Fact Sheets

A fact sheet is a one-page document that provides basic information on a specific topic in an easy- and quick-to-read format. If the subject is just too complex to reduce to a single page make more than one fact sheet. Just make certain each fact sheet focuses on a single aspect of the overall topic. Fact Sheets should be repurposed, revisited, and revised match the client's needs. 

Fact sheets are particularly useful to reporters and state and national legislators. What do all these groups have in common? Very little time to gather enough information to write a quality article or make a quality decision.

Fact Sheet Basics

• A fact sheet is a self-contained document and should not refer to previous documents. 
• Cite references for text, photos, illustrations, and charts. For electronic fact sheets, use hyperlinks. 
• Find ways to simplify complex ideas. Search for comparisons and everyday analogies that will express complicated processes. Transform jargon into English. 
• Write in the present tense and as active as possible.

Here is a basic example of a general fac sheet without persuasion. 

Let's take a look at some fact sheets. 

Elements of a good fact sheet:

The information you include in a fact sheet will differ depending on its subject and its intended audience. However, most fact sheets should contain the following content:

• Headline
• List of supporting facts
• Basic definition(s)
• Basic statistics
• Basic information
• Sources or attributions
• Call to action - What would you like the audience to do after reading the fact sheet, and how can they do it?
• The name/address/telephone number and contact person of the group responsible

The first fact should often speak to the significance of the topic that the fact sheet is addressing. In other words: Why is this important? For example, if your fact sheet is part of a fundraising campaign for an organization focused on preventing drunk driving, then you might start with this fact:

Drunk driving kills X people each year.

The next fact you list might focus on relevance: Why should the target audience care? Here's an example:

You are X times more likely to be hurt or killed by a drunk driver than you are to be hurt or killed by a criminal.

Let's look at some simple templates