This article goes over the process of creating email/letter (previously called Snailer) templates, covering where to create them, how to preview a template, and how to create one effectively.
Overview
Email/letter templates are used for any mailing, email, receipt, etc., that will be sent to your contacts from Kindful. Any of those types of communication will require a template to be made, enabling Kindful to generate communications like Acknowledgements and receipts.
Linked Articles:
- Set Up Automatic Emailed Donation Receipts
Creating An Email/Letter Template
From Communication, click Templates. Here you can see you your existing templates, where you can Edit, Duplicate, or Delete them. They're broken down by the type of template, such as an Acknowledgement, a Transaction Receipt, or Thank You Letter. By clicking on the different headings, you can view your different types of templates.
Please Note: If you have no templates created, you will only see the "Tax Summary" option.
When you're ready to make a new template, click Create New Template.
Template Settings
There are a handful of fields you'll have to fill out before creating the body of the template.
Please note that "Snailer" has been replaced with "Email/Letter".
| Name | For your use to name and identify the template (not visible to donor). |
| Subject | If you're sending an email, this is what will show in the email's subject. |
| Email/Letter type | You'll choose what type of template it is based on the purpose and medium of the communication. Some types will show a line of help text when you select them. |
| Custom Header Settings | Your header settings default to include headers generated by Kindful. If you print on a letterhead, you can turn this template's Custom Header Setting to 'Off' to disable Kindful's headers. |
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Embeddable?
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When you choose to make a template "embeddable" this allows the entire template to be embedded into another template. Example: If you made template A embeddable, then when you create template B, you could choose to place template A in the body of B.
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| Margins | When you are creating a template that is to be printed and mailed, you can set template margins. Set margins on the following template types: Acknowledgement, Solicitation, Newsletter, Marketing, Custom, Thank You Letter. You can set the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right margins. |
Margins will default to 0.75". You can adjust the margins anywhere from .5-3" to best fit your letterhead. At any time, clicking “Reset Margins to Default” will restore the margins to 0.75".
If you enter in margins that are outside of our accepted range, Kindful will alert you by highlighting in red which margins are incorrect, as well as a reminder about the accepted range.
Template Body
As you create the body of your template, please be sure to either type in all your text manually, or paste non-rich (or formatted) text.
Tags populate with the corresponding information in the contact's profile. Some examples are Transaction Amount and Transaction Date.
The use of tags is highly encouraged, as it helps customize the email or letter to that specific donor.
When you're finished, click Create Template to save your work.
If you wish to have a footer present on your templates, we advise typing it manually into each template. You can use a small font size, italicize it, center it, etc., so it feels as though it is a set footer. However, it will need to be added to each template created.
Of Note: Do not copy and paste directly from a word processor (e.g. Microsoft Word). This will bring in unwanted formatting. Please either type your text into the template editor, or copy your text from Word and paste it into a plain text editor (NotePad, TextEdit, etc.) in order to remove the hidden formatting. You can then copy this plain text version into your template body.
At the end hit "Create Template" to save. It will not save unless all required fields are filled out. Once it is created and saved the screen will reload to the templates screen.
Previewing a Template
Once a template has been created and saved, you can return to Edit it and there is a link to Preview that template at the bottom. This can often use filler information (not tagged data), so it can be confusing.
You are free to generate as many versions of a Mail Merge template as needed to preview a template. If the template you have is one to be printed (Solicitation, Newsletter, Marketing, Custom, or Thank You type), we advise running a standard mail merge on a contact to download and view. Doing this will not have any negative effects on the contact record.
If you set your template as a Transaction & Non-Cash Gift Receipt, this can be generated as both the automated email receipt sent to your donor and a PDF receipt that is created when you select Print Receipt on a donor's transaction activity. Follow the steps here to Set Up Automatic Emailed Receipts, and once your templates are properly configured either on a Campaign level or on the Organization level, you can test out your template by finding an Activity and expanding the options to click on Print Receipt.
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