Bip… Bip… Bip… Barcodes aren’t just for the grocery store 7707

Bip… Bip… Bip… Barcodes aren’t just for the grocery store

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In my last blog, we saw our friendly database manager, Wilhelmina, working on creating her mailing list for the July Direct Mailing that her organization sends at the end of their fiscal year. Wilhelmina has learned about a tool in Raiser’s Edge that will streamline data entry, so she’ll be able to easily manage all the incoming gifts. Which tool? The Gift Barcode.

In Raiser’s Edge, a Gift Barcode can be used to scan mailings and create Gift Batches. This functionality is available using the Appeal Card function (which can generate either a data file, merge document, or card) and Phonathon Forms tasks in Mail.

In order for Wilhelmina to use the Gift Barcode tool, she needs to be able to print (or work with a mailhouse that can print) and scan a 3 of 9 Barcode font. She confirmed she has the 3 of 9 Barcode font installed on her workstation, so she’ll be able to print it for the smaller group of letters in the July Direct Mailing. Her representative at the mailhouse has confirmed they have no problem printing the field identified as the barcode in future mailings.

Sidenote: Wilhelmina was also excited to find a deal on a wireless barcode scanner online!

Wilhelmina has identified the Fund that should be used for gifts received in response to the July Direct Mailing. She’ll select that Fund when she selects the Gift Barcode (Scannable) field. In a CSV file or when placed in a merge document as regular text font, this barcode would appear as a letter and numbers enclosed in asterisks, but it appears simply as a barcode when formatted as a 3 of 9 Barcode font.

In the Fund record, Wilhelmina has already set the default campaign that should be associated with to the Fund. She has made the Gift Barcode the first field in her Gift Batch, so when she’s ready to enter that stack of gifts all the data will automatically populate the rows when she scans those barcodes. She can’t wait to see this in action!

Stay tuned for future blog posts, to learn more about the ways Wilhelmina works smarter in Raiser’s Edge.
News Raiser's Edge® Blog 06/11/2021 9:00am EDT

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1 Comments

I want to use bar codes for mail appeals to process returned mail faster, not only gifts. How can I do that? What do I need?

HI Tracy, You can use the Appeal Cards process in Mail to generate a file that you would use to create your mail appeals. There is a field available on the Fields tab that you can format as a barcode on whatever piece is returned (buck slip, return envelope, etc). Then in your RE7 or RENXT DatabaseView Gift Batch, you would include the field Gift Barcode. You would need a barcode scanner to scan the code but scanning it when in that field would cause the constituent and additional information to populate.

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