Brochures

Creating Effective Brochures:
A Guide for Content and Presentation

I ntroduction
Your brochure may be the first thing a potential member or donor sees about your organization. An effective brochure is informative, attractive, and easy to read. Whether you plan to print thousands of glossy pamphlets designed by a professional or a black and white brochure produced at home, a few basic steps will help make your brochure successful.
This Guide addresses five basic steps to creating an effective brochure:
Identify Your Audience
Consider Your Audience’s Reading Level
Write the Text
Design the Brochure
Print the Brochure

S tep 1: Identify Your A udience
First, identify the audience for your brochure. Do you want to reach the public, healthcare professionals, potential funders, or others? Be sure that your messages reflect the age, literacy skills, and the social and cultural diversity of your intended audience.
Tip:
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Remember, many healthcare professionals know as little as about specific genetic disease as the lay public.

S tep 2: Consider Y our Audience’s R eading Level
Many popular publications are written at an eighth-grade reading level. Use the following guidelines to lower the reading level of your brochure if needed:
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Organize the information so the most important points come first.
Keep sentences and words short.
Use simple language and avoid jargon. If you must use technical terms, define them the first time they are used.
Use graphics or visuals to illustrate difficult concepts.
Use the active voice (“We found that…”) rather than the passive voice (“It was found that…”). Use headings and bullets to break up the text.

Testing the reading level is an easy way to make sure your information is available to everyone. Most word processing programs (such as Microsoft Word) can help you test the grade level, or “readability,” of your material, similar to the way you check spelling and grammar. This can