Agency and Donor Document Emailing

Purpose of this document

Ceres offers the functionality for emailing receipts to donors and emailing orders, invoices, and statements to agencies while providing some flexibility to handle varying email requests. This is in addition to the original manual email capability provided in Ceres.

Ceres Object release 6.00.00 is required for the functionality described in this document. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Overview
• Setup
  • Company Setup
  • Agency Setup
  • Donor Setup
  • FBC Product Category Code Setup
  • Document Email Template Setup
• Workflow
• Reports and Periodic Processes
  • Donation Receipt Summary Report 
  • Posted Donation Receipt Report 
  • Batch Email Donation Receipt Report
  • Generate Agency E-Statement Report

Overview

The following features are available related to the emailing of agency and donor document functionality. 

1. Document Email options for donors and agencies to conditionally receive documents via email.
2. Specifying email addresses on the Donor Card and the Agency Card, designating who will receive document emails.
3. Designating internal group distribution email cc for donation receipts based on the FBC Product Category of the donation order.
4. Sending posted donation receipts and posted agency invoices.
5. Sending donation order confirmations and agency order confirmations.
6. Reports - Donation Summary, Posted Donation Receipt, Batch Email Donation Receipts, and Generate E-Statements.

Setup

Company Setup

In the Company Information setup, you can designate who the various automatic emails are from.

1. Company Information can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “Company Information” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “Company Information” from the results in the Go to Pages and Tasks section:

2. On the Communication FastTab, input the email address of the person who you want the emails to be sent from.  This can be a generic company email address if it is a valid address.

Agency Setup

Agency document recipients and frequency standards are set up on the Agency Card.

1. Open the Agency List (access using standard search functionality) and select an agency of your choosing. Update the fields on the Address & Contact FastTab of the Agency Card.

Invoice Delivery Email:  Enter the email address of the person who you want the agency invoice emailed to.

Invoice Delivery Email cc:  Enter the email address of the person you want to cc when the agency invoice is emailed. 

Statement Delivery Email:  Enter the email address of the person who you want the agency statement emailed to.

Statement Deliver Email cc:  Enter the email address of the person you want to cc when the statement is emailed.

Document E-Mail Option:  Select one of the options based on when you want the emails sent.

Blank - No Email will be sent.  This indicates that Ceres should print the invoice.

On Post Only - Send Email with pdf attachment when the User selects the Post option on the agency order.

On Post and Print only - Send email with pdf attachment when the User selects the Post and Print option on the agency order. Ceres will also print the invoice.

Batch Posting - Send email with pdf attachment when the User selects the Post Batch option on the agency order list. A pdf version of the invoice will be created and emailed to each agency included in the batch having this option selected.

All Posting - Send email with pdf attachment when the User selects the Post or Post and Print option on the agency order, or the Post Batch option on the agency order list.

Manual - With Warning on Post - An email will not automatically be sent when the agency order is posted.  Instead a warning will appear during posting letting the user know an email was not sent.

Manual – Without Warning on Post - An email will not automatically be sent when the agency order is posted nor will a warning display.

Email Statement:  Toggle this field to email a Statement to this agency when the General Email function is run.  This will automatically toggle off the Print Statements field and vice versa. Toggling on the Email Statements does not prohibit you from printing a hard copy of the Agency Statement or Parent Agency Statement.

2. To use one of the Document Email Option options, other than Blank, you must have an email address populated in the Invoice or Statement fields.  Ceres will warn you if you try to select an option without an email address in the Invoice Delivery Email or Statement Delivery Email field.   

3. If an agency no longer wants their documents automatically sent via email, set the Document Email Option field to Blank, and toggle off the Email Statement field.

Donor Setup

Donor document recipients and frequency are set up on the Donor Card.

1. Open the Donor List and select a donor of your choosing. Update the fields on the Invoicing FastTab of the Donor Card.

Receipt Delivery Email:  Enter the email address of the person you want the receipt emailed to.

