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Not sure where to start, or need more context? These seven case studies from landscapes throughout the West lay the groundwork for engaging communities in prescribed fire and smoke.
Flyers + Mailers
Urgency can drive us to try to detail every benefit, every bit of sound science, every rigorous step in weather and smoke approval, all in one postcard. But when you use printed pieces as simple hooks to entice people to seek information and take action, less is more gets a little easier.
“To help time-strapped folks put fire to work, we’ve created a few flyer and mailer templates. You can add in your details and use as is, or change photos, colors and more—all from Canva’s easy web-based layout editor.”
If you’d prefer something simpler, check out our Microsoft Word templates.
Best Practices for Flyers + Mailers
Plan a series.
If you’re considering outreach with flyers and mailers, plan for a series of sequential, time-limited messages that build on one another, and have interaction baked in. For example, a 4-part postcard series could be developed for local postal patrons (with additional promotion via coordinated community flyers, Facebook posts and press releases) that advertised:
A schedule of upcoming burns, with smoke planning resources and mention of upcoming tours.
An invitation to take a tour of a pre-burn or active burn project with a guest speaker appropriate for your audience, such as a biologist, backcountry ski guide, or timber land manager.
A reminder on resources for monitoring smoke and improving indoor air quality, set to arrive when burns are in progress.
An invitation to take a tour of a post-burn project, ideally of the same area. Contact information would be gathered, with the intention to share photos of the area in future intervals, allowing for a real, first-hand understanding of the role of prescribed fire in landscape restoration.
See TELE Engagement Guide Section 7.1 - Achieving Multiple Touches and Thinking in Campaigns
Time delivery for maximum impact.
“Mailings should be spaced close enough together to evoke memory of the prior mailing, but far enough apart to provide a needed reminder. Two weeks is often a good interval between mailings. Three or four mailings in succession usually evoke the best response, especially if they are timed well, similarly branded, and reaffirm the offer.”
— TELE Engagement Guide
See Section 7.3 - Reaching Landowners via Direct Mail
Keep detail online.
Content for flyers and mailers, as well as social media, can stay mercifully short if you have informative, well-written websites waiting in the wings. If partners or collaborators don’t have site content that supports your messaging, or a logical home for maps and details about upcoming prescribed burns, it’s time to create a web presence that fulfills these needs.
A note on access: while home internet is by no means universal, especially in more rural areas, over 80% of Americans have a smartphone to access the internet. (See Pew Research Center Mobile Fact Sheet) However, it’s still a good idea to include a phone number for more information, especially when communicating with elders and those in remote rural areas, where even cell service is spotty.
Resources for Flyers + Mailers
Put Fire to Work
Request a Canva Design Share
Download Word Templates
Prescribed Fire Image Library
Browse the Image Library
Washington Prescribed Fire Council
Fire Works for Us Brochure
Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project
Infographic Educational Resources