A community engagement project, analog style

Covering everything from school district events to sports in a Kansas town of about 6,000 residents, reporters at the Eudora Times are well connected with their community. Still, the paper was interested in extending their reach beyond their immediate surroundings. They also wanted to draw more eyes to their weekly newsletter, which recaps important stories every Sunday.

To do this, we decided to step outside of the digital realm, using mailed postcards to reach new readers. We designed the postcards with a QR code to the newsletter and handed them out at a gallery event featuring the work of one of their staff photographers, Annalynn Phanthadeth. 

The pitch? Write a postcard to someone you know who loves Eudora, even if they may no longer live there. We then mailed them out with the hope of reaching new readers across the nation. 

Setting goals 

Through several conversations with the Times’ executive editor, Teri Finneman, we identified what success would look like in reaching new audiences. 

We monitored, and will continue to monitor: 

• How many newsletter sign ups we gained at the event, aiming for a goal of 60 new signups 
• How many postcards were mailed out
• How many postcards were taken 
• How many QR code scans Bitly tracked

Process  

Using Canva, we designed the front of the 6-by-4-inch postcard to feature photos taken by the Times’ photographers, showcasing different scenes from the Eudora community. On the back, we used a simple design while maintaining their branding style — blue and white. We also included a QR code that, once scanned, takes the reader to a newsletter sign-up page. 

Our project was set to be released at the photography banquet, so we wanted to ensure we advertised both the postcards and the event on the Times’ social media. We created an Instagram post, showing attendees what the postcards looked like and that they could be found at the banquet. We also created a flyer that could be easily shared via email, or could be printed and passed out in person. 

For printing the postcards, we reached out to four mailing companies for quotes. We landed on Minuteman Press, who offered to print 300 postcards for $116.52. 

The remainder of the postcards not used at the event were distributed to the library and bank in Eudora. Next, the Eudora Times is considering distributing postcards at a booth during Eudora’s summer Main Street Markets, as well as sporting events where they can reach hundreds of people.

Distributing at the gallery exhibit

The event, which took place at an old quilt factory soon to be a newly renovated library, was a successful gathering of many different faces of Eudora. But one thing united them: Times photographer Annalynn Phanthadeth’s photos. 

RJI’s setup was an U-shaped booth, the first thing attendees saw upon entering the building. We scattered postcards and RJI stickers across the booth, giving attendees lots of room to choose their favorite postcard and write to a family member or friend. Along with plenty of pens, provided by Finneman, we also brought two standup flyers explaining the postcard project, as well as a poster attached to the front, advertising the booth. We also brought a roll of stamps, attaching them ourselves at the event so we could send them out as soon as possible. 

Of the 200 postcards we brought to the event, people picked up 97. Some wrote postcards that we stamped and mailed out. Many simply took the postcards, either to collect or to bring home to family and friends. 

As attendees sorted through the five different photographs appearing on postcards, many were amazed at the familiar faces they recognized. One person spotted her sister in one photo and mailed it to her as a way to brighten her day after going through some hard times, and others were overjoyed to find their wife in a photo of church ladies peeling apples or their son in a shot of the marching band.

Those who wrote postcards appreciated an analog approach to communicating with friends and family. “If I’m gonna get mail, it might as well be a letter,” one attendee said. 

Takeaways 

Another newsroom interested in repeating this experiment should identify how they want to track community outreach. The Eudora Times chose newsletter sign-ups because it was a tangible way to see how many people the postcards reached. Additionally, Finneman said she wanted to drive more readers to the Times’ newsletter. QR code scans and newsletter signups remained in the single digits one week after mailing the postcards, but we will continue to track traffic to the site and newsletter audience growth.

Printing prices may vary depending on the size and quantity of postcards ordered. We recommend requesting quotes from multiple printing companies. 

What drove this project was community involvement. So when we handed out postcards at the event, we made sure to do just that — we chatted with attendees, asking them about their connections to Eudora and the Times. 

We learned so much about the different moments that take place in this community. We learned about Eudora’s traditions during football games, spoke with parents of athletes who appeared on the front of the postcards and learned about different events meaningful to residents of Eudora.  

For a community news organization seeking a stronger connection and reach with their audience, conducting an engagement project like this can help fill the gap. By simply handing the postcards out at the gallery, we learned more about the community and explored a creative way to draw new readers and Eudora alumni to the newspaper.

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Cite this article

Goodykoontz, Annie (2026, April 6). Driving newsletter subscriptions through postcards. Reynolds Journalism Institute. Retrieved from: https://rjionline.org/news/driving-newsletter-subscriptions-through-postcards/