How to start your own email discussion list or online community

Introduction

You might have a group of colleagues from different organizations who need an easy way to share information.  Or perhaps you have a team tasked with developing a proposal or a workplan.  Maybe you met a group of people at a workshop you attended and you want to keep in touch.  You want to find people who are interested in the same issue that your organization is working on and share your questions and experiences with them. Or your organization wants to send out a monthly distribution email to let people know about new publications and activities. These are some of the reasons why you might want to start your own email discussion list. 

There are practical reasons why starting an email discussion or distribution list makes it easier to communicate with a group of people. First of all, there's the convenience of not having to type in or keep track of email addresses. You send one email and it goes to everyone on the list automatically. Secondly, each member is responsible for keeping their own information up to date. Bounced messages don't come back to you. Each member receives the emails at the frequency they specify. And, you have an online archive where members can read or search old postings, so you don't have to look through your email inbox to find an email to resend to another person.

How to start your own email discussion list

Before you start, take a few minutes to answer these questions:

• Can you describe in a few sentences the subject of your email discussion list?  What topics will be discussed and what’s unique about your group? 
• What are the goals of your list?  Do you want to share information?  Provide assistance through the group?  Discuss a specific field of knowledge? Share experiences? Make a list of what you want to accomplish.
• Do you know a critical mass of people that you can invite to join?  Some experts suggest that you need a minimum of about 10-12 people to keep an email discussion list going. Do you have a plan for recruiting new members?
• Have you checked to make sure that a similar group doesn’t already exist?  Be sure to check MSN Groups, Yahoo Groups, as well as the groups listed on Reproductive Health Gateway.  You will be surprised at how many different groups already exist. 
• Do you have the time and energy to devote to the group?  Is the job of moderating the email discussion list part of your job? Some moderators of large email discussion lists with lots of traffic can spend 25-50% of their time on the list. Plan to spend time each week posting messages and taking care of administrative tasks. If your list is moderated and you must approve all postings and all new members, plan to spend even more time.

 
INFO can host your email discussion list

Set up your own community on the Implementing Best Practices Knowledge Gateway

Basic questions

First steps

• Select a name for your email discussion list or community.  It must be a single word with no special characters or spacing. Make it something that is not too long, is easy to remember and spell, but has some meaning related to the purpose of the list. Examples: PMTCTPartners@infoforhealth.org (works on prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV), endvaw@jhuccp.org (discusses violence against women)
• Write up a short description of the purpose of the email discussion list - no more than a sentence or two. If your list is open to the public, explain why it is unique or what makes it different.
• Develop an invitation and a welcome message for new members.
• Make sure you understand the features of the software you are using before you get started.  Get a few other people to join the email discussion list and practice sending out some emails and some replies. Make sure you know how to approve emails and new members before you launch the discussion list.
  Image is important
• Use short snappy headlines for the emails that you post. Encourage other members to do the same thing. Don't try to be too clever. Make sure people know the subject of the email.
• Be sure to include a call to action near the beginning of each of your emails.
• Include links in emails to a few top resources in your field and encourage your members to click on them.
• If your email discussion list includes a web site, make it easy for people to get to the good things.  Make everything no more than one click away.
  

Email lists can help build relationships

• Relationships are what keep many people coming back for more.
• Spark debate and comment by posting provocative questions or comments. Plan to post at least one new question or discussion topic each week.  Don’t expect discussion to just happen spontaneously.
• Move on to new topics when the discussion seems to lag.
• If your members had a discussion that you think was especially useful, summarize the important points in a single email and send out again to all members.
• Encourage a few people who want to continue a debate to do it privately outside the list.
• Be sure to delete inappropriate messages and keep discussions on point.

Promote your email discussion list

• Publicity adds life - and members - to your group;  
• Invite people to join the group periodically with an email to individuals and with emails posted to other email discussion lists;
• Forward especially good emails to other email discussion lists with related interest;
• Leverage the talents of your members:
  • Direct a query to a member you know has a strong opinion or special expertise;
  • Get routine feedback from list members and incorporate their suggestions;
  • Build on list members' expertise and interests by inviting them to post their favorite links or resources; 
  • Bring in an expert who knows about a specific topic to run a special discussion or answer questions.

List management "dont's"

• Don't tolerate disrespectful behavior; 
• Don't violate copyright laws;
• Don't give spammers access to members; 
• Don’t share member information with other discussion lists.

Inviting people to join

You can often invite people to join an email discussion list by sending them an email. They can then reply to the email or visit the discussion list website to join. Compose a letter of invitation, explaining the purpose of the group, what kinds of emails should be posted, and why you are inviting people to join.  Send it to individuals and to other e-mail discussion groups. Here is an example of an invitation to join an email discussion list called HIFA2015. This invitation is a good example of what to include. Notice that it does several important things:

• It explains the purpose of the email discussion list;
• It gives some examples of the topics that will be discussed;
• It tells the reader who is sponsoring the e-mail discussion list;
• It briefly explains how to join the list.

Welcome messages

Be sure to include information on how to subscribe and unsubscribe, how to send a message, how to get help in your welcome message.  Explain the purpose of the group, the intended audience and the range of topics that will be covered.  Below is the “welcome” email message that was sent to people who joined an email list called PDA4HEALTH. In addition to repeating the information that was in the invitation email about the purpose of the list, topics that would be covered, and the sponsoring organization, it also includes detailed instructions on

• how to subscribe and unsubscribe,
• how to send a message to the e-mail discussion list
• how to get help

Good luck with starting your email discussion group or online community! 

Email List Glossary

Resources on email lists 

• Yahoo Groups
  

• Internet 101
  

• MSN Groups
  

• How Stuff Works. “How Newsgroups Work”
  

• GNU Mailman – List Management Guide
  

• GNU Mailman - List Member Manual
  

   

  
  

Knowledge for Health Project, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Communication Programs (CCP), Family Health International(FHI), Management Sciences for Health (MSH), With IT Support from Google.

Disclaimer: The information provided on this web site is not official U.S. Government information and does not represent the views or positions of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Government or The Johns Hopkins University.