With the latest software release, you can now set your default Log Type.  This can be useful if you typically use a specific log type, such as "Phone".

To set this up, navigate to Logs > Log > Click the Log Type drop-down > select "<Set default>", and choose your default option.

Tip: you can right-click the Log Type drop-down and select [+ New] to quickly create a new option.

You can now use the email system to insert a table of contributions by date-range.  For instance, you can provide a breakdown of all donations someone made in 2022, with a total at the bottom.

Inserting the Merge Field


How the Merge Field Appears to the Recipient

It's that time of year again for nonprofits.  The resources below walk through the steps to generate and print your year-end tax statements.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUVSUTciwaU

Article 1: https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=313&cat=0&qq=tax

Article 2: https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=246&cat=0&qq=tax

For many organizations, 2023 means updating the cycle in your database.  Here's how: https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=312&cat=0&qq=cycle

Happy New Year!  For this tip - we are going to talk about how to track if an email recipient is opening your emails or not.  First, open their record.  Then navigate to the "Logs" tab, and the Email Log sub-tab.  That is where you can view if someone has opened an email, when they did, and what links they clicked on.  Here's an example:

Our office will be closed on these dates to celebrate Christmas and the New Year:

• Friday, December 23
• Monday, December 26
• Friday afternoon, December 30
• Monday, January 2
  

Trail Blazer has a variety of forms that you can use to automatically collect data through your website.  They include:

• Donations
• Email sign-ups
  
• Volunteer sign-up
  
• General "contact us" forms

Check out these resources to learn how to import spreadsheets of contact or donation data into your Trail Blazer database.

• Video Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgwwHL9t2abS6dMshPmet7_N0xjNqLh5z
• Import Templates for Download: https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=237&cat=0&qq=import
• Import Contributions (Article): https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=216&cat=0&qq=import
• Import Contact Data (Article): https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=321&cat=0&qq=import

Check out this video to learn how to use the donor retention dashboard widget: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhECm2BpyF8

You can now filter your map by precinct code:

Get access to your records from wherever you are by downloading our free mobile app for iPhone and Android.

Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/trail-blazer-basecamp/id1219460381
Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trailblz.basecamp

Have you ever needed to find a constituent record by special search criteria?  Learn advanced search query techniques to find records by exact name, a partial name, a blank field, etc.  https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=115&cat=0&qq=wildcard

Learn how to find donors who gave last year, but not this year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhM_PHZzS7s

You can then save this search as a favorite for future use: https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=204&cat=0&qq=favorite

Important: the remote desktop app (primarily for Mac users) will be unavailable this Saturday (9/17) from 8:00 PM CT to 12:00 AM CT (9/18).

Check out our latest help video to learn how to find new donors in your database: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMga6qrDsQY

To our political software users, we would like to request that you provide a review of our software on Capterra: https://reviews.capterra.com/new/55438/29344bf1-ffd2-46d2-b6a0-28c17eac0fad?lang=en

This should only take around 5 minutes, and you will receive a $10 gift card as a thank you.  Your reviews help us to gain exposure on a website that many campaigns use when researching tools to use for their race.

Thank you!

Every-so-often it's good to take stock of who your active database users are.  There may be some people that you need to set up with their own login account, and old users that no longer need access.  Here's how:

• Add a new user: https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=67&cat=0&qq=user
• Revoke a user: https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=153&cat=0&qq=revoke

Check out this new video by Kevin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmsv50JvnGg

It will teach you how to see who made changes to certain fields in your database, and how to track the session logs for what work is being done.

Note: this feature requires 'admin' access.

Learn how to geocode your address data so that you can visually work with it on a map.

Watch now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFKzMfqQU94

Creating filtered contribution reports is a powerful tool in your database.  One example is if you want to see what donors have given year-by-year.

The links below provide a walkthrough on how to go through the steps.

Article: https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=302&cat=0&qq=filter

Video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAWAtubEcDU

Video 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcdB1BKOF7A

Our office will be close on Monday, July 4th.

Does your database have duplicate contact records?  Learn the ins-and-outs of how to find duplicates and clean them up.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yue7DjNA_8

Articles: https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=search&qq=duplicate&cat=0&con=0

With our DonorSearch integration you can now perform valuable wealth analysis on your donors and prospects.  DonorSearch draws on information (like previous giving history) and current assets to determine a donor's wealth potential.

Learn more: https://www.trailblz.com/kb/?action=view&kb=1388&cat=0&qq=wealth

A new merge option was added in a recent software update.  You can now merge duplicate contact records where their name and cell phone number matches.  Here's how:

Important: this is a friendly reminder that if you haven't yet upgraded from version 7 to version 8, you'll want to do so soon.  Version 7 will be retired on 4/30/22.

To see what version you are on, look in the very upper-left of the desktop application.  If it starts with a 7, you'll want to go through the steps in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD0DujGGsX0

Note: if the link above doesn't work when you click on it, you can copy and paste it into a browser.

Please contact our support team if you need assistance.