Here's a ridiculous problem.

A year ago, I created several form letters for a conditional merge. The merge creates acknowledgement letters based on the data in a batch when we enter gifts. Now I need to change one sentence in each of the letters, but I can't find them! I changed what I thought were the base letters, but the change isn't reflected in the newly merged letters. Ridiculous!

Am I using the wrong document, 'cuz RE is looking somewhere else (in which case I need to be told how to determine where RE is looking), or is there some additional procedure I need to do to implement the change?

We have RE7 Build 936.

Thanks for your help.

Susan Stoppelman
Greater Hartford Legal Aid
[Email Removed]
Susan Stoppelman
Greater Hartford Legal Aid
[Email Removed]
www.ghla.org

After you entered your changes did you click the finish button or did you cancel out. If you did not hit the finish button, the change will not be there.

I didn't have the opportunity to click "finish." I had entered what I thought was the base document in Word, made my changes, and saved on the way out. Clearly, I was in the wrong place, but I don't know how to find the right place now. Susan Stoppelman Greater Hartford Legal Aid [Email Removed] www.ghla.org

I didn't have the opportunity to click "finish." I had gone into Word and edited what I thought was the base document. I saved on the way out as one does in Word. Clearly, I was in the wrong place. The reason I feel so foolish now is that I don't remember how to find the right place. Thanks for helping me. ss Susan Stoppelman Greater Hartford Legal Aid [Email Removed] www.ghla.org

Susan,

Are you using the Word Merge Wizard? If so, the only way you can find the letters and get to them for editing is to use a query with at least one unacknowledged gift. Then in Donor Acknowledgements, click on Send to Word merge wizard. Click Next to export your data, and say No to marking gifts acknowledged (at least until you're sure your edits have been made correctly).

Then choose Perfome a conditional mail merge using multiple documents, select the field used for your condition (probably Letter), and click next. This should bring up the list of all of your letters and let you edit them. Be sure when you edit that you click Save and return to RE. The letters cannot be reached in any other way that I am aware of.

Good luck.
Jo Jo Ward
Neuhaus Education Center
(713) 664-7676 ext. 233
[Email Removed]

Jo is correct. I have one gift, on a dummy record that is always left unacknowledged, so that I can use this in Mail when I need to change a letter(s). It is crazy but that's the way it works. Hey Jo, I wonder if this is on our list for the conference? :) Denise Stengl School Sisters of St. Francis Milwaukee, WI [Email Removed] Don't forget to check out the RE Users Forum at: http://www.reusers.server-planet.com/forum.php

Susan,

Assuming you are doing these letters through Mail - Donor Ackn letters and merging from there you need to do the following. If you are using another method the instructions will be different. Please let me know if you are using another method.

Changing Donor Acknowledgement Letters
You need a query or a record with at least one gift marked NOT Acknowledged.
Go to Mail-Donor acknowledgements.
Open the acknowledgmeent setup in question.
Change the include records to be the single record or query mentioned above.
Instead of clicking on Merge in the bottom right - click on Send to Mail Merge Wizard at the top.
Go through the same process you did to create the letters to begin with (Do not accidentally change it from conditional to simple or you will lose all of your conditional letters!)
When asked if you want to mark them as acknowledged say NO. This way you can run them over and over to test your changes and you still have gifts to acknowledge. *** I can spell, I just can't type. Where is spell check?

Melissa S. Graves
Manager, Development Database & Direct Mail
Planned Parenthood of Connecticut
[Email Removed]
203-752-2804

One more thing. I usually do save as to save the old letters as they are and make my changes in the new copy. This way you can always revert back to the old one in an emergency. *** I can spell, I just can't type. Where is spell check? Melissa S. Graves Manager, Development Database & Direct Mail Planned Parenthood of Connecticut [Email Removed] 203-752-2804

Have you tried editing your letters from CONFIG LETTERS (find your letter that needs editing) Double click on it Press EDIT REPORT Press EDIT MERGE DOCUMENT follow prompts to keep those changes Charmaine Desmeules Stand Among Friends Neurological Disabilities Boca Raton Florida [Email Removed]

Charmaine, Those are compeltely different letters to the ones created in Mail - Donor Acknowledments conditional letters. BB has not made this easy by using the same letter name for both ways you can do a letter - but it is not the same. *** I can spell, I just can't type. Where is spell check? Melissa S. Graves Manager, Development Database & Direct Mail Planned Parenthood of Connecticut [Email Removed] 203-752-2804

This drives me nuts. There ought to be a way to edit or create templates without having to run a fake letter merge. Nicole D. McMorrow Database Administrator Women's Foundation of California 340 Pine St., Ste. 302 San Francisco, CA 94104 www.womensfoundca.org  [Email Removed]

Yay! You guys are great. Thank you. Nicole, much as I agree with you, the fact is that Jo and Melissa are right. Their advice worked -- so it's the system that's foolish, not me! Thanks to all for your help (now and in the past). Susan Stoppelman Greater Hartford Legal Aid [Email Removed] www.ghla.org

Melissa,

Just wanted to let you know that 2 years later your reply is still helping people!  I was just on a conference call and they couldn't tell us exactly how to edit our wizard letters and suggested we go to knowledgebase.  I didn't find anything useful there so I searched the forums and came across your post.  As someone who has only been up on RE for 3 months this is so valuable to me.  You should get a job with Blackbaud!  :-)

Janet

I am very glad to know it helped.

Unfortunately I am neither interested in moving to Charleston nor of traveling so much I never see my cat - so no Blackbaud job for me I imagine.

This has been an interesting thread.  I have a couple of suggestions that may or may not be helpful.  When I edit merge letters, I save (the BB...) letter than "save as" and put the letter copy in a word folder then click "save and return..."  That way I have an easy way to get to the letter without going through merge if I have to make a one-time change (my VP edits her letters a lot).  Also, we never mark letters acknowledged but rely on batches or "one record" to create the acknowledgements.  We've debated for years about this practice, but send acknowledgements as many as three times depending on the size of the gift.  Also, marking the records acknowledged means created, not that it was printed and mailed.

I'm curious to know if others follow the same practice and if there's something I'm not seeing about the benefits of marking records acknowledged.  Thanks,

Leslie