Emails

Emails are an important way to communicate and provide mor detailed information on the program. A few points of note which should be considered are as follows:

1. Mailing list:

The mailing list should include email IDs of groups i.e. organisations/societies/college departments; who will further disseminate the information to the group’s members. This will make the process of dissemination efficient and will ensure that the outreach via emails is to a larger set of individuals.

2. Contents of email:

While an email can provide more detailed information, it is important to ensure that the first few lines of the email indicate what the email is about and subsequently also include a call to action. This will ensure that even those glancing at emails can identify the objective of the email in the first go. 

3. Relevant links/attachments:

It is also important to include the relevant links and attachments to collaterals such as the application form, the brochure, social media handles, etc. to ensure that the group does not need any more information and can directly begin the application process. 

4. Customisations:

To avoid errors, emails should be standard and should not include too many customisations, such as name of group, to ensure that the same email can be sent to multiple organisations in one go. It will also make the process of sending out emails faster. 

5. Frequency:

When call to applications are open, emails with reminders should be sent frequently, but not so frequently that it seems like spam. Once the initial introduction email is sent, one or maybe two more reminder emails should be sent. These emails should also be spaced out over the time period of applications opening. 

6. Length of follow-up emails:

While the initial email may be long to include all information, the follow up emails should be short, directive of the next steps and should reference back to the previous email. This can either be done by mentioning the date of the previous email or by pasting the previous email after you have signed off. 

7. Tools for sending mass emails:

While there are multiple tools such as GMASS to send mass emails, in case this is considered to be out of budget, individual emails to the mailing list should be sent in batches, ideally by the same team member. While a mass mailing tool may be helpful, sending individual emails would not take very long.

8. Responses:

It is important to ensure that emails are being checked regularly and that responses are timely and to the point. In case the query seems complex, the phone number of a team member, along with a response detailing the answer should be included, to prevent confusion. 

Each of these communications should be sent out in a timely manner. Here are the templates for the communications.