1. Open the Library<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThis is the fastest path to sending your first member email. Follow it once and you’ll have a feel for the whole flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go to Membership \u2192 Member Messaging<\/strong> from the main menu. This page contains your organisation’s message library where every message you’ve ever drafted or sent lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUse to page filters and\/or search to locate a specific message or groups of messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Click “New Message”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Create \/ Edit Message<\/strong> drawer slides open. You’ll fill in three things to get started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nMessage Name<\/strong> \u2014 a short name for you<\/em> (e.g. “AGM Reminder 2026”). Members never see this.<\/li>\n\n\n\nCategory<\/strong> \u2014 a label to group similar messages, e.g. “AGM” or “Renewals”. Pick from the dropdown or type a new one.<\/li>\n\n\n\nEmail Subject<\/strong> \u2014 what members see in their inbox. Keep it short and clear; around 50 characters fits well on a phone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n3. Write the body<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nType your message in the Email Body<\/strong> editor. The toolbar gives you formatting, bullet lists, links, and font choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo personalise per member, use one of the Dynamic Field<\/strong> tokens shown in the hint panel – just click the token to copy it and paste it into your message:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n`{memberFirstName}` \u2014 replaced with each member’s first name<\/li>\n\n\n\n `{memberFullName}` \u2014 replaced with their full name<\/li>\n\n\n\n `{memberAddressees}` \u2014 replaced with their full name plus<\/em> one or both parent\/guardians* – under-18s only<\/li>\n\n\n\n‘{guardianName}` \u2014 replaced with one or both parent\/guardian names* only – under-18s only<\/li>\n\n\n\n `{orgName}` \u2014 replaced with your organisation’s name<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nFor example: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n`Hi {memberFirstName}, …` becomes `Hi Sarah, …` when Sarah receives it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n ‘To {memberAddressees}, … becomes ‘To Billy Chan C\/o Michael Chan & Melinda Chan’ <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n4. Preview<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen you’ve saved your new message, click the Preview<\/strong> button to see what the email will look like. Merge tokens render as `[Member First Name]` etc. (the placeholders make the structure visible without needing a recipient picked yet).<\/p>\n\n\n\n5. Save and move to Select Members<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nClick Select Members & Prepare Email Blast<\/strong>. This takes you to the recipient selection page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n6. Pick recipients<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nUse the filter controls at the top \u2014 Status<\/strong>, Section<\/strong>, Membership type<\/strong>, Min. Active Membership Date<\/strong>, Past Recipients<\/strong> \u2014 to narrow the member list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\nStatus<\/strong> – filter only active members or incl. inactive members<\/li>\n\n\n\nSection<\/strong> – filter members in a specific Section or all Sections<\/li>\n\n\n\nMembership<\/strong> – filter members with a specific Membership Assignment or All Assignments (incl. none)<\/li>\n\n\n\nMin. Active M’ship Date <\/strong>– if you enter\/select as date here it will filter only members with an active members how only members with an active membership on or after the date you select. Members whose memberships ended before that date \u2014 or who have no active assignment after it \u2014 will be excluded. (This is based on the \u201cAssignment Cancellation Date\u201d).<\/li>\n\n\n\nPast Recipients<\/strong> – Choose whether to exclude members who already received this message, include them, or send only to past recipients (useful for follow-ups).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nThen tick the checkbox next to each member you want to email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Selected eligible members<\/strong> count updates live so you can see at a glance how many people you’re about to email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n7. Test it first<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\nClick Validate Selected Members<\/strong> to freeze your selection – the report updates to show only selected members.<\/li>\n\n\n\nLeave the Test mode <\/strong>switched ON (it’s on by default for a reason). <\/li>\n\n\n\nClick Send Emails<\/strong> > Confirm in the dialog.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nA single email goes to your own admin address (not to the members you ticked). It carries a yellow TEST MESSAGE<\/strong> banner so it’s impossible to mistake for the real thing. Open it and check that the layout, formatting, and merge tokens look right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n8. Send live<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nOnce you’re happy, switch mode to Live <\/strong>and click Send Emails<\/strong> again. You’ll get a confirmation dialog telling you the recipient count and the message subject, with a warning that the send can’t be undone. Click OK<\/strong> to confirm.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYour members receive the email within a few minutes (sometimes immediately, depending on queue depth).