button.

Preview and Send a Test Email continued

How to use Emma

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How to use Emma

STEP 1The vice president of alumnae & heritage, chapter president and chapter advisor have the ability to pull an alumnae list from the Officer Portal. After logging into the Officer Portal, click Reports from the side menu.

STEP 2From the report category drop down menu, choose Membership.

STEP 3Select Chapter Alumnae List from the report drop down menu.

Pulling an Alumnae List from Officer Portal Use the following steps to pull an updated list of chapter alumnae to import into Emma.

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How to use Emma

STEP 4Officer Portal will populate a list of chapter alumnae. Export the results by clicking the Export Report to Excel button in the top right hand corner.

STEP 5The excel document will begin to download, when the file is complete open it in Excel. Next, delete all of the columns except first name, last name and email.

STEP 6Save the file as and excel workbook, some place you can easily find it.

Pulling an Alumnae List from Officer Portal continued

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How to use Emma

STEP 1To import a list under Emma, you will go under the Audience tab and select imports from the left hand menu.

STEP 2Click the blue Import Contacts button in the right hand corner.

STEP 3This will bring up a screen where you can select or drag and drop your list to be uploaded.

How to Import A ListUse the following steps to upload your chapter alumnae list into Emma.

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How to use Emma

STEP 4Once you have selected your list, hit the blue continue button.

STEP 5On this screen you want to ensure the contact fields are the same as your row 1. Emma should automatically read the file and set it to be the same. Once all of the fields match, click the blue continue button.

STEP 6You will need to place the imported list into a group. There should already be a group set up. Click the check box next to the group name and select continue.

How to Import A List continued

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How to use Emma

STEP 7Lastly, finish the import by hitting the blue import button.

How to Import A List continued

Important NoteIt is important to pull and import a new list every time you send an alumnae newsletter because alumnae often update their email address with the national organization.

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How to use Emma

STEP 1When you are ready to send your newsletter, click the blue Review & send button.

STEP 2Select your chapter group and type in a subject line.

STEP 3The sender name should be your chapter’s name. The sender email should be set to chapters@AlphaSigmaAlpha.org. Check the box to set a separate reply to email address.

How to Send Your NewsletterUse the following steps to send your newsletter.

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How to use Emma

STEP 4Set the reply-to email to the vice president of alumnae & heritage’s email.

STEP 5You can choose to send the email right away by clicking the blue send now button or schedule it to send later.

How to Send Your Newsletter continued

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How to use Emma

STEP 1Click the setting icon and then select Your Team.

STEP 2Click the large blue button that say Invite a Team Member.

STEP 3Type in the email address of the person you would like to add and choose their permission level. Most of the people you add should be an editor. Editors can create and edit newsletter but are not able to send mailings.

How to Add a Team MemberThe vice president of alumnae & heritage should use the following steps to add team members. The chapter advisor and chapter president should be added to the account as editors.

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STEP 4Once you click invite, Emma will send an email invitation. From the invitation the individual will accept and create their own username and password to their Emma account.

STEP 5You can delete a team member by clicking on the arrow next to their account. You can also send any team member a password reset or edit their profile by clicking the arrow next to their account.

How to Add a Team Member continued

How to use Emma

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STEP 1Click on Menu, then select Settings.

STEP 2Select Edit under User Information.

STEP 3Type in the name, email and password for the new officer and click save. The new vice president will now be able to log into Emma using her email and new password.

How to Transition the AccountUse the following steps to transition the Emma account to the next vice president of alumnae & heritage.

How to use Emma

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Troubleshooting

How do I log into Emma?To initially log in to Emma you should receive an invitation in your email from Alpha Sigma Alpha with your username and password. The first time you log into Emma you should change your password.

If you do not receive this initial invitation to Emma or cannot log in with the username and password provided, please contact national headquarters staff at asa@alphasigmaalpha.org.

How do I access the chapter account? To access your chapter specific account log in to Emma and click ‘Search for an account’ at the top of the home page. Your chapter name and school should appear in the drop down box. Select your chapter’s account.

