A supporter's most recent donation in dollars-and-cents

When you create a donation, you have the ability to use the most recent donation for calculations.  That's available via the "Add dynamic content" widget in the email blast editor.

Unfortunately, the resulting amount is not very attractive.  A donation of $25 appears simply as "25". If you'd prefer a most recent donation that has both dollars and cents (like "25.00"), then read on!

Solution

The solution is to add a SalsaScript script to the email blast that finds and formats the most recent donation amount.  SalsaScript is the native language for Salsa.  It runs on the server as the email blast is being prepared to send.  The best part is that your supporters will not see the script, but they will see the formatted amount.

Installation

Here are some steps that you can use to add the solution to your email blast.

1. Edit the email blast.  Click here to learn more about creating and editing email blasts.
2. Click on the "Content" tab in the email blast editor.

3. Click on the "Source" button in the What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor.  If there's already content in the email blast, then it will appear as HTML . (basically really messy text).

4. Position the cursor in the top left corner of the HTML content and press enter to create an empty line.

5. Click here to see the page where the solution lives.
6. Locate and click the "Raw" button.  A new window will appear that contains just the solution.
7. Copy the contents of the window and close it.
8. Return to the email blast editor.
9. Paste the copied text into the newly inserted line in the HTML content.
10. Save the email blast.
11. Click on the "Text Content" tab and copy the HTML Content into the Text Content.
12. Save the email blast.

Positioning the amount

Salsa will create a SalsaScript variable containing the dollars-and-cents amount of the most recent donation. The variable is named "amount". Please note that the "amount" variable is not a merge field.   It requires a special process to place "amount" where you want it to go.  Here are some steps that you can use.

1. Click the "Content" tab for the email blast.

2. Click the "HTML Content" tab in the editor.  If there's already content, then you should see the content.
3. Position the cursor where "amount" should appear and type in "pizza".  (It doesn't really matter what you type in as long as it stands out in the email blast.) Use "pizza" everywhere that you'd like the dollars-and-sense amount of the most recent donation to appear.  For example:

4. Click the "Source" button in the WYSIWYG editor menu. The contents will be converted to HTML.

5. Copy this text.  It's the instructions that Salsa needs to insert the "amount" variable.

$<?= amount ?>

6. Find all instances of "pizza" in the email blast and replace each with the copied text.

when you are done, the source will look something like this:

7. Save the email blast.
8. Click on the Text Content tab and copy the HTML Content.
9. Save the email blast.
10. Test! Click here for an article that shows how to preview email blasts without sending any  test messages.

Questions?

If you have any questions, then please gather this information.

• Your organization_KEY
• Your chapter_KEY if you are in a chapter
• The email_blast_KEY that you are viewing
• A screenshot of the page, if possible.

Send this information to support@salsalabs.com, and we'll be glad to help