CAN Alert Writers' Guidelines

The CAN Alert is a bimonthly publication with the goal to provide:

Useful information, insight and advice about nonprofit management and leadership skills.
Summaries of research about nonprofit issues such as grantmaking, volunteering and public policy trends.
Information about CAN programs, services, members and partnerships.
"Tidbits" of information about free products, short news bites, and important tips.

Audience
The CAN Alert is a members-only publication going out to nearly 1,800 members of the California Association of Nonprofits (CAN) – primarily nonprofit organizations throughout California – and circulated among management staff and board members. Readers are largely nonprofit executive directors, deputy directors and directors of finance, development, operations, human resources and marketing. Board members may also receive copies, and some organizations circulate the newsletter among program staff as well.

Our readers work for organizations running the entire gamut of nonprofit sub-sectors including health care, education, human/social services, faith-based organizations, grant makers, advocacy and social justice organizations (civil rights, environment, etc.) and so on. Their common ground, and CAN’s mission, centers around core operating concerns such as finance, budgeting, fundraising, accountability, management, operations, human resources, marketing and public policy.

Our readers are articulate, smart, critical thinkers. They are tuned into current events, and their primary interest in CAN and the CAN Alert is finding new ways to save money, save time, and do their jobs better so they can advance their organization’s mission.

Style
Every CAN Alert article is solicited, written and edited with an eye toward how readers will be able to use the information in their jobs as nonprofit leaders. This is the most important factor in determining the content, presentation and inclusion of an article.

The writing style should be easy enough for a lay person to understand but not so "dumbed down" as to be insulting to readers. In other words, don't overdo the jargon but do respect our readers’ intelligence. This is a smart, sophisticated audience with highly developed critical thinking skills.

We like to think of the CAN Alert as having a "pithy" writing style: organized; to-the-point; thorough without belaboring; humorous (as appropriate); trusting the audience to get what they need out of it. Please let your voice and personality come through your words and use stories, case studies and examples liberally. They make for good reading, help illustrate your point, and give readers an anchor for remembering your lessons. We rarely publish a lead that doesn’t use plenty of examples; please make sure the vast majority of your examples are from the nonprofit sector, not the business or government sector.

And by all means, please avoid making generalizations about nonprofits being inexperienced, untrained or behind the times.

Article Needs
Every issue of the CAN Alert includes the following articles:

Lead article runs 3,500-4,000 words including 2-4 sidebars. We try to include a "Resources" sidebar with every lead article to give readers other books, articles, journals, websites and organizations that could be helpful with the topic at hand. Other sidebars may include charts and tables, lists of key questions, case studies, glossaries, and so on. Leads are virtually always original work and take a new angle on overarching issues such as management, board development, human resources, fundraising, marketing, finance, evaluation and so on.
Inside feature runs 1,200 to 1,500 words and may include one sidebar. Most often we try to develop theme issues in which the inside feature addresses a different angle of the same topic as the lead article. We rely heavily on the lead article writer to connect us with appropriate articles and/or writers for the inside feature but prefer that it is a different author than the lead article writer. As space allows, sometimes the CAN Alert includes two inside features.
CAN News is developed entirely within the organization. Its size varies with each issue and it primarily covers developments in CAN members, services. staff, board and partnerships.
Tidbits runs 300 to 1,200 words depending on available space. It is a collection of short blurbs (150 words or less each) that point readers to important news stories, regulatory compliance tips, products, and services for nonprofits. It is developed entirely within the organization based on press releases, recent news and similar information sources. To submit an item for this section, please be aware that it must be relevant to nonprofits throughout California (or a large portion of the state). Topics of interest include new books, software and other educational and management products specific to nonprofits, especially if they are offered free or discounted to CAN Members; information on compliance with regulations; and quick tips on streamlining operations (e.g., e-mail tricks). Please limit Tidbits submissions to 150 words or less and include item and shipping costs and ordering information (if appropriate). Please, no products not specific to nonprofits; no announcements of fundraising events; and no announcements of job openings.

Please send queries for lead articles and inside features, as well as press releases for Tidbits, to Alexandrea Ravenelle.