Short answer
Donor Email Mail-Merge lets staff send one message to selected donors and save each sent email on the donor record.
The problem
Donor email often lives away from the donor record.
A development lead sends a note from an email tool. A staff member logs a call in the CRM. A finance person checks giving history in another place. Later, someone asks, “Did we send that update?”
The answer should be on the donor record.
How GrantPipe solves it
Donor Email Mail-Merge lets staff send one message to selected donors from GrantPipe.
Staff pick donor records, write a subject and message, and use simple merge fields such as first name or full name. GrantPipe sends one email per donor with an email address.
After the send, GrantPipe shows how many emails were sent, skipped, or failed. Each successful send is saved on that donor communication timeline.
What you can send
This feature is built for selected donor messages. Use it for small stewardship notes, follow-ups after a meeting, or a simple update to donors in a segment.
It supports these merge fields:
{{firstName}}{{lastName}}{{fullName}}{{organizationName}}{{email}}
Unsupported fields are blocked before sending. That keeps messages from going out with broken placeholders.
What gets logged
Every successful recipient gets an email entry on the donor timeline. The entry stores the rendered subject and body, the donor record, the staff member who sent it, and the send time.
That makes follow-up easier. Staff can open the donor record and see what was sent before the next call, pledge follow-up, or stewardship touch.
What gets skipped
If a selected donor has no email address, GrantPipe skips that donor. GrantPipe also skips contacts marked as opted out of donor email. The send result shows the skipped count.
If Resend rejects a recipient send, GrantPipe marks that recipient as failed and does not log a successful communication for that donor.
The skipped list helps staff clean up donor data. Staff can send to the group they need today, then come back to skipped donors later. Missing email addresses do not block the whole batch.
Failed sends stay separate from successful sends. That keeps the timeline honest. A donor record should not say an email was sent if the email provider rejected it.
How staff use it
The Donor Email page sits inside the Fundraising area. Staff open the page, select donors, and write the message.
The page shows the number of selected donors. It also shows how many of those donors have email addresses. That gives staff a quick check before they send.
A simple message might use the donor first name in the subject and body. A staff member can also use the full name or organization name when the donor is a company, foundation, or household record.
After the send, the result shows three counts:
- Sent
- Skipped
- Failed
Those counts help staff decide what to do next. A skipped donor may need an email address added. A failed donor may need a resend from another tool or a manual follow-up.
Why this belongs with donor records
Many donor notes are not large campaigns. They are small touches that still need history.
A staff member might send a thank-you note after a board event. They might send an update to donors in stewardship. They might follow up with a group of lapsed donors after reviewing the at-risk list.
Those emails affect the relationship. Keeping them on the donor timeline helps the next staff member see the story before they call, ask, or thank the donor.
GrantPipe already stores calls, meetings, notes, and email logs. This feature uses that same timeline. The difference is that staff can send the email first and let GrantPipe write the timeline entry for each successful recipient.
What it does not do
This is not a full email marketing suite.
It does not run drip campaigns. It does not schedule messages. It does not run A/B tests. It does not include an automated unsubscribe preference center or a template library in this release.
That boundary is intentional. GrantPipe keeps this first slice close to the donor record and communication history.
Where it fits
Use donor email with Donor Segmentation, Donor Lapse Early-Warning, and Donor Retention Reporting.
Those tools help staff decide who needs attention. Donor Email Mail-Merge helps staff send the note and keep the history in one place.
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Q&A
What is Donor Email Mail-Merge?
It is a batch send tool for selected donor records. Staff write one message, add safe merge fields, and send it to the donors they choose.
Q&A
Why keep donor email inside GrantPipe?
The message stays connected to the donor timeline. Staff can see what was sent without checking another tool.
Q&A
Who should use it?
Development staff can use it for small stewardship notes, follow-ups, and donor updates that should stay tied to the donor record.
Frequently asked