We are going to use Rock's DataViews to identify people who gave for the first time and automate a thank you email

Steps

  1. Add a new System Email called "First giving thank you"
  2. Create a preliminary DataView to not send to
  3. Create the First Time Givers DataView
  4. Use GroupSync to combine the DataView and the System Email

Add a new System Email called "First giving thank you"

Here's the Template:

Subject: Thank you from {{ 'Global' | Attribute:'OrganizationName' }}

{{ 'Global' | Attribute:'EmailHeader' }}

<p>
    You recently generously gave financially, and we appreciate it. Your gifts are beautiful before God!
</p>
<p>Your giving allows us to:</p>
<ul>
    <li>Keep the lights on</li>
    <li>Support ministry to suffering</li>
    <li>Equip the saints in our community</li>
    <li>Support global missionaries that that the nations might know the name of Jesus</li>
</ul>
<p>
    We appreciate and welcome your partnership. Together we can reach many lives for Jesus!
</p>
<p>
    If you have any questions, please reply to this email.
</p>

{{ 'Global' | Attribute:'EmailFooter' }}

PLEASE CUSTOMIZE THAT EMAIL FOR YOUR CHURCH. This email copy is designed to be so unspecific as to work for most churches.

[ ] PLEASE, please, please mention specific ministries and impacts your church makes that financial gifts support. THIS IS THE MAIN POINT OF THE EMAIL-- connecting a donor's gift to making specific differences in the community.

[ ] In the Rock System Email setup you can set a From Name or From Email, maybe you could send this from a particular pastor or staff member which would be more effective than the default church email. (Get their permission first!)

Create a DataView we will use in next step

  1. Name the DataView "First time givers in past 7 days"
  2. Click add Filter -> Filter Type -> Person Fields -> First Contribution Date -> Range -> Previous -> 7 Day
  3. Save

Create a DataView for "First giving people"

  1. Name the DataView "First Time Givers"
  2. Click add Filter -> Filter Type -> Person Fields -> First Contribution Date -> Range -> Previous -> 14 Day
  3. Click Add Filter -> Filter Type -> Person Fields -> Email Preference = Email Allowed
  4. Click Add Filter -> Filter Type -> Person Fields -> Age Classification = Adult
  5. Click Add Filter -> Filter Type -> Not in Existing Data View -> First time givers in past 7 days
  6. Save

What are doing is putting a 7 day buffer before this email to lower the odds of emailing a person who's not really a first time giver. If I gave as Chuck Smith 5 months ago, then I gave as Charles Smith yesterday I'd get two First Time Thank You emails. But if staff merges Chuck and Charles during the 7 days buffer I won't get the second email.

Watch Screencast on creating this DataView. (This screencast has not been updated to reflect the preliminary dataview step.)

Use GroupSync to combine the DataView and the System Email

There's like 4 more steps that I cover in a separate Recipe:

Recipe to setup GroupSync

BEFORE YOU FINISH THE TUTORIAL

Don't just hookup the real DataView to the System Email without testing things.

How to test this

  1. Review the DataClip we made and browse the names. Does that look like the right data?
  2. Create a GroupSync group for testing this that's not the full DataView. Make a DataView of just you, or you and a few staff. Then make a Group that GroupSync's off that Dataview sending the email as the welcome email. Did you get the email? Does it look good? Do you like the copy?
  3. To force the email to go out quickly (like for testing), go to Admin Tools -> System Settings -> Jobs Administration, find the Group Sync job and run it.