Communication checklist

The Order Confirmation template is sent to users when they purchase something from your site. You must tailor the order confirmation template before contacts begin purchasing items from your site.

Tailoring the order confirmation template

When creating a tailored Order Confirmation template, you can copy the sample template or create a new template.

Do the following to tailor the Order Confirmation template:

1. Go to Marketing > Communication templates. Navigate to Templates > Samples.
2. Select the Order Confirmation template.
3. Edit the template as needed, for example, ensure that the From address is the correct email address.
4. Click Save As and enter a Name for the template.

Note: Be sure to save your template to the Templates folder.

When copying the sample Order Confirmation template or creating a new template the following information must be configured in the template:

• The From address
• The To address defined as {#party.Email}
• Type = Billing
• The {orderdetailsblock} placed within the body. This placeholder will be replaced with a grid containing order details such as the order number, shipping address, item lines, and transaction totals.

Note: When previewing the Order Confirmation template on the Staff site, the {orderdetailsblock} will display an error. This error is not displayed when an order confirmation is sent.

Note: When resending an order confirmation, the CC and BCC addresses are ignored.

Managing the order confirmation template

1. Go to Settings > Commerce > General.
2. Specify the path for the communication template used for order confirmations, for example, $/Common/Communications/Templates/OrderConfirmation.

The Default template automatically opens when composing new communications or when sending a communication directly to an individual.

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Do the following to define your own Default template:

1. Navigate to Marketing > Communication templates > Templates > Samples.
2. Select the Default template.



3. Copy and Paste the template to the Templates folder in order to avoid having your template overwritten during an upgrade. If a Default template is not defined in the Templates folder, the standard message will be used for new communications.
4. Edit the template as needed, such as removing the sample ASI and iMIS content.

Warning! Do not rename the template. In order for the template to be set as the default template, it must be titled “Default.” There should only be one template titled “Default” within the Templates folder. If there are multiple templates entitled “Default,” then the most recently created default template will be used.



5. Save the template.
6. Select New > Communication to view your new default communication template.

Event invoices can be emailed to event registrants by adding the Event Invoice or Event Invoice Report Writer report as an attachment to a communication.

Out-of-the-box, the Event invoice and Event Invoice Attachment communication templates come preconfigured with the Event Invoice or Event Invoice Report Writer report attached, respectively. Before emailing event invoices, you must create your own event invoice template.

Creating the communication template

Do the following to create your own event invoice communication with an attached event invoice report:

1. Go to Marketing > Communication templates > Templates > Samples.
2. Select the Event Invoice or Event Invoice Attachment template.
3. Select Organize > Copy.
4. Open the Templates folder, then Paste the template.
5. Open the new template, and make the desired edits, such as removing and updating all of the ASI and iMIS sample information.
6. Update the Pay Invoice Now link to point to your public website.
   1. Highlight the Pay Invoice Now link, then, from the Insert link drop-down, select Pay Invoice Link.

   

   2. Select the Content or URL and the Default website.

   Tip! Out-of-the-box, the ~/PayInvoice shortcut points to the invoice payment content record.

   

   Alternatively, you can delete this link from the template as needed. For more information on the Pay Invoice Link, see Paying invoices using a direct link.

7. Save the template.

Emailing the invoice

Do the following to email event invoices for specific events:

1. Go to Events > Find events.
2. Open the event, then click the Dashboard tab.
3. Click Run reports, then click View invoices.
4. Enter search parameters to locate specific recipients, or click Email to email the entire list.
5. Click Open, then select the modified event invoice template you just created.
6. Review the communication, then click Send. Review the Communication Confirmation, then click Yes, Send Now or No, Go Back to make additional changes.

See Event invoices for more information.

Send this communication to those who have an outstanding balance with your organization. Account statements can be emailed to contacts by attaching the Account Statement or Account Statement Report Writer reports to the communication template.

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Out-of-the-box, the Account Statement and Account Statement Report Writercommunication templates comes preconfigured with the Account Statement orAccount Statement Attachmentreport attached. Before emailing account statements, you must create your own account statement template. The actual communication template must be tailored, but the attached Account Statement or Account Statement Report Writerreport does not need to be tailored.

To create a tailored Account Statement communication template, do the following:

1. Go to Marketing > Communication templates > Templates > Samples.
2. Select the Account Statement or Account Statement Report Writertemplate, then select Organize > Copy.
3. Select the Templates folder, then select Organize > Paste.
4. Open the new template, and make the desired edits, such as removing and updating all of the ASI and iMIS sample information.
5. Click Save.

The Account Statement and Account Statement Report Writer reports contain information defined in the Financial Entity, such as the organization name and address. Before sending this report, make sure your financial entity information is updated and does not contain the sample ASI and iMIS information. For more information, see Financial entities.

Renewal notices are communications that are sent to members, reminding them that their fees are due soon. These reminders are sent after billing renewals are generated.