Receipt Delivery Email 2:  Enter the email address of the person you want to cc when the receipt is emailed.

Receipt Email Options:  Select one of the options based on who and when you want the emails sent.

Blank - No email will be sent.  This indicates that Ceres should print the receipt.

On Post Only - Send email with pdf attachment when the User selects the Post option on the donation order.

On Post and Print only - Send email with pdf attachment when the User selects the Post and Print option on the agency order. Ceres will also print the receipt.

Batch Posting - Send email with pdf attachment when the User selects the Post Batch option on the donation order.  A pdf version of the donor receipt will be created and emailed to each donor included in the batch having this option selected.

All Posting - Send email with pdf attachment when the User selects the Post, Post and Print, or the Post Batch option on the donation order.

Manual – With Warning on Post - An email will not automatically be sent when the order is posted.  Instead a warning will appear during posting letting the user know an email was not sent.

Manual – Without Warning on Post - An email will not automatically be sent when the donation order is posted nor will a warning display. 

2. To use one of the Receipt Email Options, other than Blank, you must have an email address populated in the Receipt Delivery Email field.  Ceres will warn you if you try to select an option without an email address in the Receipt Delivery Email field.

3. If a donor no longer wants their documents automatically sent via email, set the Receipt Email Option field to Blank.

FBC Product Category Code Setup

A Receipt Delivery Email CC field was added to the FBC Product Categories so various staff can be notified for specific types of donor receipts. 

1. FBC Product Categories can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “FBC Product Categories” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “FBC Product Categories” from the results in the Administration section:

2. Click on FBC Product Categories.  The FBC Product Categories Page opens, as shown below.

3. You can add the email address in the Receipt Delivery Email CC field for each category code.   When the Code is used on a donation order, the recipient will receive a delivery receipt email as a carbon copy when a donation receipt is emailed to the donor.

Document Email Template Setup

Document Email Templates allow for a standardized format where you can enter pre-defined text that is used in the emails that are generated. 

1. Document Email Templates can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “Document Email List” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “Document Email List” from the results in the Lists section:

2. A List of the Templates that have been set up will be displayed.

3. Select New to create a new template.

4. On the General FastTab of the Documents Email Card, update the fields as needed.

Type:  Designates the type of Templates.  Click on the down arrow to the right of the field to select an option.  There can only be one Template per Type.  

Subject Line:  Enter the text that will display in the Subject Line of the email.   The options are Donor Receipt, Agency Order, Agency Invoice, Agency Statement, or Donor Return.

5. In the Description field in the Document Email Subform, you can define what will print in the body of the email.  The Legend on the General FastTab provides a list of substitution characters that can be used to customize the Subject Line and Body text. The actual values of the document fields described in the Legend replace the substitution characters (%1, %2, %3, etc.) in the email that is sent.

For example, %3 (Agency Invoice No.) and %4 (Agency Invoice Document Date) were used in the Template example below.

6. Values that can be defined on the various documents are.

Donation Receipt:  Donor Name, Donor Contact, Document No, and Document Date.

Donation Order:  Donor Name, Donor Contact, Document No., and Document Date.

Agency Order & Agency Invoice:  Agency Name, Agency Contact, Document No, Document Date, and Shopper Name.

Workflow

Once all the setup is completed, sending emails within Ceres can be completed from agency orders or donation orders based on the receipt email option that was selected in the setup, such as on Post and Print.  In addition, you can send emails via posted donation receipts or posted agency invoices.

1. Navigate to the respective posted documents and open the document.  

2. From a posted agency invoice, select Print/Send à Email.

The Email window will open to update the following values as needed: To:, Subject:, and Message: 

When you are ready to send, select the “Send Email” option (or you may discard your draft or use a Word Template. Word Templates must be set up to utilize this option). If you discard your draft, you will be prompted to discard (yes or no).

