If your organization has an email newsletter, be sure to leverage that platform to solicit questions and encourage other forms of audience participation. When you’re just starting out, newsletters are a great way to convert your subscribers from engaged readers to active participants. The email format gives you the opportunity to introduce your new Hearken-powered series and explain how the audience can be involved. We've found it helps to give examples of the kinds of responses you're looking for, so the audience understands the range of topics and ideas you're willing to tackle. Examples can also help get their creative question juices flowing.

When KRCC in Colorado Springs was launching their series "Peak Curiosity," they sent an email out to their membership list explaining the new series and inviting responses. It generated a ton of click-throughs to the site and great questions that the newsroom was then able to pick from to start reporting. 

Subject line: Introducing Peak Curiosity from 91.5 KRCC! Great journalism begins with great questions. Sometimes they're big questions — Who's really behind that piece of legislation? Where are all those tax dollars going? Sometimes they're small — What's the deal with those new road signs? How did that building get its name? But reporters don't have a monopoly on curiosity. That's why we're asking you to take part in Peak Curiosity, 91.5 KRCC's new community-driven reporting project. We want to hear your questions, so we can turn them into radio stories you'll love. The process is simple. First, submit a question at our website. It can be anything you're wondering about Colorado Springs, the Pikes Peak region, or the people that call southern Colorado home. Then, reporters in the 91.5 KRCC newsroom will select the best questions, and they'll answer those questions in the form of a radio story. They may even ask you to join in the reporting process. We at 91.5 KRCC believe that our community of listeners across southern Colorado is our greatest resource. Whether you've lived in the region all your life or you're brand new to the area, your insights and observations are unique, and they can help guide us toward stories that deserve to be told. Help us tell the stories that matter to you. Take part in Peak Curiosity today. [Ask Your Questions Today] button

While newsletters often don't support embedding, you can link to the post or landing page where readers can ask questions and provide feedback. It may help to take a screenshot of the call-to-action and hyperlink it to the page where the call-to-action lives. That way users can easily find where to submit their question. For example:

Another similar way to gather responses via newsletter is to message a special or specific group of people from whatever email databases you keep (be it a membership database, donors, people who have attended events, etc.). Letting your readers know they're part of a select group makes them feel special, that they're getting a unique opportunity.

When Curious City first launched at WBEZ in Chicago, they emailed a group of 2,000 people from the WBEZ membership database and invited those folks to submit questions as part of a semi-secret new project (which ended up being Curious City). By letting people know they were specially chosen to participate, those people were more invested in submitting responses.

Think about it: would you be more likely to respond to a newsletter that says:

"You can now ask a question for our organization to consider answering. Click here."

OR

"We're starting a very special new series and as an engaged reader, we're inviting you specifically to participate. We want to know what's got you scratching your head about X, curious about Y, etc. We'll be answering your questions and giving you the opportunity to participate in the process!"

OK — you get the idea. Take a moment and walk the reader through what's in it for them. Let them know why you value their responses and insights, and help them feel specially invited.

The people subscribed to your organization’s newsletter are the ones who are already the most engaged with your content. So we recommend using the newsletter to drum up audience participation at every step of the Hearken process. 

The education blog Chalkbeat New York considers their weekly newsletter to be one of their main platforms for promoting their Hearken series Raise Your Hand. They don’t just solicit responses or encourage people to vote in the latest voting round. They also announce when they’re investigating a new question and ask their readers to suggest sources they might speak to or schools they should visit. In this way, the newsletter constantly emphasizes Chalkbeat’s desire to work with their audience. Here’s an example:

And don’t forget! Every time an audience member submits a question, they also submit their email. When you configure your form embed you can give your questioners the opportunity to opt-in to your newsletter or any other kind of e-list. So even if your organization doesn’t already have a newsletter, you can use your Hearken series as a jumping off point for an email-based community. Below is an email that Michigan Radio sends out to questioners who opt-in through the form embed.

Learn more on how to include the newsletter opt-in on your form embed.

Chances are you've got an email signature with some information about your organization — be it additional contact info, your social media handles, etc. If your job entails emailing with folks outside of your organization, consider adding a line to your signature like "What have you always wondered about X that you'd like (your outlet) to investigate?" And link that line to the page where they can ask questions.