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Mail Merge for External Letters

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Nicole Pizzini
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Reports

Merging in NeonCRM means that you can automatically place constituent data, such as names and addresses, into a printable letter. For letters you've built outside of NeonCRM, you can populate them with data from the reporting module. 

The most straightforward way to create a mailing list is by running a report from here: Reports tab > New Report.  Open the reporting module, create a New Report, and select Mailing Report. You’ll specify some sort of criteria to set up your mailing list to include the people you’re targeting. 

From the Mailing Report and Household Report you can choose the option to Create Mailing, which allows you to choose the type of merge to perform and add the letters to Material Tracking. 

export_to_create_mailing.png

All reports have the Excel function to export the results and perform the mail merge from there. You'll also see the Mail Merge link, which takes you directly to the Microsoft Word merge page. Each will be discussed below.

export_to_mail_merge.png

 

Types of Merges Available from Reports

There are three different options for merging for print mail. You can export your list to excel and merge using Microsoft word, perform a NeonCRM letter merge using pre-defined HTML templates, or you can merge to Word from within NeonCRM.

Exporting your List (External Merge)

This is the simplest way to transfer data into a Word template. An external merge simply exports the relevant fields into an Excel spreadsheet that you use as a data source for populating a mail merge using Microsoft Word’s merging feature. 

You can do this simply by exporting your report results to Excel, then importing them into your Word template.

  export_to_excel_2.png

Click here to find out more about using Word’s built-in Merging feature.

 

Direct to Word Merge

 export_to_mail_merge.png  -or- export_to_create_mailing.png

Using Internet Explorer, you can merge directly from NeonCRM reports into Microsoft Word. (While we generally do not recommend using Internet Explorer with NeonCRM, this feature is dependent on IE/Word compatibility. If you’re using Internet Explorer 9, you may need to enable compatibility mode.)

  1. Depending on which report you run, you will either see the Mail Merge option or the Create Mailing option under Export Results. (Reports with Create Mailing can be tracked in the Material Tracking section of NeonCRM.)
  2. From any Report (though a Mailing Report is preferred) select Mail Merge or Create Mailing. 

  3. If your report has Mail Merge , you will be taken directly to the Microsoft Word mail merge page (skip to Microsoft Mail Merge Page).

  4. If your report has Create Mailing, you will be taken to this page:

merge-a-2.png

Select Merge to Microsoft Word and click Continue. If you wish to use Material tracking, select Track this Merge, and learn more about Material Tracking here. 

This brings up the mail merge page with instructions for security settings.

Microsoft Mail Merge Page

You must follow the instructions provided for the mail merge to work properly.

internet_options_in_IE.png

From IE's menu bar, Select Tools -> Internet Options.

Step 1:

  •  On the popup window, click on the "Security" tab and select "Trusted sites", then click the "Sites" button.
  • On the "Trusted sites" popup, enter https://www.z2systems.com, then click Add, click OK.
  • We also recommend that you add the URL for your NeonCRM pages to your "Trusted Sites" (for example, https://orgid.z2systems.com).

Step 2:

  •  If you are using IE7 and above, set the "Security level for this zone" to Low, as you would need to bring MS Word from the browser. Note this change only gives permission to your trusted sites like NEON and it would not change any of your security settings when you visit other web sites.
  • Click OK. Now you are ready to start your mail merge.

Once your security settings are configured, you should be ready to execute your mail merge. You have two options for how you can accomplish your merge. You can either push a Word Template up to NeonCRM, or you can pull the NeonCRM data directly into Word.

Option 1 - Use an Existing Template

If you choose to start with an existing template, you’ll want to build it in Word using the built-in merge fields found under the Mailing Tab. You may have to create some fake data inside word to enable access to the merge fields. Once your template is ready, be sure to save it in the correct template format Word Template (*.dotx).

instructions_for_mail_merge.png

 wordtemplate.png

Back in NeonCRM, select the template file and click the link to start the merge process. You’ll receive a notice about an ActiveX control. This is normal. Click through it. Word will now prompt you to map your data fields. Match the fields, and continue. You should now have a merged letter. If you need to make changes to individual letters, you can do that in Word.

Option 2 - Create a new template

Your second option is to create a new template with NeonCRM data. If you click this option, Word will open a blank document. You can either type in your content or paste it from another document. You’ll add your merge fields just as shown before, and then perform the merge using Word’s merge button.

instructions_for_option_2.png

Completing a Mail Merge in Microsoft Word

This article explains the process for completing merges in Microsoft Word.

 

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