Tips and Tricks
This page contains a collection of tips
and tricks that we have found useful and are emailed on a regular basis.
Please note that some of these tips were written for previous
version of CMS and detailed steps may be different in the current version.
Column Widths and Order
You can adjust the widths and order of the columns that appear in the
Transaction tab, as well as sort the list by any column.
Move your mouse between the columns (the mouse pointer turns into a
double-headed arrow).
Click and drag the mouse to adjust to your desired width.
Click on any column to sort by that column. Click on it again to reverse the
sort order.
Click on any column and drag it to another location to change the order of the
column.
Note: The changes you make to the columns are not persistent. This means that
closing and restarting the program will cause the columns to revert to their
default width, order and sorting.
Shortcut Keys
Shortcut keys are simple key combination that you can use to speed up data
entry.
An underlined letter in the name of a field or button indicates a shortcut to
that field. Pressing {Alt} and (while holding it down press) that letter will
activate that field or press the button. For example, the Transaction tab on the
Main screen has the "T" underlined indicating that you can press {Alt}
+ T to go to the Transaction tab.
Below is an example of how you can enter payments just with the keyboard. It
is very useful and will save time when entering multiple transactions.
{Alt}+ T to activate the Transaction tab.
{Alt}+ F to move to the Find By Last, First.
Type the first few letters of the Last Name, when the name appears, push {Enter}
or {Tab} keys.
{Alt}+ N to click the New Payment button.
Enter payment information. Use the {Tab} key to move between fields.
When done, press {Enter} on your keyboard. This is the same as clicking OK with
the Mouse.
Repeat these steps for each payment.
Notification Letters
It is quite common that when the donation is made in honor of a parent or a
friend, the donor will request that the parent or friend be notified.
The notification letter will not include the amount donated, rather, it simply
states that a donation was made in their honor by so and so.
Create a notification letter
On the Switchboard, click Letters & Invoices > Customize Letters
Click the Add Record (>*) button to move to a blank letter.
Enter the text of the Notification Letter in the third section. See attached for
a sample of what you can type for a Notice of Donation - Recovery Letter. (You
should ignore the first two sections of the letter which apply to Thank-you and
Pledge letters only.)
Enter a Name for the letter (Recovery)
Choose "Notice of Donation" from the Letter Type drop-down.
Click OK
If the person to notify does not yet exist in your database, you must enter them
as a contact. You may choose to mark them as No Mail if they are out of the
area.
When entering a Donation, make sure to enter the appropriate notification
fields.
Click New Payment.
Enter Donation details as usual.
Click the Notify button. (the Notify window pops up.)
Choose the person whom you want to notify from the Notify drop-down list.
Optionally, choose Him or Her so that the notify letter be addressed to the man
or the woman exclusively
Enter a descriptive short message in the Honor/Memory field to be included in
the letter. For example: "in honor of your recovery from your recent
illness." You will need to experiment a bit to see how this text gets
placed in the letter.
Choose a letter from the Letter field. This is the name you gave the letter
(Recovery).
Click OK to close the Notify window.
Click OK to close the Payment window.
Generate notification letters.
Click Reports > Letters.
In the Type of Letters box, choose Notice of Donation.
Click OK. (This will generate all Notification letters that have not been sent
yet.)
Do step 1 & 2 for Envelopes and Mark as Sent. You can choose these options
in the Job field.)
Entering Dates
Whenever you are in a date field, you can speed up the data entry by entering
the just the day and month and press the tab key to move to the next field.
For example to enter January 1, 2003, you can type "1/1" and press
tab. The program will use the current year to finish entering the date.
Be especially careful when entering a date from the previous year. Entering
"12/26" for example and pressing tab will enter
"12/26/2003"! This is a common mistake that happens to many users
after each new year. So if you need to enter a date in 2002, make sure to enter
it in the complete format d/m/yy ("12/26/02").
Note: Entering a trailing "/" after the month ("1/1/")
will cause the program to prompt you for a valid date. Either enter
"1/1" or "1/1/03".
Specify Sub-organizations for Payments and Bills
You may have the need to keep track of donations or bills for various
sub-organizations such as Camp Gan Israel, Adult Education Institute, etc.
