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HOW TO Sending Acknowledgements

Objective

This document outlines the process on how to send Acknowledgement letters for gifts and donations from individuals and corporations. You will need access to PacSci’s file network, Excel, Word, Adobe Pro, and Tessitura. Note that is part two in the acknowledgement process and part one is Creating Acknowledgements.

1. Prep Letters for Sending

a) How to Send Acknowledgement Emails Manually

b) How to Auto Send Acknowledgement Emails
2. Uploading PDFs to Tessitura

Stuff-to-Know

Watch a 40-minute process video here
This is part two of the Acknowledgement process. Part one is Creating Acknowledgements
Your main points of contacts regarding acknowledgements are Paul Chiocco, Amy Zarlengo (Coporate Gifts), and Aubrey Beals (Individual Gifts)
Acronyms:

IG: Individual Giving
CFR: Corporate Giving

Prep Letters for Sending

1) Review and update your Acknowledgement Tracker Sheet as letters are approved by Aubrey, Paul, and Amy. Once all letters are approved move on to the sending portion for this task

a) Located under this file path:

i) \\files\Staff\Development\Admin\How Tos, Forms, & Templates\How To's\Gift Entry, Acknowledgements, Benefits How-to's\Tessitura
b) Be sure to record the date in which the letter is sent and identify any letter requests to be received by physical mail

2) Find the letters you saved during the Creating Acknowledgements phase by going to the folder or clicking on the links you provided in your email to Development

3) After opening the letters in Word, save the files as PDFs to this file location on your computer:

a) Network > files > Staff > Development > Admin > Gift Entry and Acknowledgements > Acknowledgements > Volunteer projects FY20

4) Before saving, create a new folder with the date if one doesn't already exist

a) If applicable, use separate folders for IG and CFR if you're still waiting for approval from someone

5) Open the PDF file and scan through all of the letters to ensure there are no formatting issues

6) Extract the pages from the PDF so that they’re all their own file

a) How to in Adobe:

i) Click on the green button with blocks in the right-side tool bar
ii) Change page amount to "All Pages"
iii) Click "Extract"
iv) Check the box titled "Extract pages as seperate files"
v) Then press the blue "Extract" button
vi) Save a local folder on your computer

(1) It is recommended to make a temporary folder for this specific purpose so you always know where the documents will be

7) Repeat this process for all of the PDF files

8) After the individual PDFs have been extracted, move them into the dated folder you created in Step 4

9) Rename each of the files with the donor's name and the date you’re sending the letter. The PDF list should be in order of the way it was extracted (i.e. “Gift 1” = PDF page 1)

a) How to format the name file: [DonorLastName, DonorFirstName]_Acknowledgement_[Sending date]

i) Example: Davidson, Carl_Acknowledgements_1.13.23

10) Repeat step 9 for all PDFs in the list

Only continue for IG Letters. If CFR Letters, email individual PDFs to Amy Zarlengo to send out

11) Navigate to the "Daily Batches" folder on your computer

a) File path: Network > files > Staff > Development > Admin > Gift Entry and Acknowledgements > Acknowledgements > Daily Batches

12) Open the most recent excel file (the one you created in the Creating Acknowledgements walkthrough)

13) This is where you will access all of the emails needed to send out the letters. If any letters were edited, follow the How to Send Acknowledgement Emails Manually section. If not, proceed to How to Auto Send Acknowledgement Emails section

14) Find the column labeled "Isal_desc" -- this is the list of names for each letter

15) Find the column labeled "email_address" and hide all columns between "Isal_desc" and "email_address"

16) Highlight the email column in yellow to use as a checklist to ensure you do not double send or miss a letter

a) Note: If there is an email missing from the file there is a chance the donor didn't provide one but it's good to check the Constituent profile in Tessitura just in case. If an email isn't in Tessitura, then note that the letter should be mailed physically in your Acknowledgement Tracker Sheet

17) Next, send the letter via email either Manually or Automatically. You will use the Daily Batch sheet for both processes

How to Send Acknowledgement Emails Manually

This can be done for all letters, however, if there are a lot if is best to primarily do this for letters that were customized outside of its basic template either by you or a PRM. Go to the next section "How to Auto Send Acknowledgement Emails" if there are no customized letters

1) Open Outlook to send out the acknowledgement letter manually. Use this template when creating your email:

Subject: Thank you for your recent donation!

