How to create a bulk distribution

Bulk email or SMS distributions are created using the Mail Generation option on the top menu. This gives access to the six step Mail Generation Wizard that will lead you through the process of creating the distribution.

The options displayed on each step will differ depending on how your MemNet site is set up and what options you have selected previously.

Step 1. Click the Start button.

Step 2. Choose the type of distribution you want to send. Options are Email (the default), SMS (Requires SMS sending to be enabled, see here), Mail Merge to merge data into an MS Word template or Labels Only to generate a label export.

Step3. The options here will differ depending on the type of distribution being sent and the configuration of your MemNet site. Possible options are:

• Person correspondence preference. For email this will be Email Preference only or Email all (that have an email address), post options will also be available for Mail Merge.
• Is this a marketing communication? Allows you to choose the type of communication you are sending based on the email marketing subscriptions attribute (see here for more details). People who have opted out of the type(s) chosen will not receive this distribution.
• Event invite link - choose an event invite link to include in the distribution, if required.
• Select a template document, required for Mail Merge only.

Step 4. Select the recipients. There are a number of ways this can be done.

1. Perform a series of searches against the data as it is "now" and add the results of each of those to the master list of recipients. The results and add to the master list will be shown at the top of the page following each search. (See also Selecting Multiple Recipients article)
2. Use a saved search, this search will be executed against the database immediately before the distribution is sent. This is useful if the data is likely to change often.
3. By uploading a CSV file that includes the PersonId, this value is included in most of the reports from MemNet.

Note that the fields on the search form are additive, that is they use a logical AND.

Step 5. Creating the distribution content. For email, this includes the from email address and name, the subject and the email body - the email body can be selected for an email template that can be either a simple or a pro editor template. See here for more tips on creating a pro editor email template.

At the bottom of this view you can, send yourself s test email, view the email content with details merged and schedule the email to be sent. (See here for more details). Click Save when you are done.

Step 6. The distribution list screen. This shows you the status of the distribution you have scheduled and allows you to access the statistics of sent distributions. This page can be accessed at any time from the menu by Mail Generation / Distributions.