First, define your various sub-organizations.
On the Switchboard, click on Customize > Built in Lists > Organizations
Enter one or more organizations using the navigation buttons.
Click OK.
Next, when entering transactions (Payments or Bills), you can specify an
organization in the Organization field.
You can also run transaction reports to summarize activity by Organization, or
limit the report to only show one organization.
To limit to organization, choose the organization on the Other tab. To see
totals by Organization, choose 'Organization' from the 'Total By' drop-down list
on the Report tab.
Bonus features:
When generating Thank-You letters (for Donations) or Invoices (for Bills), the
name of the sub-organization will appear in the built-in stationary and in the
text of the Thank-you letter.
Generate Transaction Reports that show totals
On the Transaction tab, click the Transaction Report button. (the Transaction
Report Criteria screen appears).
Choose Category from the Total by drop-down. (this will have the report show the
total for each Category on a separate row.)
Choose Years from the Total Columns by drop-down. (This will have the report
show the total for each year on a separate column.
Optional: Check the Totals Column to have the report show a column that contains
the total of all years.
Click the Date tab and enter a date range in the From and To fields.
Note: The date range cannot exceed 6 years. If it does, the report will not be
able to display all the information.
Click OK.
Note: You can change the Total by to have total rows by Name, Category,
Subcategory, Solicitor and more. Take the time to explore all the options.
Track Reservations for various events (such as Chanukah
Parties)
In this tip: you will learn how to setup categories, enter reservations, send
invoices and run reports.
1. Setup your Event in the Category Manager and create a price list for
different attendees.
On the Switchboard click Customize > Category Manager.
Check the Subcategories check box to view Subcategories.
Click the New button to create a New Subcategory.
Choose Event in the Subcategory for drop-down list. (Event is the category, if
this category does not exist, you'll need to create it.)
Enter a name for the Event. ("Chanukah Party", for example.) This is
the Subcategory. Click OK.
While the Subcategory is selected (highlighted), click the View/Edit Price
button.
Enter a Description and a Unit Price for each Attendee. (Examples for Attendees
are Couple: $36, Senior: $10; Student: $8). Each Description is entered on a
different line.
Note: As you are entering Items in the prices list, a new blank record is
automatically made available. The new blank record has an asterisk (*) in the
record selector.
When finished, click OK.
2. Enter a Reservation.
Navigate to the person who is making a reservation.
Click the Transaction tab.
Choose Bills from the Transaction Type drop-down (bottom-left of screen).
Click the New Bill button. This opens the Bill Screen.
Remember to use the {TAB} key to navigate between fields.
Choose Event as the Type of Bill. (This is the Category.)
Enter a Date and Date Due.
Choose "Chanukah Party" (for example) from the Event drop-down list.
(This is the Subcategory.)
Choose the Attendee "Couple" (for example) from the Attendee drop-down
list. (Options in the Attendee drop-down list is taken from the Descriptions
data that was entered in step 1, above.)
The Unit Price automatically gets inserted. You can override it if you choose.
Enter the Number of People. (If the description is "Couple", enter 1
even though there are two people.)
Enter any discounts, if applicable.
The Extended price is updated automatically based on Quantity, Unit Price and
Discount.
To enter more than one Attendee type on the same bill, use the Navigation
buttons on the bottom of the Bill screen. For example, if the reservation is for
3 Adults, 2 Students and 1 Senior, these can be entered on the same bill by
clicking the Add Record (>*) button at the bottom of the Bill screen. Simply
re-enter all data for each split (from Event and below).
Note: You should not split one bill across multiple events.
3. Generate Event Invoices.
On the Switchboard, click Letters & Invoices > Batch Invoices.
Click the Show Subcategories check box.
Select (highlight) the Subcategory you want to send invoices for ("Event:
Chanukah Party").
Choose All Dates in the Due Date box.
Click the Footer Lines tab and enter (optional) any information to appear at the
bottom of the Invoice. (Example: "Happy Chanukah!")
Click OK.
4. Generate an Attendance Report.
On the Main Screen, Transaction tab, click the Transaction Report button.
Enter a Report Title. (Chanukah Party Attendance, for example.)
Choose Bills from the Report Type drop-down list.
