Using a Handheld Scanner for Direct Mail Appeals

Hi Lauren,


When you write "does not populate the information correctly", what does that mean? Is it pulling up the wrong constituent, or the wrong coding?


Does the direct mail vendor determine the QR code?


I used to do this in house with a barcode. The functionality in RE is under Mail | Appeal Cards. The only thing I used it for was to generate the barcodes, which I would then append to my mailing list that was done using Export because there were a lot of other fields required. That was sent to a mail house who printed the reply card with the barcode on it.


That being said, I do believe there is information in the knowledgebase about how to set up barcodes if you don't use RE to do it. There is intel built in to the barcode - specific characters in a specific order - that determine how to interpret the scanned code. It might be worth reviewing that and sharing with your vendor. Literally all you do is generate that string of characters and then apply a specific barcode font to it that allows the scanner to read it.


Karen

Hi,


Sorry - my response about barcoding being within appeal cards needed some additional information. It isn't that obvious, but you can find it under "fields to include":




When you have Gifts.Gift barcode highlighted, you need to click Options and select a Fund. And under the Format tab, click Output Options and that is where you specify the appeal and package. So you'll need an input query for each package.


Did your direct mail vendor generate the QR codes? You might need to do some research in Blackbaud's knowledgebase about the specific format needed so that you can inform your vendor.


Karen

The vendor can also create these code setups. This is just one option from RE. I think it would be helpful to search the knowledgebase for the details of how to set these up, and then you can talk to your new direct mail vendor about it.


Karen