How to use Merge Tags in Email Campaigns
MonkeyPod's merge tags provide an easy way for you to deliver personalized emails to your subscribers. Merge tags act as smart placeholders that are automatically replaced with each recipient’s specified information when the campaign is sent. This lets you include details like a subscriber’s name, giving history, membership status, and more.
How do I use merge tags?
Merge tags are added into the content of an email campaign. You can add them into Email Templates or right into the content of a regular email.
To insert a merge tag into an email:
- Go to the email campaign (Email Outreach > View and Create Campaigns > Content) or email template (Email Outreach > Templates) that you want to modify.
- Find the block of text where you want to insert the personalized merge tag.
- Select Merge Tags from the popup menu, as shown in the screenshot below.
- Choose the merge tag you want to add.
How do I insert a merge tag into the subject line of an email?
If you want to personalize the subject line of an email, you can adding a merge tag in the subject line of your email campaign.
For example, adding ::subscriber.first_name:: to your subject line will insert the recipient's first name.
What merge tags are available to me?
The list below provides the ::merge tag:: and description of the tag's use. You can copy directly from this page and paste the merge tag into your MonkeyPod email campaign or use the Merge Tag menu in the formatting bar when editing the content of your campaign message.
| MERGE TAG | RESULT | EXAMPLE |
| Personalization |
|
|
| ::subscriber.first_name:: | Subscriber first name |
Audrey |
| ::subscriber.last_name:: | Subscriber last name |
Givure |
| ::subscriber.household:: | Household name |
Audrey & Joe Givure
|
| ::subscriber.email:: | Subscriber email address |
givure@example.com
|
| ::subscriber.address:: | Subscriber street, city, zip, state, and country |
123 Main St. Honolulu, HI 96816 United States |
| Donation Information |
|
|
| ::donations.lifetime:: | Donor's lifetime donation total (includes non-deductible amount) |
$15,000.00 |
| ::donations.this_fy:: | Donor's gift total for this fiscal year (includes non-deductible amount) |
$4,500.00 |
| ::donations.last_fy:: | Donor's gift total for last fiscal year (includes non-deductible amount) |
$8,200.00 |
|
::calendarYearTotalGiving.2025:: (replace 2025 with desired year) |
Total gifts in chosen calendar year (includes non-deductible amounts) |
$1,025.00 |
|
::calendarYearDeductible.2025:: (replace 2025 with desired year) |
Tax-deductible gift amount for chosen calendar year (for year-end tax purposes) |
$1,000.00 |
| Campaigns |
|
|
| ::organization:: | Your organization name |
Stewardship for Tomorrow
|
| ::unsubscribeLink:: | "Unsubscribe from this list" link |
Unsubscribe from this list
|
| ::unsubscribeUrl:: | URL to unsubscribe from the list (see also Special Links below) |
https:// ...
|
| ::webviewUrl:: | URL to view email message in a web page (see also Special Links below) |
https:// ...
|
| ::campaign.name:: | Name of the email campaign |
Monthly Newsletter
|
| ::list.name:: | Name of the email list |
Newsletter Subscribers
|
| Memberships |
|
|
| ::membership.level:: | Membership level |
Premium Member
|
| ::membership.paid_through:: | Membership paid-through date |
Dec 31, 2025 |
| ::membership.start_date:: | Membership start date |
Jan 5, 2025 |
| Other |
|
|
| ::today:: | Today's date |
January 21, 2025 |
| ::community_portal_url:: | URL to Community Portal |
https:// ...
|
Note: If there is no value for a tag (for example, a first name has not been entered in the relationship record), the space where the tag was will be left blank. Zero dollar amounts will be shown as $0.00.
Special Links
When composing the content of your email campaign, the link icon in the formatting palette can be used to insert the URLs (web addresses) for special MonkeyPod links including MonkeyPod fundraising pages, unsubscribe links, an the link to view the campaign in a web page. This gives you the option of using any text in your message as a link to those URLs. To get started, select the text and click the link icon.
Then, instead of entering a URL, just choose the desired link from the Special Links menu and click Save.
Frequently Asked Questions
What will it look like if the field isn't populated?
For example, if I use the merge tags ::subscriber.first_name:: ::subscriber.last_name:: and there isn't a first name entered for the subscriber, what will be displayed?
If there is nothing in the field, it will be skipped. For example, if your campaign content starts with "Dear ::subscriber.first_name:: ::subscriber.last_name::" and the subscriber's first name is not entered and the last name is Bahm, the email would start with "Dear Bahm".
Is there a merge tag to include a link to a fundraising page?
There's not a merge tag, but you can include a link to a MonkeyPod fundraising page by using the Special Links option when writing the content of your campaign. In the Content tab for the campaign, select the text you would like to turn into a link to the fundraising page. Next, choose the link icon from the formatting palette. In the link dialog, choose Special Links and select your fundraising page.
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