Choose Subcategory from Total by drop-down list. (This enables the report to
give totals for each Attendee type.
On the Categories tab, click Show Subcategories and select (highlight) the
subcategory you are running the report on ("Event: Chanukah Party",
for example).
On the columns tab, make sure to check the Qty/Price/Dis check box. (Without
checking this box, the Quantity -- people count -- will not show up on the
report).
Click OK.
The report will show a list of people in each Attendee Type and the total
Totals. Amounts Billed and Totals bills will also appear on this report.
Automatically generate Yarhtzeit letters for upcoming
Yahrtzeits.
1. Prepare a Yahrtzeit Letter to use. You can enter several Yahrtzeit
letters.
When you generate a letter, you will have the option of choosing which letter to
use.
On the Main Switchboard, click Letters & Invoices > Customize Letters
Click the Add Record button (>*) to go to a new Letter.
Enter a Letter Name (Yahrtzeit 1, for example).
Choose Yahrtzeit from the Letter Type drop-down list.
Type the text of a Yahrtzeit letter in the third box (Text of Letter).
See attached file for an example of text you can use for the letter.
Click OK to save the letter.
2. Entering Yahrtzeit Data.
Enter the deceased person as a family member of the Contact (Family tab, Main
screen). Make sure to enter the relation and the His/Her fields (this data
automatically is used for the Yahrtzeit letter).
Enter a Yahrtzeit under the Occasions tab. You must enter the complete English
date of the Yahrtzeit. The Hebrew date and the when it falls out each year is
calculated automatically.
3. Generate the letter.
Click Occasion Report (Occasions tab on Main Screen).
Choose Yahrtzeit from the Occasion drop-down list.
Choose a Date Range (or enter a custom date range) in the Date of Occasion box.
(In the Occasion box you can also specify whether the date range is for the
original English date or the Hebrew date when it falls this year (next occurrence).
For Yahrtzeits, you should choose the second option.)
From the Report drop-down list, choose Yahrtzeit Letter.
From the Letter drop-down list, choose the name of the letter you want to use.
(See section 1 above for instructions on how to enter Yahrtzeit letters.)
Click OK.
The Letters are generated to the screen, use the page navigation buttons (bottom
left of screen) to navigate between letters. Click the Print button to print the
batch of letters. Click File > Print for more printing options.
Locate a contact by any text entered in the Note field.
Useful for finding a name, when the only thing your remember his dog's name
(for example)...
Click in the Note field (top right of Main screen).
Click the Find button (black binoculars) on the Tool Bar (or push Ctrl+F).
Enter the text you are searching for in the Find What field.
In the Match drop-down box, choose 'Any Part of Field'.
Click the Find Next button. (This takes you to the first match.) Clicking Find
Next again takes you to the next match, etc.
Note: You can use the Find button for searching on any of the fields in the
Contact section (top part) of the Main screen but will not work in the
Address/Phone section. Use the Find By bar (Left side of Main screen) to search
by Address fields.
Keep track of how effective different Solicitors are in
their fundraising.
Create the Solicitors.
On the Switchboard, click Customize > Built-in Lists > Solicitors.
Type the Solicitor's name in the Name field.
To add a new Solicitor click the Add Record (>*) button.
When entering Bills or Payments, select the appropriate Solicitor.
Click New Payment (or Bill).
Enter Date, Amount, Category, etc.
Choose the correct Solicitor from the Solicitor drop-down list.
Click OK.
Generate a Transaction report by Solicitor.
Click Transaction Report.
From the Total By drop-down list, choose Solicitor.
Specify other criteria, if needed (Date Range, Category, etc.).
Select Show Totals only to only show the total for each solicitor. Or Select
Show Details to show all details and the total for each solicitor.
Remember Transaction Report criteria between reports.
On the Switchboard, click Customize >Options & Settings.
Click the Other tab.
Check the Remember Report Criteria option.
Checking this option causes the Transaction criteria screen to open with the
criteria of the last time the report was generated.
Note: The program will not 'remember' report criteria after the program is shut
down and restarted.
Keep Windows and Office in top running condition by
staying updated.
