From the Auto Reminders grid, click on +New and then Auto Reminder.
The process is similar to other page builders. There are four steps to complete, identified by the tabs at the top of the page. The first step is Auto Reminder Info, here you will insert the following:
Name – Insert the name that will be displayed on the Auto Reminder grid for the title of this campaign.
Email Display Name – Insert the name will that appear as the sender of the Auto Reminder Email when it is sent out.
From Address – Insert the email address that will appear as the sender of the Auto Reminder Email when it is sent out.
Subject Line – Insert the text that will be the subject line of that email.
The next step is Settings, here you will be able to select specific membership levels or choose to use the member’s Current Expiration Date. Checking the box next to specific membership levels will only send reminders to those levels based on the expiration date of that transaction, the Exp field in the Memberships grid. Use this option if your members can have multiple memberships at once time. For example a YMCA might have Gym, Tennis, and Pool memberships that all have different expiration dates. You can also use the specific membership levels if you want to use different messaging based on the level, for example you send a different message to Student memberships versus Family memberships.
If using the Current Membership Expiration Date toggle set to YES, then members will only receive this renewal reminder based on the membership with the farthest out expiration date. This option is preferable if you don't need to communicate differently based on membership levels and your members only have one active membership at a time.
If you have selected your membership levels, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page so that you can complete the following fields to establish the schedule:
Send (days) – Insert the number of days for the reminder
Before/After Expiration Date – Select whether the reminder should be sent out before or after the expiration date on the membership transaction
Enabled – Select YES if this Auto Reminder should be activated. With this selected as NO, the reminder will not be sent.
After the Settings tab, the next step is the Attach Template tab. Here you will be able to create or select the email template that will be used as the reminder. If you wish to create a new template click, + New Template” and select With template builder. If the email template already exists, find it on the grid and mouse over the image to click Use.
Within the editor, you will be able to insert in mail merge fields that can pull in data from the data from the Memberships grid. To access these mail merge fields, double click within text content and you will see a dropdown field titled Mail Merge. Select the desired values from the dropdown picklist and they will insert into the template text. All the other features of the editor are the same as the Email Marketing module. Once your template is complete, click Save & Close.
The final step is the Schedule tab. This will allow you to review the previous settings you selected. You can also choose to send out email tests of the reminder from here. At the bottom of the page, click the checkbox next to Send Test Email. You are then able to enter up to 10 email addresses per campaign to test your reminder. Note that adding test recipients will create new constituents in your database. As long as you have identified your reminder as Enabled, there are additional actions on this step to ensure your reminder is active and sent out. It is only here to display information and allow you to test your campaign.
