Creating and Sending an Express Message

The Email Express interface is designed to make creating and sending messages very simple.

  1. Access the Email Express Home as discussed in the previous section.

  2. Click Create New Email. The Enter Details page displays.

  3. Enter Attributes:

    1. Click Select Campaign.

    2. In the Select Campaign dialog that opens, click on the Name of the Campaign you want to associate with this message. The campaign will move to the Selected Campaign pane in the dialog.

    3. Click Save to return to the Enter Details page.

      Note: Every message must be associated with a Campaign. If the selected Campaign already has a Target Audience and Do Not Mail list, you will see those groups listed above the Enter Details area. They will automatically be added to the Send To Groups and the Exclude Groups for your message—but you can change them. See the next section for details.

    4. Enter an Internal Message Name. Your recipients will not see this name.

    5. Select an Email Type for your message by clicking the drop-down arrow beside Email Messages.

      Note: The Type will default to Email Message if you do not make a selection, but if you are creating a Campaign Appeal or Advocacy Alert you should choose the correct type to help your organization keep good records.

    6. Enter the Subject for the Email. This subject will appear in the recipient's Subject line in their Inbox.

  4. Enter From and To Information:

    1. Enter the Sender Name for the email. This name will display in the From area of the email header and Inbox of message recipients.

      Tip: This may be your own name, the name of your organization, or the name of your communications chairman or president—depending on your position and the policies of your organization.

    2. Enter the Sender Email Address for this email. This email address will be associated with the Sender Name in the From area of the email header and Inbox of message recipients. Again, this address will depend on the policies of your organization.

      Note: To avoid deliverability issues, do not enter a @yahoo.com or @aol.com email address. For more details, refer to the Yahoo DMARC policy.

    3. Enter the Reply-To Email Address for the email. This email address is where replies to the message will be sent. The Sender Email Address is used by default when this field is empty.

    4. Add Groups to whom you want to send the email in the Send To Groups box.

      Tip: If the Campaign associated with this message has a target audience, the Send To Groups box will already contain those associated groups. However, you can add more groups or remove existing groups.

      • To add groups:

        1. Click the Add Groups link.

        2. In the dialog that opens, click the Group Type to add.

        3. Click on the specific Group to add. The group will move to the Selected pane.

        4. Add additional groups in the same manner.

        5. Click Update Selections to return to the Enter Details page.

          Note: You can also add groups by checking any of the Commonly Used Groups.

      • To Remove Groups from the Send To Groups pane, simply click the "X" associated with the group.

    5. Add (or Remove) Groups to or from the Exclude Groups pane using the same procedure.

      6. Tip: For example, you may want to be sure that anyone who has specifically opted out of your Newsletter does not receive the newsletter—even if they are a member of the Spring Donors group that we targeted in the above example. So, you would add the Newsletter opt-out group to the Exclude Groups pane.

    6. When you have finished selecting your audience, click Next. The Compose page displays.