Microsoft periodically releases Service Packs (SP) to Windows and Office
programs. These SPs correct many bugs and glitches in Windows and Office that
are found by the Microsoft testing team and other companies. Keeping up to date
with these updates is an absolute necessity when using advanced office
applications such as CMS.
To determine which Windows Updates are available for your computer:
Click on Start > Windows Update or go to
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp.
Click the Scan for updates link.
Follow step by step instructions on the website.
Be sure to download and install all Service Packs, Critical and Recommended
updates.
To determine which Office Updates are available for your computer:
Go to http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates
Click on the Scan my computer... link
Follow step by step instructions on the website.
Be sure to download and install all Service Packs and Recommended updates.
Note: You need an active connection to the Internet in order for this to work.
If you have a dialup connection, expect this process to take several hours or
longer (do it overnight). You may need the original Office CD to install an
update.
Send a personalized letter to a group of contacts using
Microsoft Word.
1) Ensure that the Letter Template path is specified correctly.
On the Main Switchboard, click on Customize > Options & Settings >
File Locations tab.
Click the Browse button for Letter (the 3rd box) and locate the file "CMS
Letter.dot" in the CMS folder and click Open.
Click OK to close the Options screen.
2) Choose criteria and generate the letter.
Click the Report button at the bottom of the Main screen. This opens the
Contacts Criteria screen.
Choose any criteria you wish (with the exception of the Transaction tab).
Choose "Word Merge" from the Output drop-down list.
Choose "Letters" from the Merge Type drop-down list.
Click OK. The "MS Word Templates and Documents" screen appears. Here
you have the option of merging to an existing document or changing the template
Click OK to begin the Mail Merge process. The default Letter Template will be
used unless you specify otherwise (in the previous step).
After a short delay, a Word Tip message will appear. Click OK to the message.
You will notice that Word is now open on the Windows Task bar. Click on Word to
begin working with the letter.
In Word, you can type the letter add graphics or format it as you would any Word
document.
3) Perform the actual merging.
You can view the data in the letter and move between records by clicking the ABC
button and navigation buttons, respectively.
To print the Mail Merge, click on Tools > Mail Merge and click the Merge
button.
Choose Printer Merge To drop-down list.
Click OK.
For more information of using Mail Merge in Word, please consult the online help
in MS Word.
Filter the Main Screen to display a limited group of
contacts.
Depress the Filter toggle button at the bottom of the Main screen. (The
button looks like a funnel.)
Choose a Filter from the list and click OK.
To create a new filter, click the 'Define New Filter' option and click OK.
Choose the criteria for the filter just as you would when creating a report,
click OK.
Enter a filter name, click OK. (This saves the filter for reuse.)
The filter will now appear in the list of Existing Filters. Choose that filter
from the list and click OK.
To clear the filter, click the Filter button button again.
Note: When a filter is set, the Filter toggle button appears pushed in. Use the
navigation buttons at the bottom of the Main screen to navigate between record
in the filter. The total number of contacts (Contact 1 of 3000, for example)
displayed will reflect the number of contacts that match the filter's criteria.
Finding a contact with the 'Find by' bar (left of Main Screen) may jump to a
contact that is outside the filter's criteria. To move back to within the
filter's boundaries, click one of the navigation buttons.
Category Manager
Use the Category Manager to see a quick list of all transactions in any
category or subcategory, income or expense.
Go to the Switchboard and click Customize > Category Manager.
Use the Category Type drop-down list to filter the category list to show Income
categories, Expense categories or All categories.
Check (or uncheck) the Subcategories check box to display (or hide) the
subcategories.
Click on the category (or subcategory) you want to see.
Click the 'Go to Category' button to see the list of transactions in that
category (subcategory).
Set an Administrator Password to protect sensitive areas.
The Options & Settings, Manage Programs and other sensitive areas (such
as Category Manager) of the program can be protected by setting an administrator
password.
To setup the password follow the steps below:
Go to the Switchboard and click Customize > Options & Settings >
Other.
Type a Password in the Administrator Password box, click OK.
The next time you start CMS, you will be prompted for the password. If the
correct password is not entered you will be prompted for it again when trying to
modify any Options or Settings, Manage Programs, Batch update transaction
categories and more. Once the password is entered correctly (either upon
starting CMS or when prompted later on), you will no longer be prompted again
until the program is exited.
