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Bulk Mail

Letters

An overview of letters for bulk mailing in MinistryPlatform.

  • Letters are a report-based feature used to generate mail-merged documents.
  • Letters follow a strict layout: they have a predefined header, body, and footer.
  • You can't use Data Fields in your letter body.

Letter Headers

All letters automatically include the date, address, salutation, and whatever data fields are part of that report.

Letter Body

The body of the letter made up of the Letter Opening, Letter Body, and Letter From fields. You can only use a small subset of HTML in the output, so it's best to stick with paragraphs and basic formatting. The system ignores all but the most basic styles.

Here is a list of HTML elements that you can use:

  • Hyperlinks: <a>
  • Headers: <h1> to <h6>
  • Basic Block elements: <div> <p>
  • Text format: <font> <b> <i> <u> <s> <span>
  • Lists: <ol> <ul> <li>

Font Size

To change the font size, you must use the source view and alter the HTML. The following snippets are examples of HTML that affect the font size. Experiment to get the result you want.

<h1>Headings have a predetermined size</h1>
<p style="font-size:24pt">This paragraph uses a style</p>
<p><font size="18">This paragraph uses the font tag</font></p>

Images

The system doesn't support all images and may omit some images. It may be best to pre-print images on letterhead. If you must use images in body fields, you may want to use the Selected Mail Merge Report. You must use bitmaps to generate PDFs.

Alternate Mail Merge Options

To overcome limitations of the Letters Report, you could use the Export action and the Selected Mail Merge Report to use Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word for mail merges.

Create a Letter

Steps to create letters for bulk mailing in MinistryPlatform.

  1. Go to Communications > Letters.
  2. Click New Letter.
  3. For Letter Title, enter the name of your letter.
  4. For Page, select the page in MinistryPlatform where you want this letter to be available.
  5. For Letter Opening, enter the text you want as the first part after the salutation or before the pledge data, if you want to use this letter on the Pledge page.
    Note: If you leave this field blank, it will display Please add text to... on the Selected Letter report. So make sure to enter information here!
  6. For Letter Body, enter the text you want as the last part before the closing or after the pledge data.
  7. For Letter From, enter the closing that prints at the bottom of your letter.
  8. If you're ready to use the letter, set Active to Yes.
  9. To send the letter to a specific congregation, select this congregation from the drop-down list.
  10. Click Save.

Review a Letter

Steps to create and view letters for bulk mailing in MinistryPlatform.

  1. Go to Communications > Letters.
  2. Create your letter.
  3. Go to page in MinistryPlatform where you want to use the letter.
  4. Select the records to generate a letter.
  5. From the Reports menu, select Selected <Records> Letter.
    Selected Pledge Letter on the Pledges page
  6. In the Report window, select your letter from the Letter drop-down list. The letters available in the drop-down list depend on the Page value set on the Letter record.
  7. Set the report parameters as needed.
    Depending on the page you selected, the parameters of the report may be different.
    • Donors:
      • Closing: Enter your text.
      • Show Spouse Name: Set to Yes or No.
    • Donations:
      • Closing: Enter your text.
    • Pledges:
    • Milestones Assigned:
      • Closing: Enter your text.
      • Congregation Pastor Title: Enter your text.
      • Exclude If Email on File: Set to Yes or No.
    • Responses:
      • Closing: Enter your text.
      • Congregation Pastor Title: Enter your text.
      • Exclude If Email on File: Set to Yes or No.
  8. Click View Report to review the letters.
You can export or print the letters if needed.
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Last updated: July 12, 2024