Newsletter: Sending Communication

Send Newsletter

This refers to complex forms of communication that contain more than just text, such as newsletters. This method allows you to use templates and filter recipients. Use the method below to communicate with a large number of volunteers.

Before proceeding, consider the following options for creating advanced communication:

1. If you wish to create a template (e.g., newsletter, volunteer appeal) that your organization will reuse, complete both the Creating a Communication Template and Populating a Communication Template tutorials before proceeding.
2. If your communication does not require a customized template, proceed below.
3. If you have completed this section for another piece of communication and wish to utilize the same recipient list and settings, follow the View Newsletters tutorial to create a copy of the existing piece of communication.

Setup Newsletter

This page allows you to add information about the sender and subject of the email, select a communication template, and add attachments.

1. From the Main Menu, click Communications then Create New Communication.
   Note: To email all volunteers of a particular opportunity, click Active Opportunities in the Dashboard. Next to the desired opportunity, click Communicate in the dropdown menu. Be sure to skip the Select Recipients section below.
   
   
2. Create a Name to help you identify this piece of communication (i.e. March 2020 Newsletter).
3. Enter the Sender Name, Sender Email, and a Subject for the email.
4. Select the Recipients Type for this communication.
   • To communicate using a template that you have already created and populated, select it under “Communication Template.” To make changes to the selected template, click Edit Template and use the Creating a Communication Template tutorial for help.
     Note: Edits made to a template are irreversible and will result in a loss of the original template.
   • To create and populate a template now, click Create New Template. Use the Creating a Communication Template and Populating a Communication Template tutorials for help.
5. Select the desired template under “Communication Template.” To preview the template, click Preview.
   
6. To add a document or image to this email, click on Click here OR Drop file here under “Attachment.” Select the desired document from your computer.
7. Click Save and Proceed.
   
   

Select Recipients

To narrow down your recipient list, you must set criteria to identify volunteers to whom the email is relevant. By default, the system will only send the newsletter to users who have added an email address and have selected email as their communication preference.

1. In the “Select Criteria” dropdown menu, select the first criteria you’d like to apply to recipients.
2. In the “Select Operator” dropdown menu, select an operator to apply to the above criteria. Operators are explained below.
• Between/Not Between: Criteria falls inside or outside a set range
• Contains/Does Not Contain: Criteria contains or does not contain a word or phrase
• Ends With/Starts With: Criteria ends or starts with a word or phrase
• Greater Than/Less Than: Criteria is “greater than” or “less than” a number, date, etc.
• Greater Than Or Equal To/Less Than Or Equal To: Criteria is “greater than or equal to” or “less than or equal to” a number, date, etc.
• Is Empty/Is Not Empty: Volunteer did or did not provide information for the criteria
• Is False/Is True: Volunteer does or does not match simple yes/no criteria
• Is In The Last/Is Not In The Last: Criteria did or did not occur in the last X number of days, weeks, months, or years
• Is/Is Not: Criteria does/does not match specific word, phrase, number, etc.
• In/Not In: Criteria does or does not match selections (useful for criteria such as cause or skill that include a list of options to select from)
3. Many criteria require that additional fields be completed. If prompted, fill in the remaining fields to complete the operator (i.e., type a word or phrase, type a number, set date(s), select dropdown items).
4. If prompted and desired, select a Grouping Option.
   Note: This feature is not required and exists only for users desiring an additional level of complexity.
5. Criteria is organized into groups. To add additional criteria to this group, click the add icon inside the gray box and repeat steps 1-4. Continue adding criteria until the group is complete.
6. In the “Match” dropdown menu, select All to set recipients to those who match all of the criteria in this group, or select Any to set recipients to those who match any of the criteria in this group.
7. To add an additional group of criteria, click the add icon outside the gray box and repeat steps 1-6.
   Note: Each group of criteria is considered a separate search. Volunteers only need to match one group of criteria to be included in the recipient list.
8. The “Add Sub Group” feature will not be covered in this tutorial and exists only for users desiring an additional level of complexity.
9. When done setting all of your criteria, click Search.
10. Click the # of recipient(s) to view the names of all recipients that match your criteria. When done, click Close.
    Note: Conducting another recipient/criteria search will override your previous search.
11. To add additional recipients, enter their email addresses under “Other Recipient(s),” pressing the “enter” key on your keyboard after each entry.
    Note: Placeholders within the template will not be filled in for recipients without accounts.
12. Click Save and Proceed.
    
    

Confirm

1. To preview or test this communication before sending it to your recipients, enter an email address in the “Send a Test email” field. Then, access that email address for a preview.
   Note: Placeholders within the template may not be filled in for test emails.
2.  To send the communication to your recipients, click Send.
   
   
   1. Select Send Now to send the communication immediately.
   2. Select Send On to send the communication at a later time, then select the date and time.
   3. When done, click Send.