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Which will you use after Feb 28? Word, Microsoft Power Automate or ReceipterPro v2?

Kriste Buck

I am so confused as to which way to go. We use a conditional mail merge using multiple documents in donor ack letters in RE. Power Automate seems really complicated where as ReceipterPro v2 seems easier after watching their demo. Thoughts on what you plan to do if you are using conditional mail merges.

Example of what we are currently doing - If someone gives a one time gift they receive letter A, If someone pays off their pledge they would get letter B, and if someone gives a gift to a specific ministry (we are a church) they get the letter that corresponds to that ministry. We also do honor/memorial acknowledgment letters.

Thanks

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Mara Weber

Hi Kriste, I appreciate your post as this has been weighing heavily on my mind as well!

Our organization currently utilizes about 7 different templates via Mail tab--within each of these templates are 8 different RE fields--we change out most of the templates each month with new ones for the month (this itself is a lengthy process) and also have templates for tax receipts as well as credit card receipts. Three of us here enter donations daily--assign the various letters accordingly and then run all of the acknowledgements each day--this creates an output query for printing/matching envelopes sorted in the same order--so there may be seven different letters from each of us in the output query. I am really struggling with how to make this all work in Word. I have followed both the instructions provided within the Knowledgebase as well as the instructions provided by Microsoft--I've also watched the YouTube video multiple times only to find that there are a plethora of ways in which various organizations have been accessing and/or carrying out these processes--it seems no two are alike. Some have theirs set up in the Mail tab--others in Export tab--to complicate things more, ours links to a query entitled “Letter to be printed” which has its own set of criteria/output & sort. For this complex of a merge mapped out within the parameter box (our software was set up and customized by a computer genius back in 2005 who is since gone), are we are never going to be able to duplicate this process outside of the environment? We've discussed trying to simplify. I'd exported the January templates which are the ones I've been working with, but our gift notes never appear in the merged version, nor does any of the formatting remain and I've tried all of the suggestions and watched every webinar available. Some of the third party options are not even possible for us because we access Database view via Citrix after logging into RE NXT through Blackbaud and are hosted. Those of us entering all of the donations and keeping up of our database don't even utilize anything in NXT. In addition, our lone IT person is currently out and we do not have anyone here who has the time to learn complex new processes or the ability/time to maintain them. We currently use Word 2016 and Microsoft 365 Word doesn't even have a Mailings tab. Is anyone else having these issues? Bill Connors doesn't recommend Power Automate because it is too difficult for us regular folk at small orgs. Red Arc won't work for database users. ReceipterPro has a wait time of at least April and I'm not even sure it would work for database users. Thanks for listening.

Kriste Buck

I didn't realize that ReceiptPro didn't work with database view users. We use database view as well. I just don't understand why Blackbaud is doing away with the option to run letters. Unfortunately, we just renewed with Blackbaud or we definitely would have been looking at a different company for our database. I feel Blackbaud has NOT given us much time for this change considering it was year end. Very Frustrated with Blackbaud at the moment!!!

As for letters - I guess we will have to simplify as well. : -(( I guess I better find that WORD Knowledgebase and start copying my templates.

Jacyn Stewart

Hi Kristie,

I'm not entirely happy with the extra time it takes but we went with this method:

Which I think is also here:

I will say it was easier than I thought. We exported all our letter from RE which came down with the original merge fields in tact. So I set up the conditional merge doc and just told it to look for the letters I'd exported and I didn't have any formatting or other issues. They look just like they did when they were coming out of Mail in RE.

Our steps are basically, open Mail, do the export to the right network location. Open the Master Conditional Merge doc and point it to just exported file as the recipient list, merge and save. Which produces the same letter doc that Mail did before.

Happy to send you more details on what I did if you decide to go this way!

Mara Weber

I feel your pain--don't quote me on ReceipterPro not working for database users as one of my coworkers thinks that it will--never-the-less, the DonorTek founder from the webinar mentioned mid-April as being the earliest to even begin onboarding with any new clients and that was over a week ago already. It sounded like they had quite a waiting list. It seems all of these possible options we've been presented with are being bombarded by all of us Blackbaud/RE customers desperate for a fix/replacement.

Mara Weber

I've watched this video multiple times--I cannot hear him even with my volume turned up all the way, and his way within RE is totally different as he is linking to a constituent with multiple letters. Also, I can't figure out why I have to have my templates on my desktop for it to work and if they are on my local drive I get an error. This means each of us will have to set up this process and it won't work with just one master template on the shared drive.