Note: The Administrator password does NOT protect regular access to the
database; it only protects Administrative areas (listed above).
Get feedback with sound.
Audio feedback gives you an additional confirmation that data was entered
properly. When you enter a Payment, Bill or and expense you can get a chirp or
bleep notifying you that the data was imputed correctly.
To setup this feature follow the steps below:
Go to the Switchboard and click Customize > Options / Settings > File
Locations.
Click the Sounds Browse button and specify the location of your Sounds folder.
(It should be a subfolder in your CMS folder).
Click the Sounds Use check box to turn on this feature.
At any time you can turn off Audio Sounds by un-checking the Use check box.
(sometimes it gets annoying...)
Note: You need to have a sound card and speakers installed on your computer in
order to use Sounds.
Backup your data regularly.
Backing up your data is very very important. You never know when a virus will
attack your computer or your hard drive will crash. Its not a question of IF it
will happen, it WILL happen. You need to be prepared.
To backup in CMS follow these simple steps:
Make sure you specified the backup location properly.
Go to Customize > Options & Settings > File Locations.
Click the Browse button and choose a location where the data should be backed up
to.
You can also choose whether to automatically backup every time the program
closes.
Whenever you wish to backup, click on Miscellaneous > Backup on the
Switchboard.
If you checked the "Backup on Close" option, you will be asked to
backup every time you exit the program.
At a minimum, you should backup one a week. More often if you enter and change a
lot of data. The general rule is: backup as often as you can afford to lose
data. If you cannot afford to lose three days of work, backup every three days.
Export a group of names to send to a mailing house.
Often, when you are doing a large mailing (such as the yearly calendar), you
may want to use an outside mailing house to take care of your the entire
mailing.
This saves you the hassle of sticking labels, ensures correct addresses, and
speeds up actual mailing.
Click the Report button (bottom of Main screen).
Choose Export from the Output drop-down list.
Limit the contacts to be exported by selecting various options in the Contact
Criteria screen (optional).
Click OK.
If prompted regarding a separate file or a query, choose to export as a separate
file.
When prompted for a Format, choose Excel.
Enter an export name and choose a location on your computer where to save the
file.
If you are prompted whether to save as a query, choose No.
You can open the Excel file by double-clicking the file.
You may notice that the address column, for example appears not to contain all
the data. To see the entire address, you can widen the column by moving the
mouse between the Address column header and the next column header. The mouse
becomes a double-sided arrow. Click and drag to widen the column as needed.
Note: To add more fields to an export (phone numbers, for example), use the Add
Fields tab on the Contact Criteria Screen.
"And" vs. "&" (for labels)
Change the "and" to "&" in labels or envelopes.
When you generate labels or envelopes, the program automatically combines the
Husband Title ("Mr.") and the Wife Title ("Mrs."). The
resulting title is "Mr. and Mrs.". If you like, you can change the
result to "Mr. & Mrs."
Go to the Switchboard
Click Customize > Options > Other tab
In the "Label and Type" drop-down box, choose "and" or
"&"
Click OK
Changing this setting takes effect immediately.
Carry-over Buttons
Speed up data entry using "carry over" buttons and default
programs when entering new names. This is especially useful when entering lots
of names that need to be marked with common programs.
Click on the Add Record button (>*) on the bottom of the Main screen. This
opens the Add Contacts window.
Notice the "carry over" small vertical buttons to the right of some
of the fields.
Depress the "carry over" button for data that you want to carry over
to the next entry.
For example, if you are entering a list of names from a common City, State and
Zip, you depress the "carry over" buttons for those fields.
Select from up to six programs that should automatically be checked for any
contacts you add.
Click Enter to save the new record. It will be added to the list (at the
right) of contacts added this session.
Click Close when you're done. The Main screen will now display all records
added.
Family Programs
Use Family specific programs to keep track of bunks (for camp), classes
(for Hebrew School), or other family specific groups.
First set up the Programs and Sub-programs.
On the Switchboard, Click on Customize > Modify Application Built-In Lists
> Family Programs.
