Using If, Then Word Merge Fields in Honor/Memorial Family Ack Letters

Danielle Pierleoni

I am posing a question to the Blackbaud Community regarding using "if, then" Microsoft Word merge fields in honor/memorial family acknowledgement letters in the Raiser's Edge Mail module. I want to say that if there are more than three gifts given to a specific tribute during the time frame specified in the mail file, then I want to include a specific text in the merged acknowledgement letter so that I can notify the family member to view the attached honor/memorial tribute donor report.


However, in some cases we are notifying an honoree of more than three donors who have given in honor of their "special birthday" and the tribute record for their "special birthday" has existed for many years. What happens then is that Raiser's Edge looks at the number of gifts given to that tribute record over the tribute record's lifetime. It doesn't just look at the number of gifts given during the mail file date range specified.


Is there a way to accomplish my goal, which is to change the text in the family ack letter if there are more than three gifts given to that tribute record during the time frame specified using the "if, then' Word merge field or is there another way to do this? Please advise.

Dariel Dixon 2

I'm not sure if the number of gifts given can have a date filter applied to it.  I was looking into this exact issue as well (our magic number is also 3 tributes).  So far, I've been unable to export the number of tributes consistently in the way you are describing.  


Once you determine that how to get that value calculated, it is possible to create if/then statements with the mail merge using field codes.  I'm certain that you can't use the built in if-then-else function, but will have to write them yourself using the field codes.  However, it is very possible.  It may take more time to create the documents, but that is to be expected.