Jacyn Stewart

Mara Weber:
I've watched this video multiple times--I cannot hear him even with my volume turned up all the way, and his way within RE is totally different as he is linking to a constituent with multiple letters. Also, I can't figure out why I have to have my templates on my desktop for it to work and if they are on my local drive I get an error. This means each of us will have to set up this process and it won't work with just one master template on the shared drive.

He's just using the desktop as an example. I put our letter templates in a folder on our shared drive where everyone can access them, and made the master document in that file location as well. Our Mail export is set up to go to the same folder. So everyone on the team can get in a use it. I did have to watch it a few times myself, but where ever he's using “desktop” you can just substitute the best file location on your network. You might also see if you can turn up the volume both on your computer and on the little icon on the video itself (that was what I had to do).

Gabe Tuder

With your workflow, it sounds like setting up the conditional merge document is the way to go. You will want to download and save your letter templates locally, then follow the directions to create the conditional merge document. You would then export a list locally, and run the conditional merge that generates your different letter types into one document.

The only caveat to this is that formatting is not pretty if you are using different fonts, sizes, images, etc. To generate “clean” letters, you will want the fonts and text size (no bold or italics either) to be identical in all your templates and the conditional merge document. This is a significant drawback to the new process happening outside of RE.

Jacyn Stewart

Mara Weber:
We currently use Word 2016 and Microsoft 365 Word doesn't even have a Mailings tab. Is anyone else having these issues?

If you can't see the Mailings tab in Word try going to File > Options > Customize Ribbon then on the right side box under 'Customize the Ribbon' make sure 'Mailings' is checked there.

Kriste Buck

Thank you! I will check this out.

Kriste Buck

Did this work for honor/memorial letters as well?

Kriste Buck

Jacyn Stewart - I would love to talk to you if I have questions as I will go this route too.

Rachel Bailey

My plan is to start with a Multiconditional Mail Merge (one each for our acknowledgement envelopes, acknowledgment letters, and tribute cards) so we can just use desktop Excel and Word to get stuff out. Then we'll do a Globally Change Records to mark the Gifts Acknowledged. Seems like the surest bet, especially if you're no stranger to Mail Merge in Word.

Eventually I want to set up the Power Automate flow for all of these as it really is a time saver! Still getting errors with my Gift Digest Notification Flow from #bbdevdays, though, so don't want to put all my eggs in the Power Platform basket just yet. I also plan to install the Add-In Button Letter Flow which sounds like a lifesaver ?

Larry Wheeler

Mara Weber:
I've watched this video multiple times--I cannot hear him even with my volume turned up all the way, and his way within RE is totally different as he is linking to a constituent with multiple letters. Also, I can't figure out why I have to have my templates on my desktop for it to work and if they are on my local drive I get an error. This means each of us will have to set up this process and it won't work with just one master template on the shared drive.

It may not be your settings @Mara Weber . Others have the same issue. If a person has some hearing loss, it can be difficult to hear some of the recorded videos. You can make certain the two volumes are turned up, as already posted, and if you use headphones, make certain you have that volume turned up. Example - I have my computer volume maxed and the youtube volume maxed and my headphone volume maxed and he is quiet but I can hear him.

Be careful, other sounds may be extremely loud after adjusting for the video. Be especially careful if you are using headphones!

Jacyn Stewart

Gabe Tuder:
The only caveat to this is that formatting is not pretty if you are using different fonts, sizes, images, etc. To generate “clean” letters, you will want the fonts and text size (no bold or italics either) to be identical in all your templates and the conditional merge document. This is a significant drawback to the new process happening outside of RE.

I haven't had any trouble with this. My templates have a lot of different font sizes, and bold and italic in them, and each comes out exactly as it should. I did follow the examples BB gives for managing this:

Lyngblomsten Foundation

Rachel - you can Export the file of gifts/donors to be thanked right from Mail - and still have Mail mark the gifts as Acknowledged, as you did when you merged the letters right from Mail. (It will still add the date and the letter sent in the gift record.). You don't have to go to Global Change to do that.

Tom Ong

We have about 7 different types of acknowledgement letters to generate depending on the gifts being processed (i.e. Foundation, UAS, Gift-In-Kind, etc.). We created a single Word template with conditional “IF” and “nested IF” statements built within this template. For us, the work-around method is to save a copy of this Word template onto our workstation(s). When we run the Acknowledgement process from “Mail”, we would use the “Export” feature instead of the “Merge” feature. The “Export” would generate all information needed for our letter(s) to an external file. From here, we would use this exported file for mail-merge using the Word application already installed on our workstatioṇ̣(s) to created our Acknowledgement letters…

Dariel Dixon

My organization is going with the conditional mail merge method. It's a major pain, but it's the only decision that is logical and that makes any sense under the circumstances. As @Mara Weber, Red Arc's product isn't available yet and doesn't work with DB view. ReceipterPro has a long wait list, so that's out too. That said, I am sure ReceipterPro does work in DB view and has access to DB view only fields. PowerAutomate sounds good, but unless you were already working with it, it is a lot to learn in less than a month (in the shortest month, no less!)

