Guide to emailing members

A typical PIPSC member belongs to 5 different constituent bodies – their region, branch, group, sub-group, and consultation team. We want to help members feel connected to and engage with these communities, without being overwhelmed with emails.

When sending emails to members, we strive to achieve the following goals: 

• Help messages get the attention they deserve by using best practices proven to increase member engagement
• Create an email calendar so that members aren’t receiving too many emails from PIPSC on any given day or week
• Ensure members receive relevant and accessible content
• Create conditions where fewer members unsubscribe from our email list
• Foster inclusivity for all ages, abilities, ethnicities, genders, religions and sexual orientations.

Are you an executive of a PIPSC constituent body? This guide outlines how to send an email to members.

Step 1:

Contact your designated Administrative Assistant (AA) or Office Administrator (OA). They will assist you with the process. You can send them a draft email or fill in an email template.

Provide the draft content in one language.

Email templates:

• Template – Events
• Template – Meeting or AGM invite 
• Template – Call for election nominations
• Template – Election results
• Template – Tentative agreement reached
• Template – Bargaining survey
• Template – Newsletter

Feel free to edit or add more content to an email template to make it your own.

Step 2:

Provide your AA or OA the following information:

1. Who is the email sender? What is their title?
   • This name will appear in the member’s inbox as the “sender” of the email
2. Who needs to approve the final version of this content?
   • Please list any staff and members who may need to see the final version before being sent to members
3. Who should receive this email?
   • Describe the list of members, for example, group, region, worksite, department, classification, etc.
   • Specify the member status: regular, retired or both
4. If a member replies to the email with a question, who should it be sent to?

Step 3:

The AA or OA will send the request to the Communications team for review and editing. The Communications team will then:

1. Review and edit the email
2. Get the necessary approvals for the email 
3. Send the email to translation
4. Program the email in our email system and send it to members

Why is it important to edit the email?

The Communications team is made up of digital communications experts who are trained in email best practices and plain language writing. They follow the PIPSC Digital Style Guide.

When editing, they ask the following questions: 

• Is the content clear and concise?
• If a member joined PIPSC yesterday, would they understand this email? 
• Did we start with the most important information so that someone scanning the email can still understand? 
• Is the message short enough to keep people’s attention and drive them to sign up, take action, or click to learn more?
• Does this email also need a posting on the PIPSC website? Emails communicate key messages to drive members to take action. Web posts include more specific detailed information (including requirements for nominations and forms).
• Is the email formatted to meet accessibility requirements? Is it formatted correctly for different email clients or devices such as mobile phones and tablets?
• Are there any typos or grammatical errors? 

All changes will be sent back to the email requester and sender for review and approval.

Timelines

Please submit email requests approximately 2 weeks prior to the ideal send date. It typically takes a minimum of 1 week to turn around an email.

These timelines can be shortened for urgent bargaining emails if required. 

By using a template, we can get the email sent faster. This is because templates have already been approved and translated.

Submitting requests 2 weeks prior to the ideal send date is important because: 

• There are multiple emails to coordinate in the email calendar in any given week. 
• Late requests lead to capacity overloads with the Communications and Translation teams, which we want to avoid. This will delay other email requests.
• The Communications team aims to spread out how many emails any given member receives in a day or week. Members shouldn’t be receiving multiple emails in a day or week. 

Notice of meetings or elections

Many PIPSC by-laws state that “notice” of an election or meeting such as an AGM must be given a certain number of days in advance. Remember, “notice” means posting on the website so that members can see it, according to the PIPSC Legal team. An email is not necessary to meet notice requirements.

If you would like members to also receive an email, make sure to submit your request 2 weeks prior to the notice date.