govDelivery/Newsletters

About govDelivery

The govDelivery platform helps government organizations achieve their missions by connecting them with the people they serve. It's the only cloud-based platform designed exclusively for the public sector.

govDelivery is available for free to VDH offices and LHDs.

Request a Newsletter in govDelivery

Do you need to add a new administrator to an existing newsletter/account?
Please make sure those needing administrator access complete Step 1 and then complete this form.

1. Complete Required Training

Anyone who needs administrator access to manage newsletters must complete the required trainings listed below before Step 2 can be completed.
1. - VDH govDelivery Standard Operating Procedures & Best Practices (PDF, VPN Access Required)
  - Developing a Communications Campaign (TRAIN Course)
  - Content Planning and Development (TRAIN Course)
  - govDelivery 101 Recording (Recorded Training)

2️. Director Approval

Once trainings are done, request approval from your director and have them complete the director approval form.

3. Newsletter Request Form

Once your director has submitted the form, complete the newsletter request form.
- Review newsletter considerations before completing the form.

4️. Newsletter Setup

Once steps 1-3 are completed, Katie will follow up with you to get things started.

5️. Draft Review

Review the resources below to ensure you're following best practices.
About a week before you want to send your first bulletin, send Katie a Word doc with the contents of your bulletin.
- She will review it for plain language and give you tips to improve the newsletter and better reach your audience.
- Do not send your bulletin until the review process is complete.

6. Format Your Bulletin, Test, and Review

Once your content is finalized, you'll transfer the information into govDelivery and format it how you like.
After your bulletin is formatted, send yourself and Katie a test copy for you both to proofread.
- Review to make sure links work and that the newsletter is formatted how you want.
Once the review process is complete, you can send your bulletin.

Newsletter Resources

Quick Guides

govDelivery Resources

govDelivery Standard Operating Procedures & Best Practices

Resources in Action

Strategic Communications in Action - see how VDH updated its Healthcare Providers Newsletter to increase readership!

Terminology

Subscribers are individual lists of people who have specifically chosen to receive information about that issue. Subscribers may sign up for multiple newsletters that interest them. They may customize and manage their subscription profile in order to receive exactly the types of information they desire, and they may cancel their subscriptions at any time.

Topics are individual lists of people who have specifically chosen to receive information about a particular issue. For VDH, an example of a topic would be the Hub Report.

Topics can be listed, unlisted, or restricted.

Listed: This means it will be visible to any user via the Quick Subscribe page (landing page where people can sign up for a newsletter). These will be visible for public sign-up. This is an example of a quick subscribe page.
Unlisted: This means it will be visible only to administrators logged into govDelivery. The link to the Quick Subscribe page will not be available publicly, but it can be sent to people to sign up.
Restricted: This means it will not be visible to anyone on public pages, and subscribe links are not active. Typically, restricted topics are used for internal communications.

Bulletins are the format and template that govDelivery uses to send out an issue of an email newsletter. VDH staff create bulletins (newsletters) and send them to a specific topic.

Topic Administrators are the users responsible for day-to-day maintenance of a newsletter/topic/content in govDelivery. Primary tasks for administrators include writing and sending newsletters to subscribers. Additional tasks are analyzing and reporting metrics.

Backup Topic Administrators are an agency representative who serves as a backup to the topic administrator as needed.

Support

If you need assistance with govDelivery, there are a few ways to get help.

govDelivery Support

Click the Support button in the upper right corner on any page in govDelivery, and it will take you to resource articles related to the page you're on.

Are the support articles overwhelming or not answering your question?

That's okay! You can contact Katie any time with questions. If she doesn't know, she will work to find out an answer to your question. Send her an email or a Teams message to connect.