How to Generate a Mail Merge List for Printed Letters
Did you know you can easily create a mail merge list from your MonkeyPod data to use in your favorite word processing program? It’s a simple way to prepare personalized letters and streamline your workflow. Read on to learn how!
What is 'mail merge'?
Mail merge is a process that allows you to create and send personalized documents, such as letters or mailing labels, to multiple recipients efficiently. It works by combining a template document (like a letter in Microsoft Word) with a data source (like a spreadsheet from MonkeyPod) that contains the specific details (e.g., names, addresses, or other personalized fields) for each recipient.
While this is slightly outside of the scope of MonkeyPod, here is a link to Microsoft Support to show you how to do this.
How can I generate the mail merge list from my MonkeyPod?
MonkeyPod makes it easy to generate and export a list of your relationships to an Excel file.
- Use your MonkeyPod's Advanced Search to find the subset of relationships you want to include in the mail merge file.
- Export the list by clicking the "Export Details" button on the Advanced Search screen. (The list will be emailed to you.)
- Download the list and perform your mail merge in Microsoft Word or other word processing tool using the list as your recipient list!
Can I create annual giving letters using MonkeyPod and mail merge?
Yes! This is a popular use of mail merge, and MonkeyPod's "Year-End Giving Summary" report makes it really easy. To generate a list of all donors, including their addresses and amount given for the year, simply select Reports from the main menu, and under the "Fundraising & Sales" header, choose Year-End Giving Summary.
Verify that the correct calendar year is selected at the top of the list, and then click "Export CSV File" to create the file.
MonkeyPod will present the additional fields you can add to the export. If you're printing and mailing your letters, for example, you'll probably want to include all of the address fields.
Click "Export" when you've made all your selections and the file will be emailed to you. Save that file to your computer and select it when Word (or another word processor) prompts you for the recipient list when setting up your mail merge document—and you're all set!
Note: The Year-End Giving Summary reports total giving by donors during a specified calendar (not fiscal) year. It is intended to show the total amount available for tax donations, so soft credits, pledges, and grant awards don't count, but pledge payments and grant payments do.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I want to export a list related to specific fundraising asks/campaign?
If you want to generate a list with fundraising information, simply go to Reports > Contributions Details.
Want more amazing video content? Check out our YouTube channel!