Nature News 101

Western U.S. and Canada Division

Presented by:�

Photo by Tess O'Sullivan

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Traci Swift​

Alexa Garcia

What is Nature News?

Nature News is The Nature Conservancy's newsletter sent to more than 800,000 supporters each month. Along with social media channels, it is one of TNC's most important connections with our supporters.

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Nature News recipients are members, donors (including managed donors), board members and supporters of all types. Individuals can choose to receive Nature News by signing up via a simple form that's promoted on many nature.org pages. 

*FYI – this is the only MAC email that managed donors receive (they don’t receive membership emails) and managed donors have a very high engagement rate with NN!*

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State/BU versions of Nature News are sent to recipients in their respective geographies of all 50 U.S. states and District of Columbia, plus Africa, Caribbean, Latin America and North America. You can include up to 5 stories for your BU. Local stories have 3x click rate compared to global.

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When is Nature News due/sent?

1. BU submissions are due on the second-to-last-Friday each month.
2. Nature News proofs are sent a few days later, on the following Wednesday.
3. Provide final edits to your proof by the following Friday.
4. Nature News sends on the 1^st Wednesday each month.

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• It is rare, but sometimes WO postpones Nature News submission deadlines and sends by a day or week due to holidays or unforeseen news events. Email Eric Aldrich to be added to the Nature News calendar reminders.

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Click here for the FY26 Nature News production schedule.

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What do you need to have access to?

Calendar Reminders:

• Email Eric Aldrich (ealdrich@TNC.ORG) to have the monthly reminders and deadlines added to your Outlook calendar. 

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BU Proof Distribution List:

• To receive the monthly email proof with your BU's submissions, add yourself to your BU's distribution list in this portal.
• For example, to join Colorado's distribution list, I would navigate to "Groups I Belong To", click "Join", and search for "gpn_colorado@tnc.org" and select "Join". If I were joining Utah's, it would be "gpn_utah@tnc.org".
• If you are having problems joining your BU's distribution list, contact Marlisa Rebaum (marlisa.rebaum@TNC.ORG).
• Multiple people from your BU can be on the proof distribution list.

Jira:

• To edit your submissions, you'll need access to Jira. Submit a ticket at nature.org/digitalrequest for System Access, Support, and Troubleshooting. For the system you need access to, select "Jira".
• Only one person per BU can have access.

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Submitting a Story

Determine the order of your submissions

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Scroll fatigue is real! Story 1 should be local engaging & what you want to drive people to the most (i.e. event registration, a new feature story, etc.)

Write your title, description & CTA

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Keep it short and sweet and stay under character count.

Resize your photos

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Use our Canva photo-resizing design or download the correct size on Aprimo. Don’t forget to include alt text!

Submit, receive proof, & make final edits in Jira

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Deadlines for submissions and final edits are not flexible!

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Submission Simulation

Click here to get started.

Click here to access Canva templates.

Click here to access the queue and make edits in Jira.

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Best Practices

• 2-3 stories, avoid external links
• Be concise, be action-oriented
• Topics that drive clicks: Unique wildlife, seasonal themes & impact highlights
• Put something local in the title
• Use engaging photos

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• Be diligent
• Especially with image naming conventions
• Stay organized
• Asana
• Excel
• Word Template

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What else?

• Analytics: To view state-level performance visit CEP Results Report using the Business Unit filter (select your state) and the Email Type filter (select Nature News). Data is available 4 days after the send date. The NN team at WO will be hosting a NN analytics session soon.

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• To pitch global stories for Nature News, contact Eric Aldrich. Stories should be timely and relevant across regions or have a high measure of intrigue for a wide swath of audiences.
• 260x260 photo, don’t do it unless Nature United

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Resources

Submissions & edits:

• TNC Marketing Requests (submission form)
• Jira Queue (editing your submissions)

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Writing tools:

• Character Count
• Microsoft Copilot

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Photos:

• Canva photo resizing (WUSCAN)

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Explore more:

• Nature News Refresher with Eric Aldrich

https://tnc.zoom.us/rec/share/4_XcDuKIEL_LuHovIGv-qHR-eMVWIbzCNT_zsHyOXUKsV-MspjVlipC1s1D8DNZJ.LtqEB7p0vZHDQTfe

Passcode: ^5X!Gs0J

• Global Digital Central

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