Book Image

Using CiviCRM - Second Edition

By : Hommel, Murray, P Shaughnessy
Book Image

Using CiviCRM - Second Edition

By: Hommel, Murray, P Shaughnessy

Overview of this book

CiviCRM provides a powerful toolbox of resources to help organizations manage relationships with constituents. It is free, open source, web-based, and geared specifically to meet the constituent relationship management needs of the not-for-profit sector. Beginning with broader questions about how your organization is structured, which existing workflows are critical to your operations, and the overarching purpose of a centralized CRM, the book proceeds step by step through configuring CiviCRM, understanding the choices when setting up the system, importing data, and exploring the breadth of tools available throughout the system. You will see how to best use this software to handle event registrations, accept and track contributions, manage paid and free memberships and subscriptions, segment contacts, send bulk e-mails with open and click-through tracking, manage outreach campaigns, and set up case management workflows that match your organization’s roles and rules. With specific emphasis on helping implementers ask the right questions, consider key principals when setting up the system, and understand usage through case studies and examples, the book comprehensively reviews the functionality of CiviCRM and the opportunities it provides. With this book, you can help your organization better achieve its mission as a charity, industry association, professional society, political advocacy group, community group, government agency, or other similar organization and position yourself to become a power user who efficiently and effectively navigates the system.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
15
Index

Sending e-mails to one or more constituents

CiviCRM provides tools for sending e-mails directly from the system, both to small sets of contacts (a single constituent or small group of constituents) as well as to large volumes of contacts. The former is handled through activity records, the latter using bulk e-mailing tools. Later in this chapter, we will look at broadcast e-mail and SMS messaging using CiviMail in more detail. Our attention at this point will focus on single or small group e-mails using the activity tools.

However, by introducing the two different methods of e-mail, the question arises of when to use one or the other. The line dividing easier, simpler, lower-volume e-mailing and bulk, mass, or broadcast e-mailing is not always clear. Broadcast e-mailing is clearly appropriate when you are sending messages to thousands of recipients regularly as you need to know the open and click-through rates and segment based on that behavior (which activity e-mails do not support), and...