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9. Check who received it<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nClick the Send History<\/strong> button to see the list of members who received your message, with their email address, the send date, and who sent it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThat’s it. You’ve sent your first message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Composing \u2014 the things worth knowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nA few features make a real difference once you’re past your first send.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personalising with Dynamic Field tokens<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nYou can drop these tokens anywhere in your email body, as many times as you like – just click the token in the hint panel to copy it and paste it into your message.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDynamic Field Token<\/th> What it becomes<\/th> Member Field<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> {memberFirstName}<\/td> The recipient’s first name“Hi Sarah<\/span>“<\/em><\/td> Member First Name<\/td><\/tr> {memberFullName}<\/td> Their full name (first + last)“Dear Sarah O’Reilly<\/span>“<\/em><\/td> Member First & Last Names <\/td><\/tr> {memberAddressees}<\/td> Their full name plus<\/em> one or both parent\/guardians* \u2013 under-18s only“To Billy Chan C\/o Michael Chan & Melinda Chan<\/span>“<\/em><\/td> Member First & Last Names {guardianName}<\/td> One or both parent\/guardian names* only \u2013 under-18s only“To Michael Chan & Melinda Chan<\/span>“<\/em> Other Contact 1 First & Last Names {orgName}<\/td> Their organisation’s display nameWest Midlands Branch<\/span><\/em>“<\/td> Member Organisation<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPersonalised greetings (`Hi {memberFirstName}, …`) measurably lift open rates. We recommend using them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adding attachments<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nUse the File Upload<\/strong> field in the Edit Message drawer to attach a file. Limits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n– Maximum size: 2 MB<\/strong> per file (Max 5MB <\/strong>total files per message) <\/p>\n\n\n\n– Allowed types: images (JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP), PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, plain text<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anything else gets rejected with a clear message. If you need to send something larger, host it online (your club website, a public Drive link) and put the link in the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After uploading, the file appears in the Attached Files<\/strong> table inside the dialog. Click the red bin icon to remove an attachment before sending.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEmbedding an image with a hyperlink<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nUseful for things like lottery promos or event flyers. The pattern is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Host the image<\/strong> on a public HTTPS URL (your club website is ideal).<\/p>\n\n\n\n2. Write the HTML<\/strong> in a plain text editor:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n“`html<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<a href=”https:\/\/yourclub.com\/lottery\/subscribe”><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<img src=”https:\/\/yourclub.com\/images\/lottery.jpg”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
alt=”Subscribe to the lottery”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
width=”600″ \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
“`<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
3. Paste the HTML directly<\/strong> into the Email Body field. The editor preserves it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n4. Preview<\/strong> to confirm it renders as a clickable image.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA few notes on images in emails:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Most email clients block external images by default<\/strong>. Recipients see a “Click to show images” prompt unless they trust the sender. Always include an `alt=` attribute so the link is still meaningful when images are blocked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n– Stick to **JPG or PNG**<\/strong>. Avoid WebP \u2014 Outlook desktop doesn’t render it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n– Resize to a sensible width (under 600px) so it loads quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Targeting recipients<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe Member Selection page gives you several filters to narrow the list before you tick people:<\/p>\n\n\n\nFilter<\/th> What it does<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> Status<\/strong><\/td>Active \/ Inactive \/ All members<\/td><\/tr> Section<\/strong><\/td>Select members with selected Section (e.g. Junior, Senior)<\/td><\/tr> Membership type<\/strong><\/td>Select members with selected membership category<\/td><\/tr> Min. Active Membership Date<\/strong><\/td>Excludes members whose membership lapsed before this date<\/td><\/tr> Past Recipients<\/strong><\/td>Any \/ Exclude past (re-sends) \/ Past only (follow-ups) <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Past Recipients<\/strong> filter is particularly useful for multi-wave campaigns. Send wave 1 to everyone, then set the filter to “Exclude past” and send wave 2 \u2014 the people who already got wave 1 don’t appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can also use this for “New Joiner” emails to ensure this is only sent once to each member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Members who’ve unsubscribed<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nIf any member has used the unsubscribe link from a previous email, they appear in the list with a red UNSUBSCRIBED<\/strong> badge in the Status column. You can still see who they are (and their email address), but you cannot send to them<\/strong> \u2014 the row’s checkbox excludes them from the selection automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you tick a mix of subscribed and unsubscribed members and click Send, a notification at the top of the page tells you how many were skipped, so the math always adds up. The same logic catches members with no email address on file.