Each option (email and print) is linked to a communication template. Out-of-the-box, there are communication templates that are available for you to use as a guide when creating your own reminder templates:

• Sample renewal notice (membership renewals) - This is the sample communication template for the initial payment reminder notice for membership renewals.
• Sample renewal notice - Org admin - This template will send the Renewal notice email to the company administrator when the organization is billed.

Note: The communication log entry associated with the renewal notice is attributed to the organization.

• Sample renewal notice - Org admin with attached Report Writer report - This template will send the Renewal notice email and attached Report Writer report to the company administrator when the organization is billed.

Note: The communication log entry associated with the renewal notice is attributed to the organization.

• Sample renewal reminder (membership renewals) - This is the sample communication template for the first and second payment reminder notices (membership renewals).
• Sample renewal notice with attached report (membership renewals) - This is the sample communication template for the print-based notifications for membership renewals. By default, the Renewal Notice (Reports > Membership reports) report is attached to this communication.
• Subscriptions renewal notice (non-dues subscriptions) - This is the sample communication template for the initial payment reminder notice for non-dues subscription renewals.
• Subscriptions renewal notice with attached report (non-dues subscriptions) - This is the sample communication template for the print-based notifications for non-dues subscriptions renewals.

• Sample renewal notice with attached Report Writer report (membership renewals) - This is the sample communication template for print-based notifications for membership renewals using a Report Writer report instead of an SSRS report.

Email templates

The above communication templates can be found at Marketing > Communication templates > Templates > Samples > Billing notifications. You should make a copy of the templates, then make edits to the copied templates, so that the email branding matches your organization's branding. For more information about creating a communication template, see Creating a new communication template.

Important! The recipient query for billing emails is the Billing notifications query ($/Common/Communications/Queries/Billing notifications). The Billing notifications query is required as the recipient query for billing notifications and cannot be modified. If you need to add additional data to the renewal notices, add queries as additional data sources.

Print templates

To issue print notifications, the communication template must have an attached SSRS report (RDL) or Report Writer report. The following out-of-the-box reports are available and already attached to a communication template:

• Renewal Notice (SSRS) - Found in Reports > Membership and attached to the Sample renewal notice with attached report communication template ($/Common/Communications/Templates/Samples/Billing notifications).
• Renewal Notice Attachment (Report Writer) - Found in Reports > Report Writer > Membership folder > Attachments folder and attached to the Sample renewal notice with attached Report Writer report communication template ($/Common/Communications/Templates/Samples/Billing notifications).

If you need to customize one of the renewal notification report attachments, it is best practice to follow these steps:

1. Copy one of the out-of-the-box reports:
   • (SSRS) Renewal Notice
   • (Report Writer) Renewal Notice Attachment
2. Customize the copied report.

Note: The Report Writer renewal notice must have Prompt for value enabled for the following filters: BillingLog Key, BillingCycle, and ID. See Attaching a Report Writer report to a communication template for more information.

3. Attach the custom report to the desired communication template. See Creating a communication with an attached report for more information.

The Order Invoice and Order Invoice Report Writer communication templates are used and sent to contacts when order invoices are generated.

Before emailing invoices, you must create an Invoice template or make a copy of the out-of-the-box Order Invoice template and apply customizations. The sample Order Invoice and Order Invoice Report Writer templates are located at $/Common/Communications/Templates/Samples/Order invoices.

Create a copy of the Order Invoice or Order Invoice Report Writer template:

1. Go to Marketing > Communication templates.
2. Go to the $/Common/Communications/Templates/Samples/Order invoices folder.
3. Select the Order Invoice or Order Invoice Report Writertemplate.
4. Select Organize > Copy.
5. Paste the copy in the Order invoices folder.

Note: In order for the template to appear in the Invoice template drop-down, the template must be in the Order invoices folder.

6. Open the new template, and make the desired edits, such as removing and updating all of the ASI and iMIS sample information.
7. Update the Pay Invoice Now link to point to your public website.
   1. Highlight the Pay Invoice Now link, then, from the Insert link drop-down, select Pay Invoice Link.

   

   2. Select the Content or URL and the Default website.

   Tip! Out-of-the-box, the ~/PayInvoice shortcut points to the invoice payment content record.

   

   Alternatively, you can delete this link from the template as needed. For more information on the Pay Invoice Link, see Paying invoices using a direct link.

8. Save the template.

Note: If you are using a custom order invoice report (SSRS or Report Writer), remove the existing report and add your report. If using a custom Report Writer report for order invoices, the report is required to have an OrderNumber filter with Prompt For Value enabled. See Attaching a Report Writer report to a communication template for more information.

See Processing orders for more information.

This out-of-the-box communication template is used to inform members that you have cancelled their membership renewal.

