1. Mailmerge

The Mailmerge function generates secondary merge files from the Campaign Craftware database, leveraging your data entry investment. These secondary merge files can be used as data sources for form letter merges. Use your word processor to compose the form letter (the primary merge file) and perform the merge.

The Mailmerge function produces secondary merge files in formats accepted by:

For example, specify the categories of contributors, the election(s), the contribution receipt period from which you wish to select contributors and the contribution amount range, and a secondary merge file of contributor names, titles, salutations, addresses and contacts is produced.

    1. Generating a Secondary Merge File

      2. Campaign Craftware Main Menu

      Select Mailmerge from the Campaign Craftware main menu, and a data entry screen similar to the following displays:

      Data Entry Screen for Mailmerge

      The contributor types shown will be different, depending on your committee type. Type "Y" to select contributor types to include. When the category selection is complete, "All Contributions Regardless of Election" is highlighted. Press ENTER and a pop-up menu similar to the following displays:

      Election Choice in Mailmerge Data Entry Screen

      Select election type, and "All Contributions Regardless of Date" is highlighted. Press ENTER for the following:

      Date Range Choice in Mailmerge Data Entry Screen

      Select the contribution date period. Depending on your choice, a data entry field or fields will display for date entry. Enter the date or dates, and the next option of contribution amount is displayed:

      Amount Choice in Mailmerge Data Entry Screen

      Select contribution amount parameters. Depending on your choice, a data entry field or fields will display for amount entry:

      Amount Specification in Mailmerge Data Entry Screen

      Enter the contribution amount range. You’ll be asked to confirm your choices. Press ENTER and the following is displayed:

      Mailmerge Destination Data Entry Screen

      The output drive, directory and output file default to those you specified during the installation of Campaign Craftware. You may override any of the parameters, as long as you stay within DOS naming guidelines and the directory already exists on your computer. Press CTRL-W to generate the secondary merge file.

      Refer to your word processor’s documentation for instructions on producing primary merge files and generating merged form letters and labels.

    2. Secondary Merge File Formats

      3. The secondary merge file field names, lengths and sequence numbers are listed in the following table:

      Max. Field Length

      SeqNo.

      Individual

      Entity/bus/pac
      60 Characters 1 Title_FirstName_LastName Name
      40 Characters 2 Address Address
      37 Characters 3 City_State_Zip City_State_Zip
      15 Characters 4 Salutation  
      40 Characters 5   Contact Title
      25 Characters 6   Contact Name
      14 Characters 7 Home Area code+number Area code+number
      14 Characters 8 Work Area code+number  
      14 Characters 9 Fax area code + number Fax area code+number

       

      Each record contains nine fields. The fifth and sixth fields for an individual will be blank, as will the fourth and eighth for an Entity/Business or PAC.

      The layout and delimiters for the three word processor formats are discussed in the following sections.

      1. AmiPro

        2. Campaign Craftware produces a dBase format file with a .DBF extension which AmiPro accepts as a data file.

      2. Microsoft Word and WordStar

The secondary merge file produced for Microsoft Word and WordStar contains ASCII records, delimited by commas, and includes a header record with the following field names:

      1. WordPerfect

Campaign Craftware produces an ASCII file for WordPerfect users. Use WordPerfect Import to translate the ASCII file into a WordPerfect Secondary Merge File. The table in Section 10.2 lists field sequence order.