Create a mailing

Introduction

IMPORTANT NOTE: LGL Mailings are typically used for mail appeals and other similar types of mailings. Sending gift acknowledgments requires a different and separate process, which you can read about here.

Instructions for how to create an LGL mailing are provided in the following sections.

Create your mailing

To add a new mailing, click on the Send mail button from the Mailings page.

You can also click on the Send Mail button on the Constituents tab to add a mailing to the search results for the current constituent query loaded in the page.

If you clicked the Send mail button from a search you created in the Constituents tab, you'll be taken to Step 1 of the mailing builder, and your search will be loaded here as well:

If you click Send mail from the Mailings tab, you'll be taken to Step 1 of the mailing builder, and you will need to create a search for the constituents you want to send your mailing to.

Next you'll build your mailing list. When you are happy with it, click the blue Next button to proceed to creating your letter content and selecting labels or envelopes.

You can add a name for your mailing in step 3: Mailing options, but any data in the mailing, such as the constituents you are sending to, is immediately saved. So even if you don't get to step 3 or forget to name your mailing, it will still be saved.

Create your letter

You can set up your letters using one of three options:

A Word document using the [[letter_content]] “super” merge field
A Word document with all merge fields entered manually into the Word doc
The simple LGL letter editor (an onscreen editor with merge fields you can add with a single click)

NOTE: If you do not have MS Word, you will need to use the simple LGL letter to create your letters in order to guarantee proper formatting.

Your mailing defaults to using a Word document with the [[letter_content]] merge field. (See #1 in the screenshot below.) Customers who use this approach can enjoy both:

a) The power of MS Word to embed letterhead, footers, and sidebars, and

b) The simplicity of pulling in a merge field with a single click

If you would like to pull in an existing template or use the LGL Editor to create your letter, you can also do that by choosing from the template dropdown. (See #2 in the screenshot below.) At any point, you can re-set the template you want to use for your letter by choosing a template from the Template dropdown menu.

You can create your letter in one of two ways, by using a Word document to create a letter template, which you can add merge fields to and format more precisely. You can also use a built-in content field to create your letter content, which offers a straightforward way to create a letter template but is not as flexible in terms of formatting.

To use an MS Word document as your letter template, click on the Upload new file button and browse for the file. Please be sure to leave the Template dropdown menu selection set to "Custom MS Word" if you are uploading a Word document. Note that if you do not upload a document of your own, a basic Word template is in place by default, in case you need it.

Read this article for more details on how to create MS Word letters for use in LGL mailings and/or templates.

Manage your mailing's content, and review and print your letters

At this point, it's a great idea to click the Preview button so that you can get a look at the first five letters in your mailing. If anything looks amiss, you can update your Word document and then click the Preview button again. Lather, rinse, and repeat until the letters look the way you want them to.

If you used the default [[letter_content]] and/or [[ps_content]] merge fields option, you can write or update your content and merge fields in the Letter Content and P.S. Content fields within the mailing:

If you use this method, you will need to set your template to "Custom LGL (PDF)", so that LGL knows to populate your letter with content from the [[letter_content]] and/or the [[ps_content]] merge fields.

To use the simple LGL letter editor and generate a PDF letter without MS Word, you will need to set your template to “Custom LGL (PDF)” to draft your letter. You can make edits directly in the Letter Content field.

Select your label/envelope preferences

You can also configure your preferences for labels and envelopes here:

You will need to choose which template to use for either labels or envelopes and customize the address block for each. You can also preview how the label or envelope will look:

For information about how to build new label and envelope templates, see the following articles:

Update your label/envelope printing preferences, and choose which template to use for each.

Then click Next to name your mailing and configure its settings.

Review, download, and print your mailing

This step gives you the opportunity to review the details of your mailing.

You can make sure you have the correct templates applied and confirm that the data in the Address block preview is correct. You can also see if any of the constituents in your search are being excluded (due to communication tags applied in their constituent records or invalid mailing addresses).

If you need to make changes at any point, you can jump around to any of the steps in the mailing builder to make updates, and the details of your mailing will not change unless you change them.

From this page, you can also download your letters and your envelopes or templates and print them, by clicking the applicable Download All buttons:

NOTE: If your mailing has more than 50 recipients, a Generate all button will appear in place of the Download all button. Click the Generate all button and then the Download all button when it appears.This will download the files containing your letters or your envelopes or labels to your computer, where you can open them in Word and print them, just like you would do with any other Word document.

Update the status of your mailing from Draft to Sent

You can mark the mailing as "Sent" if you have printed your letters and envelopes/labels. This will move your mailing into the Sent mailings page, where it becomes part of your mailing history.