If your chapter and school does not appear in this search menu, please contact national headquarters staff at asa@alphasigmaalpha.org.

How do I access the pre-designed Alpha Sigma Alpha template? When you go to create a new mailing a pre-designed Alpha Sigma Alpha branded template should appear under ‘My Templates’. This is the template you should use for all chapter alumnae newsletters.

If this template is not available in your account, please contact national headquarters staff at asa@alphasigmaalpha.org.

My text is messing up when I am pasting into my newsletter...If you copy and paste your content straight from a Word document Emma will automatically bring in the formatting of that document. To avoid this, make sure when you go to paste the content you right click your mouse and select ‘paste as plain text’.

How do I pull an email list of alumnae? Vice presidents of alumnae & heritage, chapter presidents and chapter advisors have the ability to pull a list of chapter alumnae. To do so you must log onto the Officer Portal and complete the following steps: 1. Select the ‘Reports’ tab2. Select the report category ‘Membership’3. Select the list you want to pull, for this newsletter you will select ‘Chapter Alumnae List’4. Once your chapter alumnae list is selected you will export the list to Excel using the button in the

top right corner of Officer Portal5. On the Excel document, you will want to delete all columns except for First Name, Last Name and

Email address6. Save your file (make sure it saves as an Excel document)

If you are unable to access the Officer Portal to pull your list of chapter alumnae, please contact national headquarters staff at asa@alphasigmaalpha.org.

A new list of alumnae should be pulled from Officer Portal every time a newsletter is created.

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How do I import the list of alumnae into Emma?After hitting import and uploading your list to Emma, a screen should appear labeled ‘map your fields’. Emma should automatically match the data in your spreadsheet with the fields on this screen. Double check to ensure the first row (first names, last names and email addresses) align with the fields.

If they do not automatically align, adjust the contact field column on the left hand side of the screen.

When finalizing your list import a screen labeled ‘choose your groups’ will appear. A group labeled “Chapter Name Alumnae” should appear and be selected.

If this group does not appear on this screen you will then need to create a group. To create a group complete the following steps:1. Select ‘Audience’ tab2. Select ‘Groups’ on the left side menu3. Select ‘Create A Group’4. Title group “Chapter Name Alumnae”5. Click create

I am getting an error message when tyring to send my newsletter...You will oftentimes get an error message when trying to send your newsletter. There are a couple reasons for this:1. You could potentially have broken links in your newsletter. Go back to the editor and double

check you have complete links.2. Your newsletter could be viewed as too large. This is nothing to be concerned with so you can

proceed and hit ‘continue anyway’.

What if I forgot to switch the reply-to email?Unfortunately there is no way to monitor replies that come to chapters@alphasigmaalpha.org. All newsletters from collegiate chapters are being sent from this email address so it is important to make sure you enter your email address in the Reply-to section.

What if an alumna member is not receiving the newsletter?There are a couple of reasons an alumna member may not be receiving their newsletter:1. Oftentimes, emails from Emma go directly to junk mail. If an alumna is not receiving her

newsletter, she should first be instructed to check her junk or spam mail folder.2. The wrong email address may be on file with Alpha Sigma Alpha National Headquarters. If this

is the case, instruct the alumna to update her email address with Alpha Sigma Alpha National Headquarters.

How does an alumna update her email address?Alumnae should update their contact information on MyA∑A. If an alumna does not have a MyA∑A account or is not able to log in have her contact national headquarters staff at asa@alphasigmaalpha.org.

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What do I do if a team member loses her password?If a team member loses her password you, as the manager, can send her a link to reset her password by completing the following steps:1. Go to your account settings2. Find the team member who needs the password reset3. Click the down arrow on the right side of the screen on the same line as her name4. Choose ‘Send password reset email’

What do I do if I lose my password?Please contact national headquarters staff at asa@alphasigmaalpha.org to retrieve your password.

How do I access the chapter account if the former vice president of alumnae & heritage did not transition the account?Please contact national headquarters staff at asa@alphasigmaalpha.org for login credentials.