Generating Letters in akoyaGO CRM
This document will guide you through generating letters in akoyaGO CRM. This process is available in the following entities: Contact, Constituent, Request, Donor, Fund, Gift, Request Payment, and Gift Payment.
Step One: Create System Views
Letter generation in akoyaGO CRM is dependent on System Views. We encourage an Admin User to build a System View for each entity where you will need to process letters. These System Views should include:
- All fields you would like to include in your letter as columns.
- For example, if you want to generate letters to Donors, you will create a System View from Donors & Prospects where each view column represents the fields you want to include in your letter.
- For example, if you want to generate letters to Donors, you will create a System View from Donors & Prospects where each view column represents the fields you want to include in your letter.
- Criteria to only display the records for which you need to run letters.
- For example, your criteria could be Requests where Date Notified is blank, or Gift Payments where Thank-you Date is blank.
- The criteria for your System Views will be specific to your organization.
For instructions on building System Views, please reference the Creating System Views knowledge article.
Step Two: Create Word Document
1. Create a new document in Microsoft Word. This will become your Letter Template File that will be uploaded to akoyaGO. Make sure your Word Document is formatted and appears how you want it to look once the data is inserted from akoyaGO.
Once you have created your language, headers, footers, etc, you are ready to begin inserting merge fields that will populate from data in akoyaGO.
2. From the top toolbar in Word, choose 1) Insert 2) Quick Parts 3) Field
3. In the first section labeled Please choose a field, choose Merge Field.
In the second section labeled Field properties, type the Field name exactly as it appears in the header of your System View. Please note if the Field name on the Word Document does not match the field name from the akoyaGO System View exactly, the merge will not work.
4. Click OK. The field will be inserted into your Word Document.
Once inserted, a merge field will be surrounded by chevrons and should look like this: <<Formal Default (Donor) >>
5. Repeat these steps for all merge fields that need to be inserted.
6. Save your completed Word Document.
Step Three: Create Letter Template File and Letter Template in akoyaGO
Next, you will create two records in akoyaGO:
Letter Template File: the record where you will upload your Word Document
Letter Template: the record where you will assign this file and set additional parameters such as the entity it is Regarding, the View it should reference, etc.
1. From the Letter Templates entity in akoyaGO (access from the side navigation bar, Mailings section), choose +New to create a new Letter Template:
2. From here you will set up your Letter Template File. This is where you will upload your Word Document prepared in the last step.
Click into the Letter Template File field and click +New Letter Template File:
Please Note: If you are using a Letter Template File that has already been created in akoyaGO (aka you are using a Word Document that has already been uploaded), you can search for it here instead of creating a new Letter Template File.
3. A new Letter Template File form will open. Give your Letter Template File a name. As a best practice, the Letter Template File Name should include alphanumeric characters only. Avoid using special characters in the Letter Template Name.
Click Save. This will create the Letter Template File record.
4. Upload your Word Document by clicking Choose File. Search for the Word Document that you created in the previous step.
You will not see the option to Choose File until you have clicked Save.
5. Once you have uploaded your file, click Save & Close to return to the Letter Template form.
6. In the Letter Template File field, search for the Letter Template File that you just created.
7. Assign your Letter Template Name. As a best practice, the Letter Template Name should include alphanumeric characters only. Avoid using special characters in the Letter Template Name. We recommend giving your Letter Template File and Letter Template the same name to avoid confusion.
Click save to create the Letter Template record.
8. Set the Regarding To field. This will be the entity where you created your System View/where you will run your letters.
9. After you have set the Regarding To field, a list of System Views will populate in the Select a View field. Choose the System View that you have created for your letters.
10. Select Sort Order to determine the order in which your letters will be printed. Click Save.
When you are done, your Letter Template should look like this:
Before moving on, confirm all setup has been completed:
- Create System View(s)
- Create Word Document
- Create a Letter Template File in akoyaGO (you have uploaded your Word Document to akoyaGO)
- Create Letter Template record in akoyaGO
Please Note: You do not need to complete these setup steps every time you run letters. Once you have completed this initial setup, you can start from the Generate Letters step.
Step Four: Generate Letters
Before moving on, confirm all setup has been completed:
1. Open your System View from the entity where you are running your letters.
*Make sure you are running letters from the same System View that you chose when setting up your Letter Template. If you try to generate a letter for a record that is not included in the System View listed on the Letter Template, the letter will not be generated for this record.
2. Select the records from the System View that need letters.
3. With the records selected, click Generate Letters from the top bar:
4. Choose your Letter Template that was set up in the previous step. Click Generate.
5. This creates a Letter Template Session. A session will be created each time you generate letters.
In the top header bar, you will see a green notification that your letters are processing. You can click Letter Template Session to check the status of your letters:
6. When the Letter Template Session is complete, you will see a Status of Succeeded. You will also receive a notification in the top toolbar by clicking the bell icon:
Step Five: Print Letters
1. You can access the PDF of completed letters from the notification in the top toolbar or from the Letter Template Session directly. From the Notification, click View PDF.
This will open a PDF that includes all letters merged into a single PDF for printing. To access the PDF from the Letter Template Session, click Related > Documents
You can also access past Letter Template Sessions from the from the Letter Template record directly:
2. An individual letter is also saved to each record that you selected from your view under the Documents section:
*Depending on the record type you are running letters for, you may have to click Related to access Documents.
To summarize, when you click Generate Letters, a Letter Template Session is created.
When this Session is complete, the following has occurred:
- A PDF with all merged letters was created for printing.
- You can access this PDF from the Documents section of the Letter Template Session (which you can access from the Letter Template directly) or from the notification in the top toolbar – bell icon.
- Individual letters will be saved to the Documents section for each individual record for which you ran a letter.
Step Six: Bulk Edit to Update Data in akoyaGO
Once you have successfully processed and printed your letters, akoyaGO best practice is to update your data so these records no longer appear on your view as needing letters. The quickest way to do this is to bulk edit.
For example, if the criteria of your System View is Date Acknowledged is blank, you should bulk update all records to set a Date Acknowledged after letters have been sent.
These records will then no longer meet the criteria of your System View and will be removed, so you know their letters have been processed.
To bulk edit, select the records from your System View and click Edit from the top toolbar:
Update any necessary field(s). Please note this will update data for all selected records to the value you enter:
In the example above, I have five records selected from my view. I then entered a Thank-you date of 8/6/24 from the Bulk Edit form.
It now will set that date as the Thank you Date for all five records, removing them from my Thank You Letter System View.
Step Seven: Maintaining and Updating your Letters
If you need to make any changes to your Word Document, follow the steps below.
1. Open your Letter Template.
2. Select the Letter Template File.
3. To download a copy of the Word Document, click the Template File.docx name.
4. Make changes in Microsoft Word and save your updated document.
5. When you are ready to update a new Word Document, click Delete.
6. Click Choose File to upload your updated Word Document.