Acknowledgement Letter Type Assigned by Gift Amount

Melissa Walker · July 2018

Hello!

I am not sure if this is possible, but is there a way to assign a letter code automatically in gift batch that is based on the gift amount? Our CEO would like to sign all the letters for gifts at $2500 and above. We have several different letter types based on the campaign, event or appeal. I can create two versions of each letter type - one for under $2500 and one for above $2500, but that seems like it will result in too many different letters. Does anyone have a better solution? How do you handle multiple acknowledgement letter types and multiple signers?

Thank you!

Melissa

Ryan Hyde · July 2018

Ooohh, I actually have a great way to handle this. We used to use the same method as you described, where we have multiple letter types, but it's much more fool proof to simply have different mail modules for different gift values.

So, start by just having one letter type (we'll call it "General TY" for our purposes). For all gifts, you simply use the letter code "General TY" regardless of gift amount. Then, you're going to have two separate mail modules set up in Mail > Donor Acknowledgement Letters. The first one is called "Sign" and the second one is called "No Sign."

In your "Sign" module, you'll set up the General tab however you normally have it set up, but then in your "Filters" tab you'll go to the Gift Amounts section and set the filter to read "between $2,500 and $100,000,000." You can't have a simple "greater than" function here for some reason, so just pick an unrealistically high upper threshold and you should be fine.

In your "No Sign" module, you'll go to filters and say "between $0.01 and $2,499.99."

Then you'll set up the letter template in each module in an identical fashion, except in one you'll include the printed signature that you normally use, and in the other one you'll leave that out. Presto, now you have all of the letters that need signatures in one cohesive group without having to fiddle around with letter codes at the time of gift entry, thus reducing complexity and the possibility of human error.

Note: We do this for around a dozen different letter types, but we only do the two mail modules, sign and no-sign. We just include the same letter codes in the "Letters" filter for each module and let the Gift Amount filter do its work.

Alan French · July 2018

A genius idea that I may well be unashamedly stealing for our upcoming letter template review...

Ryan Hyde · July 2018

Yes, steal it! When I implemented this system a couple of years ago, it immediately sped out our acknowledgement system and made the whole process, end-to-end, much easier for my primary data entry person. She has to make fewer decisions now, and we all know how making a million tiny decisions all the time leads to fatigue and mistakes.

Melissa S Graves · July 2018

Melissa Walker:

Hello!

I am not sure if this is possible, but is there a way to assign a letter code automatically in gift batch that is based on the gift amount? Our CEO would like to sign all the letters for gifts at $2500 and above. We have several different letter types based on the campaign, event or appeal. I can create two versions of each letter type - one for under $2500 and one for above $2500, but that seems like it will result in too many different letters. Does anyone have a better solution? How do you handle multiple acknowledgement letter types and multiple signers?

Thank you!

Melissa

I simply use an if/then statement in my letter. If gift amount >=2,500 insert CEO name/title, else insert DOD name/title

In fact mine is a nested if/then statement based on who is the assigned solicitor, if the gift is a campaign gift or not, if the person is an alum, etc.

One letter code, one pull, multiple signers.

Jill Freidmutter · July 2018

Hi Melissa,

Are you using the If/Then statements in the actual Word doc? Would you be willing to share the If/Then statements you use?

Thank you, Jill

Joanne Felci 2 · July 2018

Jill Freidmutter:

Hi Melissa,

Are you using the If/Then statements in the actual Word doc? Would you be willing to share the If/Then statements you use?

Thank you, Jill

I'd be interested in this as well

Though Ryan - love your idea...that is what we did at my previous org

Melissa S Graves · July 2018

Sure - it is a complex nested code so it may be hard to read if you are not familiar with them.

Hang on while I save it as an image file because I can't email it either.

Melissa S Graves · July 2018

Melissa Graves:

Sure - it is a complex nested code so it may be hard to read if you are not familiar with them.

Hang on while I save it as an image file because I can't email it either.

See attached image.

Joanne Felci 2 · July 2018

WOW!!! That is some impressive code Melissa!

Lee Newcomb · July 2018

Great sample!

We started using the conditionals about 10 years ago & got rid of having to select from ~40 TY templates previously used. It made it easier to handle the Sincerely signatures with our amt. being $500, wording of recurring TYs diff. sources (e.g., "...for your TimePeriod gift of $100 on..." with TimePeriod usually bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, & annually), matches (e.g., "of $100 along with CompanyName's match"), ... in conjunction with gifts' Ref. field. If only MSWord had a case statement instead of my having to nest ~30 if/then/elses...

Jill Freidmutter · July 2018

Thank you Melissa! I never knew you could have conditional statements in Word docs. I now have a new tool. with appreciation, Jill

Melissa S Graves · July 2018

I could not live without conditional statements in my word docs. It helps me conditionalize based on fund, gift type, etc. It is phenomenal. Very little need for separate letter types.

However, I will say that mine tend to be complicated and if anyone ever needed to edit one without me they would be lost. I recommend making yours simpler to start.

Also - once you get into these it is even more important to make a second copy of the DAL setup as a backup. These setups do go corrupt sometimes and re-creating them can be a bear if you go with complicated conditionals.

Jennifer Lange · July 2018

Melissa Graves:

I could not live without conditional statements in my word docs. It helps me conditionalize based on fund, gift type, etc. It is phenomenal. Very little need for separate letter types.

However, I will say that mine tend to be complicated and if anyone ever needed to edit one without me they would be lost. I recommend making yours simpler to start.

Also - once you get into these it is even more important to make a second copy of the DAL setup as a backup. These setups do go corrupt sometimes and re-creating them can be a bear if you go with complicated conditionals.

I use Conditional Statement in my letter to add a PS If there's a tribute (If tribute is not blank, then add: "We noticed you gave in tribute to a loved one...."). We also use them based on payment type - if payment type is Pers Check or Bus Check, add in "Check number xxx dated XX/XX/XX." And also, "if Name on Check gift attribute is not blank", add "Name on check: _______" SOOOOO HELPFUL!!!!!

Joanne Felci 2 · September 2018

Melissa Graves:

Melissa Walker:

Hello!

I am not sure if this is possible, but is there a way to assign a letter code automatically in gift batch that is based on the gift amount? Our CEO would like to sign all the letters for gifts at $2500 and above. We have several different letter types based on the campaign, event or appeal. I can create two versions of each letter type - one for under $2500 and one for above $2500, but that seems like it will result in too many different letters. Does anyone have a better solution? How do you handle multiple acknowledgement letter types and multiple signers?

Thank you!

Melissa

I simply use an if/then statement in my letter. If gift amount >=2,500 insert CEO name/title, else insert DOD name/title

In fact mine is a nested if/then statement based on who is the assigned solicitor, if the gift is a campaign gift or not, if the person is an alum, etc.

One letter code, one pull, multiple signers.

Melissa,

Do you do all of this within the Mail function of RE - or are you exporting the data and doing the merge via Word outside of the database

Christine Cooke 2 · September 2018

We have multiple letter types for different funds etc. Our Head of School signs letters over a certain amount. So I use the If Then Else...

And set it up so that If Gift Amount is Greater Than or Equal To $5000 Then Signature is fill in the blank and if not the default Signature is fill in the blank. Works great.

Heather MacKenzie · September 2018

Wow, great ideas and tactics, everybody! I'm super impressed. Good work!

Acknowledgement Letter Type Assigned by Gift Amount

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