To create a tailored Membership Cancellation Notice communication template, do the following:

1. Go to Marketing > Communication templates > Templates > Samples.
2. Select the Membership Cancellation Notice template, then select Organize > Copy.
3. Select the Templates folder, then select Organize > Paste.
4. Open the new template, and make the desired edits, such as removing and updating all of the ASI and iMIS sample information.
5. Click Save.

The Event Cancellation Notice is used to inform event registrants that an event was cancelled. There is a pre-built scheduled task associated with this communication template that also must be updated before you begin using it.

To use the Event Cancellation Notice communication template and the related scheduled task, do the following:

1. Create and save the communication template that will be sent in an email to event registrants.

Note: To quickly create a template, copy the Event Cancellation Notice template (Marketing > Communication templates > Templates > Samples), and paste the template in the Templates folder. Make changes to the copied template, such as modifying and updating the sample ASI and iMIS information.

2. Go to RiSE > Process automation.
3. Open the Event cancellation notification scheduled task.
4. Click the Actions tab.
5. Edit the existing action:
   1. Select the pencil icon.
   2. From the Communication line, select Remove, then Select the communication you created.
6. Enable the task.
7. Save the changes to the task.

For more information about scheduled tasks, see Creating and editing scheduled tasks.

If you plan to send automatic emails to contacts when they are removed from an event waitlist, then you must update the related communication template and process automation task.

To use the out-of-the-box Event Registered from Waitlist Notification communication template and related task, do the following:

1. Go to Marketing > Communication templates > Templates > Samples.
2. Select the Event Registered from Waitlist Notification template.



3. Choose Organize > Copy.
4. Select the Templates folder, then choose Organize > Paste.



5. Open the template for edit. At a minimum, update the following:
   1. (Header tab) From email address - Update to an email address in your domain.
   2. (Body tab) The template body header (removing the iMIS logo) and footer (ASI social links and address). Update the other body content as necessary.

   Important! Do not change the Recipients query.

6. Click Save.
7. Go to RiSE > Process automation.
8. Locate the Event registered from waitlist notification task, and open it for edit.



9. Click the Actions tab.
10. Select the pencil icon.



11. From the Communication line, Remove the existing template, then Select the template you just created.



12. Click Save.
13. Select the Enabled checkbox.



14. Click Save & Exit.

The following contact erasure communications are available:

• Contact Erasure Request Confirmation - The communication sent to contacts when they have requested to be erased from your system.



• Contact Erasure Request Update - The communication sent to system administrators detailing how many contact erasure requests are pending and how many contacts are marked for erasure.

See Erasing a contact's personal data for more information about contact erasure.

Each communication is associated with a process automation scheduled task. Do the following before using the communication templates and scheduled tasks:

1. Go to Marketing > Communication templates > Templates > Samples.
2. Select the Contact Erasure Request Confirmation template, then select Organize > Copy.
3. Select the Templates folder, then select Organize > Paste.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the Contact Erasure Request Update template.
5. Open the new templates, and make the desired edits, such as removing and updating all of the ASI and iMIS sample information.
6. Click Save.
7. Go to RiSE > Process automation.
8. Locate the Contact erasure request confirmation task, and open it for edit.
9. Click the Actions tab.
10. Select the pencil icon.
11. From the Communication line, Remove the existing template, then Select your copy of the Contact Erasure Request Confirmation template.
12. To enable the task and begin sending out emails immediately, select Enabled.
13. Save the task.
14. Repeat steps 8-13 for the Contact erasure requests - Update email task and associated Contact Erasure Request Update communication template.

The Invoice Notice and Invoice Notice Report Writer communication templates are another template in iMIS that comes out-of-the-box with an attached report. In order to properly email an invoice directly from iMIS, there must be a connection from the invoice query to the communication's query. This communication is designed so that you can easily send an invoice to a contact without needing to create that connection yourself. The Invoice Detail or Invoice Notice Report Writer report is attached by default.

Before you can use and send the Invoice Notice or Invoice Notice Report Writercommunication template, do the following:

1. Go to Marketing > Communication templates > Templates > Samples.
2. Select the Invoice Detail template, then select Organize > Copy.
3. Select the Templates folder, then select Organize > Paste.
4. Open the new template, and make the desired edits, such as removing and updating all of the ASI and iMIS sample information.
5. Update the Pay Invoice Now link to point to your public website.
   1. Highlight the Pay Invoice Now link, then, from the Insert link drop-down, select Pay Invoice Link.

   

   2. Select the Content or URL and the Default website.

   Tip! Out-of-the-box, the ~/PayInvoice shortcut points to the invoice payment content record.

   

   Alternatively, you can delete this link from the template as needed. For more information on the Pay Invoice Link, see Paying invoices using a direct link.

6. Click Save.

The Invoice Detail report contains information defined in the Financial Entity, such as the organization name and address. Before sending this report, make sure your financial entity information is updated and does not contain the sample ASI and iMIS information. For more information, see Financial entities.

The Welcome to new system communication template lets you send out a welcome email to new members complete with instructions on how to create and login to their system.