3. From a posted donation receipt archive, open the Donation Receipt and then select Actions à Functions à Send Receipt.

You will receive a confirmation:

4. From an unposted agency order you can email an order confirmation from Print/Send à Email Confirmation. 

5. From an unposted donation order you can email an order confirmation from Actions à Functions à Send Order Confirmation.

6. A message will pop up indicating the email has been sent.

7. When sending a donation receipt, a signature is appended to the document.  This is possible by importing your signature in the Donation Setup Page. 

8. To add your signature or logo, Go to Donation Setup, which can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “Donation Setup” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “Donation Setup” from the results:

Click on the Delivery Email FastTab. Click in the signature image box and then click on Select Picture à Choose. 

Browse to the file where the signature is saved and click Open.   The file that was imported will now display in the signature box.

Reports and Periodic Processes

The Emailing Agency and Donor Documents functionality supports the following reports and processes.

1. Donation Receipt Summary
2. Batch Email Donation Receipts (routine and report) 
3. Generate Agency E-Statements (routine and report) 
4. Posted Donation Receipt

Donation Receipt Summary Report 

The Donation Receipt Summary report displays all the information shown on the posted donation receipt including a signature if imported. 

1. The Donation Receipt Summary report can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “Donation Receipts Summary” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “Donation Receipts Summary” from the results:

2. On the Actions Tab, toggle the Summarize by Item field to summarize the report by item.  If desired, set a Donor No. filter (or range) On the Filter: Donor tab, update the date range specified in the Date Filter field.  Other filters can be set based on how you want to run the report.

3. Click Send to (and select appropriate option), Print. Preview & Close or Cancel (to exit report).   Below is an example of the report.

Posted Donation Receipt Report 

1. The Posted Donation Receipts report can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “Posted Donation Receipt” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “Posted Donation Receipts” from the results:

2. On the Options section, toggle the Print Company Address field to print the company address, if desired.

3. In the Filter: Donation Receipt section, enter a filter for a specific donation receipt or receipts, as necessary. 

4. Click Send to (Options for document creation are noted here)

5. Additional options are Print or Preview.  Below is an example of the report.

Batch Email Donation Receipt Report

The Batch Email Donation Receipt report can send emails as pdf attachments to the donor.   The pdf attachment can be Per Summary or Per Receipt.  For Per Receipt, Ceres will send a separate email for each posted receipt, while the Per Summary option will send a summary of all the posted receipts based on the date range specified.  

The Batch Email Donation Receipts report can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “Batch Email Donation Receipt” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “Batch Email Donation Receipts” from the results:

1. On the Options Tab, set a Donor Filter as desired and select Per Receipt, Receipt Summary, or Receipt Summary by Item. Update the date range specified in the Date Filter field. Other filters can be set based on how you want to run the report.

2. Click Preview. Ceres will email the donor multiple donation receipts if Per Receipt was selected, or one Donation Receipt summarizing all the receipts if Receipt Summary or Receipt Summary by Item is selected.  Regardless of which option is selected, the receipts that were sent and/or summarized will display. 

Preview of receipts that were included in Per Receipt option:

Preview of receipts included in Receipt Summary Option:

Preview of receipts included in Receipt Summary by Item Option:

Generate Agency E-Statement Report

The Generate Agency E-Statement report allows you to email the agencies their statements, individually or as a batch.

1. The Generate E-Statement report can be accessed by selecting “Search” from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Banner and entering “Generate E-Statements” in “Tell me what you want to do” then selecting “Generate E-Statements” from the results:

Select options based on how you want to present the Statements. If desired, set an Agency No filter and update the date range specified in the Date Filter field.  Other filters can be set based on how you want the report to display. If no agency filter is set, all statements will be generated based on other filters.

2. Click OK. Ceres will email the Agency their Statement. NOTE: If you wish to schedule the statements to be generated/sent later, select “Schedule” and fill in the appropriate information in the Edit – Schedule a Report – Generate E-Statements window.

Example of Email and report: