Section 13. Creating Brochures

• What is a brochure?

• What purposes can a brochure serve?

• Who is the intended audience for a brochure?

• What can you do with brochures?

• How do you plan to make a brochure?

• How do you write and design your brochure?

It's often very useful to have a readily available publication that explains your organization's purpose, services, programs, or resources. One format that works well for delivering this information is a brochure. A brochure is concise and visually organized and, if well designed, can help people quickly understand what your organization does and how to learn more. This section looks at why and when to use a brochure, what sort of information to include, and how to design one that works well for your organization and intended audience.

What is a brochure?

A brochure is a concise informational publication used to explain an organization, service, program, event, or issue. Brochures may be printed, distributed digitally as downloadable or shareable documents, or provided in both formats. Printed brochures are often folded into panels, while digital brochures may use a similar design or a format better suited to screens.

What purposes can a brochure serve?

A brochure can explain your organization's purpose and services. Doing a presentation to a group that isn't familiar with your organization? Meeting with a potential funding agency? Speaking with prospective volunteers, participants, or community partners? For almost any situation in which you need to introduce your group to someone new, a brochure can be useful. It can summarize the basic facts about your organization -- what your mission is, what services or programs you provide, whom you serve, how you can be contacted, and how people can participate or learn more.

A brochure can answer frequently asked questions about your organization. If you're regularly answering questions like "How do I qualify to receive your services?" or "What do I do if I want to volunteer?" then consider making a brochure. Of course, a brochure will never stop people from asking all of those questions, but it can give them a quick and consistent way to find basic answers.

A brochure can offer more specific instructional how-to or health information. If there's a specific, step-by-step process that you want to explain, a brochure can be a useful way to convey that information. For example, you might create a brochure explaining food-safety practices, how to apply for a community program, how to prepare for an appointment, or how to recognize when and where to seek additional support. When providing health, safety, legal, financial, or other high-impact information, make sure the content is current, accurate, and based on credible sources.

A brochure tells the reader how they can find out more about your organization. When you're trying to get people interested in volunteering, making a contribution, using a service, attending an event, or taking another action, a brochure can provide a clear next step. You can include information on your group's purpose and history, but also make it easy for people to find the staff member, program, website, phone number, email address, QR code, or other resource that relates to their interests.

A brochure can educate people about a specific program or event. Are you planning a big annual fundraising event like a walk-a-thon or a concert? Does your group sponsor a speakers' bureau, peer support program, training series, or another special service? You can provide more detail about these programs or events in a brochure than you may have room for in a poster, advertisement, or short social media post.

Who is the intended audience for a brochure?

A brochure can be directed to a specific group or groups, or it can be made for a broad general audience. Think about the people who typically need information about your organization as well as people you'd like to engage more effectively, and consider whether one general brochure will work or whether different versions would better meet different needs. Some of the audiences you might want to create a brochure for include:

• Potential members or volunteers
• People who may use or benefit from your services
• Potential funders
• Potential community partners and supporters
• Journalists and other media professionals
• The general public

What can you do with brochures?

Brochures are an extremely flexible medium for getting information about your organization out to the public or to specific audiences. Printed and digital brochures can be used in different ways depending on how people are most likely to encounter the information. Here are a few of the things you can do with your brochures:

• Mail printed copies to people who request information or to appropriate mailing lists
• Attach or link to digital brochures in proposals, reports, emails, or presentations
• Leave printed copies with people after meetings, outreach visits, or service appointments when appropriate
• Include them in digital or printed press kits and presentation materials
• Use them as handouts or downloadable resources in classes, workshops, webinars, or trainings
• Share them with prospective employees, volunteers, members, or participants
• Make them available at meetings, fairs, conferences, seminars, community events, partner organizations, or relevant public locations

If you go to the trouble of making brochures for your group, make sure people can actually find and use them. Keep printed copies available where they are useful, provide an accessible digital version on your website when appropriate, and make it easy for staff and partners to share the current version.

How do you plan to make a brochure?

Gather ideas and examples. As with any communication material you plan to produce, it's a good idea to start by collecting examples of brochures you find effective. Look at both printed and digital examples. Become familiar with styles, graphics, organization, accessibility, and ways of wording information that might work for your own brochure. Use examples for inspiration rather than copying protected designs or content.

Brainstorm for your own project. First, consider what information the brochure should contain. Because a brochure is relatively concise, you may want to limit the information you try to include. You probably won't be able to include your organization's full history, mission, goals, financial information, every program, and a complete staff directory in one useful brochure. When considering what information to include, ask yourself:

• Who is the intended audience for the brochure, and what information is most useful to them?
• How big is your budget, how much time do you have, and will the brochure be printed, digital, or both?

Next, decide who in your project should be asked for input, who you'll need to make the brochure happen, and who you'll get feedback from on drafts. When the brochure is intended for a particular community or group of service users, include people with relevant experience in reviewing the content rather than relying only on internal staff assumptions.

Write an outline. This will give you the chance to decide how you want the brochure to be organized and what points you want to make. If you're working on a general informational brochure, make sure it clearly explains your organization's goals and purpose.

Arrange your topics in a logical sequence, fitting it to the general layout of the brochure. Think about what order you want the information to be presented in. For a printed brochure, it may help to sketch the panels or use a brochure template so you can see how information will appear when folded. For a digital brochure, think about how the content will flow on a screen and whether readers will be using phones, tablets, or computers.

How do you write and design your brochure?

General guidelines for writing

Above all, keep it simple! Write concisely and clearly. Here are some tips:

• Keep sentences reasonably short. Run-on or overly complicated sentences can be difficult for readers to follow.
• Avoid unnecessary jargon. Don't assume readers use the same terminology as people inside your organization. Explain technical terms when they are necessary and use plain language whenever possible.
• Avoid clichés when they add little meaning. Familiar phrases can sometimes work, but clear and specific wording is usually stronger.
• Avoid unnecessary repetition. A small amount of repetition can help emphasize important information, such as a phone number or registration deadline, but don't repeat the same idea simply to fill space.
• Use correct spelling and consistent language. Creative wording can be effective when it fits your audience and organization, but don't sacrifice clarity or credibility for a gimmick.
• Use direct, active language when it makes the message clearer. Passive voice isn't always wrong, but readers should be able to tell easily what action is needed and who is responsible for it.

Following these tips, develop a rough draft of the copy. Estimate how much space the text will require and then test it within the actual brochure layout. Design software and templates can help you see how text, headings, images, and white space fit together. Keep in mind that you may have to shorten or reorganize the text so that the final design remains clear and readable.

Tips on designing the brochure yourself

A common printed brochure has six panels, but brochures can take many forms. A digital brochure may not use panels at all. Whatever format you choose, consider carefully what information should appear first, what readers need next, and where the main call to action and contact information belong. The front cover or opening section will usually need a title, your organization's name, and possibly a logo or identifying image.

Here is a typical layout for a printed three-panel brochure. Please keep in mind that you don't necessarily have to lay yours out the same way; different folds, page sizes, or digital formats may work better for your needs.

Typical layout for a 3-panel brochure:

• Contact information: This often appears on the folded-in flap or back of a printed brochure, or near the end of a digital brochure. Include the contact methods most useful to your readers, such as a phone number, email address, website, physical location, social media account, or QR code. Avoid including unnecessary personal contact information.
• Mailing area: If you plan to mail the printed brochure without an envelope, one outside panel may need a return address and space for a mailing label or postal information. If the brochure will not be mailed this way, use the space for information that is more useful to readers.
• Front cover: This should usually contain your name, logo or other identifying information, and a clear title or message. Keep it from getting too crowded, but give readers enough information to understand what the brochure is about and why they might want to open or continue reading it.
• Programs, services, features, or benefits: This is often the main body of the brochure. Explain what your organization or program does, who it is intended to serve, what people can expect, and why the information may be relevant to them.
• Action: What can the reader do next? This could explain how to volunteer, donate, register, use a service, attend an event, contact your organization, request accommodations, or find more information. Make the action clear and practical.
• Elsewhere, if desired: Include a brief history of the organization, directions on how to access or use services, information about funding, eligibility, accessibility, staff, or other background that your intended audience actually needs.

While standard three-fold brochures are common, you can use nearly any format that works for your content and audience. A shorter card, booklet, one-page digital brochure, downloadable PDF, or other format may sometimes communicate the information more effectively.

After drafting the text, be sure to review and get feedback. Check for errors first, then seek additional perspectives, including from people outside your group and from members of the intended audience when possible. Ask whether the information is clear, useful, respectful, accessible, and easy to act on. Use their feedback to help you decide on the final version.

Now you're ready to prepare the brochure for printing, digital publication, or both!

Have it printed, photocopied, or prepared for digital distribution: It's possible to avoid or reduce the expense of professional production. Find out whether anyone in your group or community has printing, design, or digital publishing skills. Approach area printers or designers to see if any of them would donate services or offer reduced fees. For digital brochures, test the document on different devices, make sure links and QR codes work, use readable text and sufficient contrast, provide alternative text or accessible descriptions for meaningful images, and make sure the file is usable with common accessibility tools when possible.

Distribute your final product: This may seem like a no-brainer, but community groups sometimes put a great deal of effort and expense into creating brochures that people rarely receive or use. Make distribution part of your communications plan before you even start.

Form a committee, if necessary, and make a list of the places and channels where you want to distribute your brochures. This might include community organizations, clinics, libraries, schools, events, partner agencies, websites, email lists, online resource pages, presentations, or other settings appropriate to your audience. Find out whether permission is required to leave printed copies. Assign specific volunteers or staff members to keep brochures stocked, update digital links, remove outdated versions, and make sure people are always receiving current information.

In Summary

Creating a brochure can take careful work, but a brochure can be a valuable tool for explaining what your organization is about, answering questions, educating your audience, connecting people with services or resources, or promoting an event. By planning for your intended audience, using clear and accurate language, organizing information carefully, designing for accessibility, and distributing the brochure through appropriate print and digital channels, your organization can communicate efficiently with a wide variety of audiences.