All three FundRaiser programs contain a built-in word processor. This makes it easy and convenient to merge donor data (like name and address, and date and amount of their last gift, as seen in the letter below) into a letter or receipt. It is possible to export the data from FundRaiser and merge it in another word processing program, but most users don't bother...it's so much easier to do it all right in FundRaiser.

September 20, 2000

Ms. Louisa Mae Alcott
1122 Cambridge Circle
Boston, MA 99999

Dear Ms. Alcott,

Thank you for your kind and generous gift of $20.00 which we received on September 18, 2001. With your donation, we've been able to feed a homeless child for another week.

As you know, organizations like ours rely heavily on the good will and continued contributions of good friends like yourself.

Sincerely,

John Jones

To build a form letter in FundRaiser, you compose a template as you would a letter in any word processor. When you come to a point where you want to merge in some bit of data (current date, address block, salutation, amount of last gift, taxable listing of all gifts for the year, etc.), you simply click on that item in the listing of mergeable data. FundRaiser inserts a "merge function" that looks like:

%[AddressBlock] 

into the letter. Then when you print the letter, FundRaiser looks for those merge functions and inserts the appropriate text from whichever donor it is printing the letter for. It's so easy!

In the sample letter printed here, the parts of the text that were mail-merged are in bold type (to make it easy for you to differentiate). The name and address are obvious, but note that the salutation is different from the "label" name. The contribution amount and date received are also merge functions.

FundRaiser Select and Professional can do even more than can FundRaiser Basic to personalize your letters. The line about feeding a homeless child comes from a Category Code identifying Louisa as having a particular interest in homeless children. Personal touches like this will increase the response rate, which means bigger and more frequent donations coming in.

Now that you know you want to be able to make letters as personal as possible, you'll be glad to know that all three FundRaiser programs automate your correspondence. The most common correspondence should be your thank-you letters (or receipts). "Thank before you bank" should be your motto, and FundRaiser makes that goal easy to achieve. Just enter the donations, leaving in place the checkmark on "Send Letter", then batch-print all of the letters, with labels or envelopes to match, in one quick operation.

And if you use the Pledge, Membership, Tribute, Product Sales, or other modules available for FundRaiser Select (and included as standard in Professional), you'll find that those associated letters are just as easy to produce.

All three FundRaiser programs do general mailings. First you compose a letter template, including the desired merge functions. When you're ready to print, select the group for which the letter is to be printed by setting a Query (in FundRaiser Basic) or creating a Grouping (in FundRaiser Select and Professional). Once your group is chosen, print the letters and matching labels or envelopes . . . that's all there is to it!

In FundRaiser Professional (or Select with optional modules), you can also print Membership renewal letters, Pledge thank-yous, reminders and overdue notices, Tribute notification letters to the next of kin, and other specific correspondence.

And if you need just one letter (to a specific donor, rather than a group of people), all three FundRaiser programs can quickly and easily merge data into one of your form letter templates. In FundRaiser Select and Professional, you can further edit that one letter, and save it for future retrieval.