 mstewart
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| Joined: 03 Jul 2006 |
| Total Posts: 8 |
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Donar Searches/Mail Merge
Posted: 24 Aug 2006 11:05 AM |
Please consider the following changes to your program:
(1) I need to be able to mail merge a letter for contributors who gave gifts during a particular time frame. If the program is capable of doing it, I don't see it. (2) I also need a salutation space. When the January update came out, that space was changed to "Label Name" which is also a valuable field, but it doesn't help me merge letters to "John & Mary". (3) It would also be beneficial to merge actual gift amounts into a letter. Generally it would be good to able to choose which fields to merge. (4) I would also like to be able to be able to search and merge by "category." I am using this field to deliniate contributors as Individuals, Churches, Foundations, etc. because we often get asked what percent of our income comes from these various sources. Thus, gifts would also have to be included in this capability.
I appreciate your consideration of these changes. |
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Re: Donar Searches/Mail Merge
Posted: 24 Aug 2006 12:05 PM |
Hi mstewart,
We are coming out with an update soon that will address all your requests.
The update will include the ability to create letters with mail merge fields right within CenterPiece. You will be able to mail merge the letter against the donor reports based on 1 or more criteria you select in the report (i.e. category). You'll still have the ability to export the list to a file if you want to continue using MS Word for mail merge.
The update also includes the ability to generate address labels from within each report (again based on the selected report criteria).
In terms of the Saluation field, the name is changing one more time to "ProperName". The primary purpose of this field is for generating address labels. An example of the ProperName field would is: "Mr. & Mrs. John and Mary Doe".
We are also adding a "DearName" field to be used on the the "Dear:" line in letters. This field is automatically calculated and doens't require any data entry. When running a report, if the file is an organization, it will use the Organization's name in this field, if it is a person it will use the person's first name in the field. To merge letters for "John & Mary" on the Dear line, set the FirstName on the the donor file to "John & Mary".
Hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks for your patience. |
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mstewart
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| Joined: 03 Jul 2006 |
| Total Posts: 8 |
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Re: Donar Searches/Mail Merge
Posted: 24 Aug 2006 01:56 PM |
Dear Brian,
What will happen to the Spouse's name on the form? Would it be possible to use the first name and the spouse's name to complete the "DearName" field? I don't quite understand why you have a donar listed as Mr. & Mrs. John & Mary Doe and then have a field for "male" or "female". The program I used to use had the husband listed as "head of household" and then had the capability of adding family members such as "spouse, children, or other (ie. adult parent living with the family)". That way individual information such as birthdate, etc. could be listed on the family member's form.
We also address labels as "Mr. & Mrs. John Doe" or "John & Mary Doe" not "Mr. & Mrs. John & Mary Doe". This doesn't quite make sense to me either.
However, I do appreciate all the changes you have been which will be greatly beneficial for me and other users I am sure.
Thanks,
Melinda |
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Re: Donar Searches/Mail Merge
Posted: 24 Aug 2006 02:34 PM |
Hello there mstewart,
Spouse Name
The Spouse's name will still exist. You can also refer to the SpouseName field individually as a mail merge field in your letters.
The problem with using the Spouse's name in the DearName calculation is that a lot of customers don't use that field. (This usually happens when we convert their data from an old system). Also, sometimes Spouse name exists, but center's don't want to display it on the dear line in a letter (they want firstname only). By using the FirstName field you can control what appears in the DearName label (FirstName only OR FirstName + Spouse's are acceptable options.)
ProperName - Address Labels
If you have "John & Mary" in the FirstName field of a file, and you have "Mr. & Mrs." selected in the Title field, the ProperName field will automatically calculate to "Mr. & Mrs. John & Mary Doe" (assuming Doe is LastName). However, you can override the calculation by removing the check mark on the "Auto-update" checkbox next to the ProperName field. When you do this, you can type whatever you want for the ProperName and the system will not overwrite it.
(BTW: You have the ability to override the ProperName today.)
So in the scenario you used above, you would enter "John & Mary" in the FirstName field. Next, you would remove the check mark from the "auto-update" and enter "Mr. & Mrs. John Doe" in the ProperName field. Your address labels would look like: "Mr. & Mrs. John Doe". Your Dear line would look like: "Dear: John & Mary".
I hope that makes sense.
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mstewart
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| Joined: 03 Jul 2006 |
| Total Posts: 8 |
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Re: Donar Searches/Mail Merge
Posted: 24 Aug 2006 03:52 PM |
Yes that makes sense. Thanks for your quick replies!
One final question: Have you considered adding a bulk mail search/report for donars that complies with the Post Office? This would be very beneficial in printing newsletter labels and getting them ready for mail-out. The order by zip code is just not enough to make the newsletter mail-out time efficient. Currently we are using our old software to do our newsletter labels because it has that capability; however, it does require duplicate address corrections which is not ideal.
Anothe possibillity in the future is "CASS certification" of address labels so the labels are properly formated for the post office. This is required for "non-profit" mailing. |
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cbirdwell
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| Joined: 08 Sep 2003 |
| Total Posts: 183 |
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Re: Donar Searches/Mail Merge
Posted: 23 Sep 2006 03:25 PM |
Thanks so much for the input. We haven't heard this request before, but it is a great idea and we will definitely look into it!
Have a blessed day!
Carlye |
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