Create a New Communication

 

1.          From the Communications menu, click the New Communication option.

2.          Click the Add button to add recipients. This opens the Person Search window to search and select current records. When you send emails to addresses that are no longer valid, Arena sends a “bounce back” email message to the sender. If your Arena Email Cleanup agent is running then Arena can process this message by inactivating the person’s rejected address and placing a note on the address that it is invalid.

3.          Select a Template, if available. (See Templates in this help file for more information.)

The current user’s name and email address populates the From and From Email fields. You can change either field to an alternate name and/or email address. If using Office 365, the email is be universally the same for all users.

4.          Enter Reply to Email address, if different from the current user.

5.          Click the Attachments button to add files to this communication. This brings up a pop-up window that allows you to browse and attach as many files as you choose. Click the Close button once you attach all the files. In respect to attachment, be aware of file size limits.

6.          Select the Add to History check box to add this communication to the Person Detail history section of each recipient.

7.          Type your email message in this window. Your email displays to the recipient in the same format that you enter it here. To use the available Merge Fields you can either copy/paste the fields from the Merge Fields section above the HTML window or use the Merge Fields drop-down in the HTML window. Using the##NickName## merge field code uses the Nick Name, if available, or First Name if no Nick Name is available.

NOTE: To enable email tracking on a message, include the ##EmailTracking## merge field in the message.

8.          Beneath the HTML Message window, a Text Message box is where you can enter the same message in Plain Text format for those receipts who receive plain text emails.

9.          Once you are ready to send, select the appropriate option.

•Now: Select the Now radio button to send the email to all recipients for whom you have email addresses.

•In the future: Select the In the Future radio button to schedule delivery of this email for a future date and time. Communications set to send at a future date and time are sent at this time and date and on the Mail Queue agent schedule.

•Check here if this is a bulk email message: Select this check box to provide recipient the option to unsubscribe to emails. When a recipient opts out the Allow Bulk Emails check box on their record is unchecked.

•Send Test: Click this button to send the email to the email address in the “From Email” field.

•Save as Draft: Click this button save the email for later access on the previous page.

NOTE: If you are using SendGrid, a message header category is automatically saved when emails are sent.

When sending an email communication, if recipients do not have an active email address or SMS enabled number Arena displays the below window. This window also displays if your organization uses thresholds. From this window, you can merge those names with an available Word document, such as labels.

 

Merge Fields

Merge fields are used to insert specific data about an individual into an email message. This is done by entering two hash tags symbols (##) before and after the Merge Field. For example, if you enter merge fields (##FullName##, ##Campus##, and ##LastAttended##) in the HTML Message box for an email, then the Email Message is generated with the individual specific data in place of the merge fields. See the samples below.

HTML Message

Email Message

The Merge Fields can be used in both the Subject and Message areas of an email.

There is an option to Show or Hide the Merge Fields when drafting an email. If you select to show the Merge Fields, they are displayed with the hash tag symbols included.

The Merge Fields are also listed here in a more readable format (without the hash tag symbols included):

•ActiveMeter

•Age

•AnniversaryDate

•Area

•BirthDate

•Business

•Campus

•CommunicationGuid

•CommunicationID

•ContributeIndividually

•ContributionNote

•CreatedBy

•DateCreated

•DateLastVerified

•DateModified

•DateSent

•Email

•EmailStatement

•EmailTracking

•EnvelopeNumber

•FamilyId

•FirstDateRead

•FirstName

•ForeignKey

•ForeignKey2

•FormalName

•FullName

•Gender

•GenerateEnvelopeNumber

•Gifts

•GivingUnitID

•GraduationDate

•Guid

•InactiveReason

•IncludeOnEnvelope

•LastAttended

•LastContributionDate

•LastDateRead

•LastName

•LatestStatus

•MaritalStatus

•MedicalInformation

•MemberStatus

•MiddleName

•ModifiedBy

•NavigationCaption

•NavigationUrl

•NextBirthDay

•NickName

•Notes

•OrganizationID

•PeerChannel

•PersonGUID

•PersonID

•Phones

•PhotoIconHTML

•Pin

•PostalCode

•PrimaryAddress

•PrimaryAddressModified

•PrintStatement

•ReadCount

•RecordStatus

•RegionName

•Relationships

•Restricted

•SMSEmail

•StaffMember

•Status

•Suffix

•Title

 

Change the menu name for New Communication

The following instructions guide you through changing the "New Communication" menu option to display "Send Email or Text".

1.          From the Administration menu, select the Pages option.

2.          Within the Page Structure treeview box, click the Expand  icon next to the Home folder.

3.          Scroll down and click the Expand  icon next to the Communications folder.

4.          Next, click on the New Communication folder.

5.          Click the Edit Details button under the "New Communication" Details and Contents section.

6.          Change the Menu Name field from "New Communication" to "Send Email or Text".

7.          Scroll to the bottom of the "New Communication" Details and Contents section and then click the Update button.

8.          Next, select the Refresh Cache option from the Login menu icon in the upper right-hand corner.

9.          Notice that under the Communications menu, the "New Communication" option now displays as Send Email or Text.