The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7239 p347
8 March 2003

Society summary

E-mailed newsletters can significantly cut branch costs

Research within the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Bradford branch suggests that branches can significantly reduce their costs by offering members the choice of receiving branch newsletters by e-mail.

In a branch-wide postal survey, a third of respondents asked for the newsletter to be e-mailed. Of the rest, most wished to continue receiving it by post, but a small proportion (12 per cent) requested removal from the distribution list because they were not currently interested in attending branch events.

Branch secretary Dr David Wright says that the branch already sends mailings by e-mail to some members, but the survey response has allowed it to expand this group significantly, so that 30 per cent of the branch's 270 members now receive notification of events electronically.

Dr Wright comments that, following the reductions in branch funding, all branches may find they can reduce costs significantly by making good use of e-mail.

Another findings from the Bradford survey was that clinical topics were the most popular subjects for branch meetings, being the choice of 64 per cent of respondents. The second most popular choice was new research (37 per cent), followed by local topics (32 per cent), legal issues (26 per cent), political topics (25 per cent), careers (10 per cent) and financial topics (10 per cent).

On the format of branch meetings, respondents expressed a preference for lectures, preferring evenings with more than one speaker (44 per cent) to those with a single speaker (34 per cent). Less popular options were debates (19 per cent) and workshops (27 per cent).

Although 88 per cent of respondents who had attended branch meetings rated them as either good or very good, only one in seven said that they attended events regularly. One possible deterrent was the branch's current meeting venue, which a significant proportion of respondents did not find suitable. In the light of this, Dr Wright suggests that other branches may also wish to examine the suitability of their regular venues.

The survey took the form of a questionnaire, accompanied by a stamped return envelope, sent out with the branch programme card. The response rate was 46 per cent.

Branch secretaries who would like to receive a copy of the questionnaire and the survey analysis should contact Dr Wright by e-mail at d.wright@bradford.ac.uk.