When managing larger bulk mailing lists for events and appeals, it is common to want to combine different target groups to create one big mailing list. For example, you might wish to target any combination of the following:
- All registrants to specified events, utilizing the Event Registrations schema.
- All attendees to specified events, utilizing the Event Attendance schema.
- Donors who have given to specific event or appeal in the past, utilizing the Contributions schema.
- A handpicked group of people identified by an existing or new attribute, utilizing the default schema*.
- Special groups of people already identified by attributes, utilizing the default schema*.
As shown above, this type of mailing list requires the use of multiple schemas and therefore a different approach to creating your final recipient group for your Gnosis Mail File Generation. Follow the steps below to complete this process.
*Persons with H'hold & Org Related Info
Step 1
Using existing reports, new reports and or the Ad Hoc Query tool, collect all PIDs for the various groups targeted.
Use the example provided above as a guide for your schema selection, also see Schema Selection for Queries for guidance.
Step 2
As a Gnosis Administrator, create a new tempory attribute named for this mailing, 2019 Special Events Invite, for example. See Attribute Management for guidance.
If you don't already have a Tempory category on the General Attributes tab, it is recommended to create one for these purposes.
Step 3
Use the Bulk Attribute tool to set this new attribute for all PIDs gathered in Step 1.
Step 4
Create new recipient groups in Communications, using the new attribute from Step 2 as the main qualifying data point. See Creating Recipient Groups for guidance. You must create separate groups for email and postal mail, as each use a different schema.
Recipient Group for Email Comms Item:
- Use the default schema,*Persons with H'hold & Org Related Info
- Criteria:
- New Attribute value = True
- Primary Email Address exists
Recipient Group for Bulk Mail/Mail File Generation Comms Items:
- Use the Persons Grouped by Household Schema
- Criteria:
- New Attribute value = True
- "Address Line 1 is greater than 1" or "Email Address exists"
(so that Only persons with an address or email are included) - plus any other desired criteria
Note on Organization mailings:
If you wish to send mail to organizations and organization contacts, you must create a third recipient group and Comms Item using one of the Organization-based schemas. If desired, you can create a temporary organization attribute in order to replicate this process for an organization mailing list.
Note on Mail File Numbers
When you run the final Comms Mail File item, the count will always be lower than the number of records pulled in the individual queries used in Step 1 above:
- Household mailings will return one line per household and not individual records.
- Communications automatically exclude opted-out records and invalid addresses; reporting results will not exclude these records. (Email Comms items will also show fewer records due to this fact.)
If you need to increase your mailing list numbers you may complete the following:
- Adjust one or more queries from Step 1 above to increase the number of records.
- Using the updated list of PIDs, update the attribute from Step 3.
- Run your Mail File Item again for an updated number of records.
You can repeat these steps as many times as necessary to land on the desired target household number, however, each time you run the Comms item you will be logging a Contact Mgmt note in the Gnosis records. To clean up the Contact Mgmt history, copy the final Comms Item, slightly renaming it. Run the final item one time and delete the initial item which was run multiple times.
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