Hello [Name],

Thank you for your recent donations to the Pacific Science Center! Your generosity helps to ensure that all individuals in our community, regardless of background or circumstance, have access to hands-on science education. See attached for your acknowledgement for this donation.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

2) Find the recipients email in the Daily Batch report and add it he "To" field in Outlook

3) Find the recipient's name in the Daily Batch report and add is part of the greeting

a) Hello [Name]

4) Attach the PDF Letter from your files

5) Insert your PacSci email signature at the end

6) Send this letter from the development@pacsci.org address

a) To do this change the "From" category in Outlook from your personal work email to the Development email. If you do not have access this email, send a request to IT to get permissions

7) Repeat these steps for any other letters that should be sent manually

8) If there are any other letters left that can be sent automatically through mail merge, move onto the next section

How to Send Acknowledgment Emails

1) If not already open, navigate to the "Daily Batches" folder on your computer

a) File path: Network > files > Staff > Development > Admin > Gift Entry and Acknowledgements > Acknowledgements > Daily Batches

2) Open the most recent excel file (the one you created during the Creating Acknowledgements walkthrough)

3) This is where you will access all of the email addresses needed to send out the letters

4) Create a new tab in the sheet and title it "Autosend

5) If applicable, unhide any hidden columns

6) Copy all of the remaining rows of individual who need acknowledgement letters and paste them into the "Autosend" tab

7) Remove any rows of folks who have already received an email or are receiving an acknowledgement by physical mail

a) Tip: It is advisable to duplicate the top row and replace the email address with your PacSci one to perform a test before starting an auto-send for multiple letter

i) This is only available if you have Adobe Pro. Contact IT to get permissions for this tool

8) Go to your settings in Outlook and change the "Account Settings" to use the Development@pacsci.org email address as your default for auto sending

9) Next open the acknowledgement template you need from the file path below (IG or CFR)

a) File path: Network > files > Staff > Development > Admin > How Tos, Forms, & Templates > Template > Acknowledgement Templates

i) Note: If a new window pops up asking if you want to follow SQL select "Yes"

10) When the template opens in Word, click on "Mailings

11) Go to "Select Recipients"

12) Select "Use Existing List"

13) Locate the "Daily Batches" list you created with the "Autosend" tab

14) Select the "Autosend" option from the list and click "OK"

15) Click the down arrow under "Finish and Merge"

16) Select "Edit Individual Documents"

17) A small window will pop up titled "Merge to New "Document"

18) The "All" option will be auto-selected and click "OK"

19) A new Word window will emerge with all of the individual letters from the excel tab

20) Scan the letters to ensure all the formatting looks correct and that the information pulled in is accurate

21) If all looks correct, close the window but do not save

22) Return to your previous Word window

23) Select "Merge to Adobe PDF"

24) A small window will pop up titled "Acrobat PDFMaker -- Mail Merge"

25) For your test: change the "Record Range" to look like this:

26) Change the "Specify PDF File Name" box to Gift Acknowledgement

27) Check the box "Automatically send Adobe PDF files by Email"

28) Change the "Subject Line to Thank you for your recent donation!

29) Use this template to paste into the "Message" box:

Hello,

Thank you for your recent donation to the Pacific Science Center! Your generosity helps to ensure that all indiviual in our community, regardless of background or circumstance, have access to hands-on science education. See attached for your acknowledgement for this donation.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

30) Copy and paste your email signature at the bottom of this box

31) Click "OK"

32) A new window will pop up to ask you where you would like a copy saved, since there is already a copy it's okay to put into separate folder usually titled "Adobe Send" on your local drive that you can delete later once all of the letters have sent

33) Click "OK"

34) A loading bar will appear and once it is finished as small window will pop up notifying you that the Emails sent successfully

35) Check your email to ensure the test letter came over successfully. Once confirmed, repeat the above steps (10-23) to send the rest of the letters but select "All" in the "Record Range" in step 21

36) Update your Acknowledgement Tracker sheet to reflect that the letters were sent

a) Note: Don't forget to set your email default back to your personal PacSci email!

Uploading PDFs to Tessitura

1) Navigate to the PacSci Development Team SharePoint

2) Click on "Gift Acknowledgements" in the left sidebar

3) Select the "Approved Acknowledgement PDFs"

4) Click on the "To be uploaded Approved Acknowledgements" folder

5) Copy the folder with your PDFs into SharePoint

6) Log into Tessitura Prod

7) Review your list of PDFs and search for the Constituent in Tessitura

8) Double click on the Houshold and navigate to the “Research” t

9) Select “Documents (new)” sub section

10) Click on “Add Document”

11) Select “Choose File” and attach the PDF related to the Constituent

12) Write in the “Description” the date like “YYYY.MM.DD” (i.e. 2023.01.20)

13) Change the “Category” from the drop down and select “Gift Support” or “Pledge”

14) Click on “Save & Close”

15) Continue to do this for all PDFs

Congratulations! You've reached the end of this training documentation

acknowledgements development gifts and donations how to tessitura

Creation date: 3/22/2023 7:43 AM Updated: 3/23/2023 10:48 AM

HOW TO Sending Acknowledgements.pdf

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Process docs for how input gifts and donations into Tessitura