The first step in creating a Form Letter or doing a Mail Merge is to create your template document. If you have not completed this step, please click here. Salsa Labs provides downloadable templates for thank you and donation receipt form letters that enable you to easily craft and upload form letters into Salsa CRM. Click here for links to the downloadable templates.
Once your template has been created, you must use the configuration screen to define the type of template. This will make the template available to you on the appropriate Salsa CRM screens. For example, Thank You document templates will be available in the Thank You letter field on the Donation screen after the template is defined as a ‘Donation’ type.
After you have created a Thank You Document Template, follow the instructions below to define what ‘type’ of Form Letter it is,
- From the main menu select Manage and then Configuration.
- The Configuration window will be open. Select Form Letters & Receipts from the Explorer.
- The right panel will change to display the Form Letters List Configuration.
- Select the Add Form Letter to Screen button.
NOTE: You can also Edit or Delete Form Letters. The edit option is for editing the description of the Form Letter or the type. It does not allow editing of the document content. To edit the text of the document, open the file in Google Docs, edit, then Save. - Type a Name for the Form Letter, and press the Tab key. The Name you enter here is the name that shows up in the dropdown list on the screen type you will select in the next step.
- Select the Type of Form Letter. The Type (such as Donation or Receipt, etc.) tells Salsa CRM on which screen or field to display this Form Letter:
- If you select a Type of Receipt, you will have the option to select if the receipt is Tax Deductible or Non-Tax Deductible.
- If you choose something other than Receipt, this option will be inactive. Please see the Configuration & Security Section for information on Receipts Configuration.
PRO TIP: Some screens within Salsa CRM provide quick access to Form Letters by using drop-down lists. The Donation screen is one example. On this screen, you can select letters that are specifically for donations. The different Thank You letters are examples that display on the Donation screen. The Acknowledgment and Honor Postcard letters are specific to the Acknowledgment Wizard available on the Tools menu. The Solicitation, Event and General letters are specific to the Donation Statistics Wizard.
- By default, the Display on Dropdown checkbox is selected. This option allows you to choose whether or not a letter appears on the dropdown list of the corresponding screen. If you have outdated form letters that are causing your Thank You letter lists to grow too long, you can ‘remove’ an existing Form Letter from this list. To ‘remove’ an existing letter from a dropdown list, highlight the appropriate letter and either double-click or select the Edit Form Letter/Screen Link button. When the Edit Form Letter/Screen Link window opens, uncheck the Display on Dropdown option and Save this change. The next time you open the screen where the letter used to appear, it will no longer be in the dropdown list.
- The Delivery Method option lets you select if the document is going to be used for standard mail (Mail) or as an E-Thank You (Email). If you are sending an E-Thank You, it's best to use just simple text and no images to ensure that email recipients will be able to see the contents of your email.
- Once you have selected Mail as the Delivery Method, you can now select the document you wish to use as this form letter. Choose the Select Document button and the Document Search screen will be displayed.
- Place your cursor in the Description field and type the Name of the document you stored in the Word Processor. You must also select the proper Document Type. (The image below demonstrates searching for the document created in the previous section. The document, Donation Thank You Letter January 2010, had been stored in the database as a .doc file.)
- Select Search. NOTE: Wildcards are supported, but not assumed, therefore if you wish to find all documents that have a name beginning with the letter T type T*.
- Double click on the desired document. That document name now appears on the ‘Add Form Letter to Screen’ pop-up window.
- Press Save. Your document is now a Form Letter and is displayed in the list of Form Letters on the selected screen.
- The video shows a new donation screen with the documents available from the Letter drop-down menu. The Bold documents are Summary Letters.
