Photo Release Forms

The Garden Club of Georgia has many ways to communicate with members. We have some guidelines to help guide you where to go and how to get there!

General Policy Guidelines

1. The official list of club presidents (membership list) is available only when authorized by the State President for use of a State Board Member’s work. The State Board Member is responsible for the safekeeping of this list.
2. The Master List of clubs belonging to The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc., shall not be used for the purpose of advertising or solicitation.
3. The name of The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc. may not be used to endorse any product, tour, lecture, event, or organization unless approved by the State Board of Directors.
4. The official seal of The Garden Club of Georgia, Inc. may not be used unless authorized by the State President.
5. No solicitation of funds from members may be made unless authorized by the State Board of Directors.

Approvals

The President must approve all communications being distributed through Constant Contact to the Board, General Interest and GCG Presidents lists. The President must be notified of District Events.  In the President’s absence or untimely availability (emergency) the First VP may approve.

Board Briefs

Board Briefs is the official newsletter of the Garden Club of Georgia Board of Directors. It is published three times per year and distributed to all garden club presidents, state and District board members and any club member who wishes to receive it. This newsletter gives a quick summary of state level board activities and promotion of events. Michelle Culberson is the editor.

How do I use this? If you want to make sure everyone in GCG leadership (board, club presidents, chairmen) knows about your major event, send it to the Board Briefs editor. Be mindful of the timing since this is a quarterly publication. And, sign up for board briefs with our Constant Contact Manager to keep up with news from various state chairmen. Don't forget to distribute it to club members!

Member 365 Email

Member365 is our Customer Relations Management tool. The major part of this tool is managing and communicating with membership.    GCG also maintains Club Presidents and Board member email lists.  Janet Carn is the Email  Manager for GCG.

The state maintains a general list of all members that will be used sparingly. We also have a mailing list of all Board Members, all presidents, all presidents and treasurers and additional lists that we create like all district directors, etc.

Each District has its own lists: District wide opt in lists, District Board  and District Presidents, 

The general district mailing list is optional. The mandatory lists are the District Board and District Club Presidents lists. If you are in either or both categories, you will get these emails. 

What is this used for? Member 365 is  best used for creating and distributing your regular newsletters, sending out announcements and call letters for board meetings. You may promote forthcoming club events that have appeal to your district or other districts, district news, and special events. All use of the General District lists should be approved by the District Director.

Garden Gateways 

Garden Gateways is quarterly official publication of the Garden Club of Georgia published both electronically and on paper. All GCG conventions must be announced here as well as any bylaw changes and other official notices. It also includes content of interest to all members.

Each issue will be themed. Each district will be asked to provide material pertinent to them. Stephanie Corley,  gardengatewayseditor@gmail.com, and Carolyn Culpepper, Carolyn.hartley41@yahoo.com, will be requesting theme specific articles from your Garden Gateways Editor. We believe this is a great opportunity to attract and retain members.

Extras:  You will find more Garden Gateways on the website. Look for extended lists of awards, deep dive articles and fillable forms, etc. on www.gardenclubofgeorgia.org

Other content: We want significant district celebrations -- the 75^th anniversary of club, unique club projects, and events items that are planned in advance (Be mindful of our quarterly deadlines).

How to submit:  Please submit text as a word document and send photos separately. Write the article as fully as possible. We will likely edit the text, but would like it as publication ready as possible. If you need help determining word count, call our team.

www.gardenclubofgeorgia.org

What is it? This is our official web presence. It has two very important goals: 1) to promote GCG and our many programs and clubs to the public at large and 2) to serve as your resource for all you need to know to take full advantage of being a club, district news and and state member. Two of our most important features are:

Events Calendar – The calendar is the official calendar of GCG. It will contain all events of importance. Here is a sample of what can be submitted to the calendar:

• All GCG official meetings and events
• All Council and Federation meetings
• Special club sponsored events to which the public is invited – speakers, tours of gardens, homes, plant sales etc.
• Important deadlines (President’s report, Awards)
• Other plant, design related organizations having major events in Georgia – American Daffodil Society, etc.
• GCG workshops and classes
• NGC Workshops held in other states of interest to our members
• National Garden Club conferences, conventions and meetings
• Deep South conferences, conventions and meetings

What we won’t put on the calendar:

• Monthly club meetings
• Commercial sales events
• Non-gardening related events – Dogwood Arts Festival, for instance

Send your events to webmaster@gardenclubofgeorgia.org and/or  headquarters@gardenclubofgeorgia.org 

Your email should include:

• Name of event
• Date of Event
• Start time
• End time (estimate)
• Cost
• Location
• Building Name
• Street Address
• Sponsoring organization(s)
• Description of event – brief
• Attach registration, brochures if any

Most important!!! List a contact person – someone we can call with questions or who is fielding questions from members. 

District Pages and News – You are responsible for making sure all information on your district page is up to date and attractive. This page will be a great introduction for non-members, so make it lively and correct!  Each district page has a news blog and a calendar. This is where you can put every item of club news, projects, fun pictures, etc. Your website chairman will get these online for you. The News feature of the website is a blog of everyone’s news items. Use this for your Christmas celebrations, pollinator gardens, Habitat for Humanity projects, etc. Send text and photos to our webmaster…Again, do not send photos embedded in text; send photos separately.

Facebook and YouTube

Social media is one of the best ways to attract potential members. These services give you the ability to show your fun side while still promoting Beautification, Conservation and Education. Use Facebook to promote club and district events both upcoming and after the events. Again, this should be lively and accompanied by photos. Use it to do quick teases to events like plant sales, public events. Use YouTube to publish videos of programs that you feel would be of interest to all GCG members. Think of these forms of communication as quick conversations. Every event should promote the aims of The Garden Club of Georgia, Deep South Garden Clubs, and the National Garden Club.

Your Communications Team

Communications Chair – Linda Doiron 

Webmaster - Chris Adams

Constant Contact – Janet Carn

Board Briefs – Michelle Culberson

Garden Gateways – Stephanie Corley

Facebook – Lisa Etheridge

YouTube -  Ieisha Fuller

Instagram-