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Author: Kristenson, Joel
Last Updated: 2016-09-21
Overview
This article shows how to thank people for the total amount they donated, at an event, via a mass email campaign – it utilizes a new merge field called <<EventContributionTotal>>.
This was a request a customer had in 2016. If you have a request for a feature that doesn’t exist you can drop us a line through the Start Page Comment Box when you first log into the program.
Tip: Learn how to create email templates, and schedule mass email campaigns in this 20 minute how-to video.
Steps
Navigate to the Contributions list under the Application Menu. Requires appropriate security clearance.
Search by the event you’re thanking people for spending money at. In this example I searched by an event called ‘2016 Celebrity Golf Tournament’ which produced 136 transactions.
You’ll only be sending to people who have an email address that’s enabled for mass email so you’ll want to add that to your search query as well. Navigate to the Contact (Voter/Donor) tab > General > E-Mail > Plug it in > Select the Present radio button > Click [Search] to refresh the list.
(Example below where the query now filters by donations at the event and only people who have an email present).
Select File > Create Mass Email…
Give the email campaign a name and click [OK].
Click Edit > Mail Settings… in the upper-left of the email composer.
Select your event you’re sending out a receipt for and click [OK].
Create a Subject Line and compose your message, my example is below. If you’ve previously created a template you can insert it, or you could start with one of the built-in ‘Standard Trail Blazer Templates’.
Put your mouse cursor in the area of the email where you want the event contribution total to populate, then select the merge-field drop-down and click on the one called <<EventContributionTotal>>.
Below is an example of what the merge field should look like once it’s inserted.
Run a test of the email by clicking the [Test] button in the bottom-right. If you need to set up more database users as email testers this article shows how.
Tip: It’s useful if ‘you’ are one of the people who gave to the event so that you can verify the total amount populates correctly in your test email prior to sending to everyone in the list (if you’re sending to multiple recipients).
Select who to send the test to and click [OK].
Click [Close] after you get the message that your test has been submitted.
Here’s what my example looked like:
Tip: If you want to verify the amount is populating correctly you can search the Contributions list by a single recipient who gave to your event. Then verify the total in the database matches what they receive in their email. My example is below where the total correctly equaled $3,230.00:
Once you’re satisfied with the test results you can either schedule the campaign to go out in the future or send it right away. To bring up these options you’ll start by clicking the [Send] button in the bottom-right of the email composer, select your options, and click [OK]. My example is below to schedule the campaign for the 10/1/16.
The related resources below link to a large variety of articles and videos on the mass email and event features.
Related Resources
Article: Configuring your From and Reply Email Address Settings
Article: How to Create Custom Email Responders for Specific Events – New 2016 Feature Upgrade
Article: How to Access and Use the Standard Trail Blazer Email Templates as a Starting Point for Template Creation and Mass E-Mail Campaigns
Article: How to Create a Custom Thank-You Auto-Responder Email with Merge Fields for your Online Donation Form
Article: How to Cancel a Mass Email Campaign as it’s Going Out & How to Reschedule a Queued Email Campaign
Article: Sending Out Test Emails
Article: Deleting an Email Campaign
Article: How to Create a Hyperlink around a Screenshot of your PDF Newsletter and Hyperlink it to the PDF Document
Article: How to Create a Hyperlink around a Screenshot of your Video and Link to the Video from your Trail Blazer Email Template
Article: How to Import a Google Web Font into your Trail Blazer Email Template
Article: Sample HTML Email Templates with Inline CSS
Article: Events 2014 – Part I
Article: Events 2014 – Part II
Article: Events 2013 | How to Create an Event with Tickets and Merchandise
Video: Eblasts –Setting people up to receive test (draft) emails
Video: Thank You’s using mass email
Video: Scheduled Emails
Video: Eblasts Create and Send Eblasts – Includes Image Management
Video: Eblasts Configure email settings before mass emailing
Video: Donation Auto Responders with Merge Fields
Video: Events 2013
Video: Events – pay for an event online
Video: Events – Remove Person from Event
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