Click the 'New Program' button and enter a program name (CGI Summer 2002).
Select the new program from the Program drop-down list, click the 'New Sub
Program' button and enter a sub-program name (Bunk 1). Do this for every
sub-program you want to enter (Bunk 2, Bunk 3, ...)
Next assign programs to family members (children in camp).
Go to the Family tab on the Main screen.
Click on the family member you want to enroll in a program. (If you need to,
enter new family members by clicking on the 'New Person' button.)
Click the 'New Program' button and select the Program and Sub-program (CGI
Summer 2002; Bunk 1, for example) for this family member.
You can (and should) also enter an enroll date and an expire date.
Click OK. The program should appear in the Program List box.
You can generate lists, labels, email, faxes, exports, merges, and more, based
on Family Program. This way, you could send mail to a specific bunk or the
entire camp. To do this, click on Family Report > Family Programs tab. It
works very similar to the Contact Report.
Compacting
Speed up the entire program by compacting the data file regularly.
Exit the program.
Open Windows Explorer (My Documents) and navigate to your CMS folder.
Open your data file directly. (Your data file is called CMS.mdb. Double click
this file to open it.)
From the Tools menu, click Database Utilities > Compact and Repair.
Close MS Access.
Restart the program.
How this works: When deleting data from the database, Access does not actually
delete the data, it just adds internal code to the file that indicates that
the data was deleted. Similarly, when you modify records, the old data, the
internal code that indicate a data change, and the new data are stored. Over
time, your database can grow quite large. Compacting the database removes any
references to deletions and modifications, thereby speeding up data access and
load times.
Note: Compacting requires a full working version of Microsoft Access.
(Access Runtime does not have this maintenance feature.)
Bulk Faxing
Send bulk faxes to a group of contacts. Very useful for a weekly Torah Fax,
like Fax of Life.
Always enter fax numbers in the Fax field on the Main Screen.
Click the Report button to open the Contact Report screen.
Choose WinFax from the Output drop-down list.
Optionally, limit the resulting list to any of the criteria in the Contact
Report screen (Demographic, Program, etc.)
Click OK
WinFax will open. Type a message and/or attach any files and click Send.
Note: This feature requires WinFax 10 and the WinFax Controller needs to be
running.
Main Screen Lock
Lock Main screen to prevent unintentional deletion or modification of data.
Click the Lock button at the top-left of the Main screen. This turns on the
lock mode. Data in the fields cannot be edited or deleted.
To turn of the lock, click the button again.
When in lock mode, all fields appear flat; as apposed to the unlocked mode
where the fields appear 3D.
You can control the default lock mode when the program starts.
Go to the Switchboard.
Click on Customize > Options > Other tab.
Modify the setting 'lock main form upon startup' as needed.
Manual Invoice Description
Manually enter a description for each line on an invoice.
When you generate an invoice, the description on the invoice is automatically
calculated based on the Subcategory and Subcategory Detail you entered for
that bill. You have the option to override this by entering your own
description.
Go to the Switchboard
Click Customize > Options > Defaults tab
In the Invoice Description box, choose "Manual" from the drop-down
list.
Click OK
To manually enter a description, type your description in the Description
field for the bill. If no description is typed, the description on the invoice
will be calculated automatically.
Split Payments
There are times when you need to divide one payment into multiple
categories. For example: You receive one check in the amount of $500, $300 for
Hebrew School and $200 a Donation.
Click New Payment
Enter the Date, Amount, Method and Check number
In the Apply Amount field, enter $300 for Category = Tuition, Subcategory =
Hebrew School
(Your categories may differ.)
Click on the Add Record button (>*) at the bottom of the Payment Screen.
This creates a new sub record for this payment. (Notice that the Date and
Amount of the check remain the same)
In the Apply Amount field, enter $200 for Category = Donation, Subcategory =
General
(You categories may differ.)
Click OK
You will notice that two lines now appear in the Transaction List.
For each of the splits in the payment, you can enter specific information such
as Thank-you letter, Solicitor, Pay Bill, etc.
In the example above, you will only choose to send a thank-you letter for the
$200 donation but not for the $300 Tuition. Also, in this example, you will
apply the $300 Tuition payment towards an existing bill (select the bill from
the Pay Bill drop-down list) but the $200 donation will not be applied to any
bill (unless, of course, you are applying it towards a pledge).