To be honest, I'm hoping for a continuation. I hope this move is delayed for a while. We had a delay in getting out EOY statements due to the move away from Crystal, but we are still trying to play catch-up and finding the time to put this together is difficult. I'm disappointed in this decision, but I will remember this at contract time.

The limitations that come about with creating these letters in one file does cause stress. We have 8 different letter types in one conditional merge, and the formatting is never consistent with what we want.

Our biggest issue is the e-receipting process and finding a way to have those receipts emailed automatically. The tool in NXT leaves a lot to be desired.

Karen Stuhlfeier

In the ReceipterPro webinar the question was asked: Are honor/memorial acknowledgement letters included under your “acknowledgement letters” umbrella. The answer was: "Yes, but you must have this information on a gift attribute or reference line." Another question was: Can it generate IMO/IHO letters and the answer was: “Not currently, but we are considering this.”

Kriste Buck

Just wondering if anyone is setting up their conditional mail merge is on a Mac? Having issues. Also, anyone getting blank pages when there are no letter codes as those gifts don't need to be thanked as they are paying on a pledge? Thanks

Sarah Martineau

ReceipterPro is supposed to work with the database view or NXT view

Andrew Ludwell

So I've gone a different way this time to what I expected.

I've created a local (shared) Master document for all my donor Stewardship letters, and one letter text for each letter type (your donation failed, it's your gift anniversary etc.) saved into separate documents. What we're going to do is add an action to the donor's file saying we have sent a letter to the donor, and in the Letter field for that Action, I have all my letter choices (it's a table that you can edit).
I then run an export of all the Actions that have been created Today that have a Letter field = <not blank>, which saves a csv. The Export has all the fields we need for all of our Stewardship letters so I don't need a separate export and csv for each letter. The Master document calls on (merges with) that csv file, and chooses to { INSERT } the correct letter according to the Letter field.

Something like this: { IF Letter = Regular Gift Welcome “{ INSERT RegularGiftWelcome.docx }” “IF Letter = Failed Transaction ”{ INSERT FailedTransaction.docx} “ ”No Letter Defined" } "}

With some clever formatting (styles, pagination etc) and a bunch of nested IFs, I create one printable document for the day.
I plan to run this same sort of process for my donor acknowledgement letters, with the Gift Letter field.

Mindy Williamson

Has anyone tried Red Arc's “Letter Box” yet?

Dariel Dixon

Mindy Williamson:
Has anyone tried Red Arc's “Letter Box” yet?

I don't think it's available until the end of the month.

Austen Brown

It appears that RedArc's Letter Box is active within the Marketplace. Check out their website for additional information:

Deidre Goodrich

Thanks for sharing this alternative approach. Not sure it will be the most efficient for us, but I'm happy to have another option to test!

Amanda Tindale

We like the look of Red Arc's Letter Box for our needs, but as a UK based charity, we're struggling to understand whether this will come under our agreement with Blackbaud in relation to GDPR or not. We've never used anything from Blackbaud marketplace before - can anyone shed more light on it? I asked Red Arc directly, who didn't seem to know, and 4 days in I'm still waiting for Blackbaud to clarify. If our use of Red Arc's product isn't covered as a 3rd party/subprocessor under our Blackbaud agreement, we'll have to have a separate agreement with Red Arc that covers the international data transfer and GDPR compliance. Which is a bit of a headache to sort out before Monday!

Robert Brown

Kriste Buck:
I didn't realize that ReceiptPro didn't work with database view users. We use database view as well. I just don't understand why Blackbaud is doing away with the option to run letters. Unfortunately, we just renewed with Blackbaud or we definitely would have been looking at a different company for our database. I feel Blackbaud has NOT given us much time for this change considering it was year end. Very Frustrated with Blackbaud at the moment!!!
As for letters - I guess we will have to simplify as well. : -(( I guess I better find that WORD Knowledgebase and start copying my templates.

As someone who uses ReceipterPro and never steps foot inside NXT except to log into the database view, I can guarantee that ReceipterPro does work with the database view. Even after the doing away with Microsoft functionality, we can still run exports as CSV files and import a CSV file with the necessary gift record ID to make ReceipterPro work. Also, while they are still a pretty small company, they are extremely reactive to ideas that are being requested. Since I've been using it they've added a ton of functionality, such as the ability to generate Soft Credit letters.