Making your outreach material visually appealing, whether it is a printed flyer, newsletter, annual report or social media post, is an important part of any messaging you share with your community or followers. Canva is a free & easy tool to create outreach materials. Use Canva’s many pre-made templates, free photos and videos! Watch the VASWCD’s recorded “Canva & Community Engagement” training to learn more. 

Grainy photos ruin a flyer fast. We can help. DCR’s Conservation Farming album on Flickr is a library of professional-quality farm photos just for you. Bookmark it and check back frequently as the collection grows.

Looking for something specific? Give us a shout, and our intrepid photographers will be on the lookout. 

Contact Rebecca Jones at rebecca.jones@dcr.virginia.gov

Easy to make, easy to read, easy to share — the one-page, 8.5”x11” flyer is a marketing workhorse. These five things will make yours more effective:  

1. “Headline” = “1 Line.” Keep it big, brief and punchy. Don’t say your name. Your logo will do the job. 
2. Use words that grab attention. New, Free, Easy, Save, Now, Faster, Better, More, etc. say what’s in it for them.  
3. Amp up the contrast. Flyers are often first seen from a distance, so the text stands out from the background. Not sure? Look at it from 6 feet away. 
4. Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t. Leave out the part that sounds like a lawyer wrote it. Put restrictions (“only applies to ____”) in italics at the bottom. Better yet, save them for a conversation.  
5. Have a call-to-action. What do you want the reader to do after they see your flyer? Spell it out. “Contact your SWCD at [number] to learn more.”