Sorting Lists
In many of the screens you will see a list of information. An example of
such a list is the Transaction List on the Main Screen (Transaction Tab). You
can sort the list by any of the columns you see on the list.
Click on any of the column headers to sort the list in ascending order.
Clicking on the header a second time will sort the list in descending order.
For example, to sort the list of Payments that appear in the Transaction List
by Amount, click on the Amount header. The donations will be sorted in
ascending order, smallest donation first. Clicking on it a second time will
sort it in descending order, beginning with the largest payment.
Gender Specific Thank-you Letters
When you receive a donation and you want to send the acknowledgment letter
to one spouse in the same address (the wife only, for example -- she said
"Make sure my husband doesn't find out about this..."), you can
accomplish this very easily.
Click New Payment and the Transaction tab of the Main screen
Enter payment information as you usually do
In the His/Her drop-down list (towards the top-left), choose either Him or
Her.
Click OK
When you generate Thank-you letters (Reports > Letters), this specific
donation will have a letter that is addressed to Him or Her. The name on the
Envelope or Label will match as well. This will override the default Address
Settings specified for this address.
Note: If you need to send the Thank-you letter to a totally separate
address (Her work address, for example) the above tip is not needed. Simply
choose the correct address in the Address drop-down.
In Kind Donations
When you receive a non-money donation, such as furniture, a vehicle and the
like, you can enter it into the system as a payment and generate a thank-you
letter for this donation along with the rest of your thank-you letters.
When entering the donation, choose "In Kind" from the Method
drop-down list.
Leave the Amount as $0.00.
In the Description field, type a short description that describes the item
donated.
If a longer description is needed or a list of items was donated, you can type
"assorted clothing, see attached list" (for example). Before mailing
the letter, make sure to attach a list of the items donated.
Choose an appropriate thank-you letter that is specific for In Kind donations.
Generate letters as you always do (Report > Letters). The In Kind letter
will automatically include the Description you entered.
Family Mailings
Add "& Family" to the names of selected addresses when
generating labels or envelopes.
Under "Settings for this address" (Main Screen), check the Family
check box for contacts who have family.
Click the Report button at the bottom of the Main screen. This opens the
Contacts Criteria screen.
Select Labels or Envelopes from the Report drop-down list.
Select Family from the Gender/Family drop-down list.
Specify additional criteria as needed
Click OK
The addresses that have the Family box checked will have the words "&
Family" after the name.
You have the option for the labels to read "The Pinson Family", for
example, as apposed to "Mr. & Mrs. Yisroel Pinson & Family".
To modify this setting, click on Customize > Options > Default Settings
and choose your preference from the Family drop-down list.
Note: When generating "Family" labels or envelopes in the steps
outlined above, only the addresses marked as Family will be affected. Also, if
you don't choose Family form the Gender/Family drop-down list, all labels will
be generated equally.
Bulk Email
Send bulk email to a list of contacts in CMS. Very useful for a weekly
email.
Always enter any email addresses in the email field on the Main Screen.
Click the Report button to open the Contact Report screen.
Choose Email from the Output drop-down list.
Optionally, limit the resulting list to any of the criteria in the Contact
Report screen (Demographic, Program, etc.)
Click OK
You default Windows email client (Outlook Express, for example) will open.
Type the email message and click Send.
Note: Be sure to enter the email addresses without any leading or trailing
commas.
Searching Options
Search for a contact by phone number or email address.
Click the More button on the Find Bar and enter an email address or phone
number. Once there, you can click on the Back button to return to the standard
Find Bar.
The Find Bar is located on the left of the Main screen.
ListView Features
Click on the List View button to see a phone list of your entire list of
names.
Once in the List View, you can limit the list you see to any of the Programs
in your system.
Double click on any name to view that contact in the Main screen.
The List View button is on the bottom-left of the Main screen.
Auto City/State
Entering a Zip Code will automatically bring up the City and State in their
respective fields. This feature works for zip codes that have already been
entered into the system. If you are entering a new zip code, you will have to
enter the City and State manually.
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