Managing Thank-You Letters

The letter code, which can be entered along with the contribution, signifies the particular letter that is being mailed. For example some donors might receive a "chairman" or "candidate" letter.

The letter code does not indicate that a thank-you letter has actually been sent.

That is the function of the Mailed checkbox and date. Usually this is filled in automatically when the mail merge is created.

Under Reports : File Search, choose Mail Merge for the output.

The Mark for Mail checkbox will apply the current date in the Mail column to every record selected, signifying that the letter was mailed today.

The Unmailed Only checkbox, as its name suggests, will generate a merge file only for those that haven't been marked for mail.

On the Code Search tabs (Receipts 1, Contacts, Lists, Workers) records can be included, skipped or excluded on the basis of the mail date.

Another way to mark items as mailed is to first create the merge file from a search, and then mark the search results. Close the search screen and go to Mail Merge : Create Merge file to create a mail merge file from the most recent search results. Then go to Mail Merge : Utilities : Mark Mail Merge Records.

If you'd like to utilize the letter codes in your thank-you system, here's the simplest method:

1. 1. Add the letter codes to the appropriate receipts.
2. 2. Go to Reports : File Search : Receipts 1 and search for a particular letter code.
3. 3. Choose Mail Merge for the output. Check Mark for Mail and Unmailed only.

To see of a list of those mailed on a partcular date range, go to Reports : File Search : Receipts 1 : Mail Dates. Choose a date range. You can choose the Skip box to disregard all receipts mailed during those dates, or Exclude to remove from your search anyone mailed between those dates.