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis isn’t something you can override. Members who unsubscribe have a legal right not to receive further marketing (under GDPR\/PECR), and the system enforces that automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Validating your selection<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nOnce you’ve ticked members, check the Validate Selected Members<\/strong> box. The list refreshes to only show your chosen recipients.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUnder-18 members and parent\/guardian emails<\/h2>\n\n\n\n If your organisation has junior members, this section matters. The behaviour works the same way as invoices and statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who receives the email<\/h4>\n\n\n\n A member counts as under 18 when they have a date of birth<\/strong> on record and that date makes them younger than 18 on the day you send. For those members, Member Messaging sends to all addresses on the same email:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nthe member’s own Email 1<\/strong> and Email 2<\/strong>, and<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\nEmail 1<\/strong> from Other Contact 1<\/strong> and<\/span> Other Contact 2<\/strong> (the parent\/guardian sections)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n Duplicate addresses are removed, so if a parent is listed twice they still only get one copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For everyone else \u2014 members aged 18 or over, and members with no date of birth on record<\/strong> \u2014 only the member’s own Email 1 and Email 2 are used. A parent\/guardian address is not<\/em> used as a stand-in for an adult with no email of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nWorth knowing:<\/strong> a member with no date of birth is treated as an adult. If you rely on this behaviour for junior members, make sure their dates of birth are recorded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nIf you don’t want under-18s contacted directly<\/h4>\n\n\n\n Some clubs would rather all correspondence about a junior went only to the parent or guardian. You control that through the data, not a setting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nLeave the member’s Email 1 and Email 2 blank, and enter only the parent\/guardian addresses in the Other Contact sections.<\/strong> The message then reaches the guardians alone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nThis is worth deciding before your first send to a junior group, because the default is to include the member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addressing the email properly<\/h4>\n\n\n\n If your recipient list mixes adults and under-18s \u2014 which is the normal case \u2014 you face an awkward choice writing the greeting. The {memberFullName}<\/code> Dynamic Field token doesn’t tell a parent who the message concerns; but using {memberFullName} C\/o {guardianName}<\/code> yourself leaves a stray “C\/o” on every adult’s email, because adults have no guardian name to fill it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\ud83d\udc49 {memberAddressees}<\/code> solves this.<\/strong> It resolves to whichever is right for each recipient:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n \n Recipient<\/th> {memberAddressees}<\/code> becomes<\/th><\/tr>\n <\/thead>\n \n Under-18 with two parent\/guardian names on file<\/td> Jack Smith C\/o Jane Smith & Paul Smith<\/td><\/tr>\n Under-18 with one name on file<\/td> Jack Smith C\/o Jane Smith<\/td><\/tr>\n Under-18 with no parent\/guardian name recorded<\/td> Jack Smith<\/td><\/tr>\n Adult member<\/td> Mary Jones<\/td><\/tr>\n <\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSo Dear {memberAddressees},<\/code> reads correctly for every person on your list.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUse {guardianName}<\/code> only when you want the parent\/guardian name on its own \u2014 for example a separate “Parent\/Guardian:” line. Remember it is blank for adults, so don’t type your own “C\/o” in front of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nParent\/guardian names appear exactly as recorded<\/h4>\n\n\n\n Whatever is in the parent\/guardian (Other Contact 1 & 2) First Name<\/strong> and Last Name<\/strong> fields is what appears in the email. If someone has been recorded as \"Jane Smith (Mother)\"<\/code>, the addressee line will read Jack Smith C\/o Jane Smith (Mother)<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThere’s a separate Relationship to Member<\/strong> field for that detail. If you’d rather it didn’t show in emails, move it out of the name fields on the member’s record.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUnsubscribe links<\/h4>\n\n\n\n The unsubscribe link in a message always applies to the member<\/strong>, not the parent. If a parent clicks unsubscribe on an email about their child, it is the child’s membership record that stops receiving messages. That’s usually what’s intended, but it’s worth knowing before you send.<\/p>\n\n\n\nChecking it before you send<\/h4>\n\n\n\n Use Test mode<\/strong>, or the Preview<\/strong> on the Select Members page with a junior member selected. Both show the resolved addressee exactly as the recipient will see it, so you can confirm the greeting reads properly for both a junior and an adult before going live.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTest\/Live mode \u2014 your safety net<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe Test\/Live<\/strong> switch at the top of the Select Members region is the single most important control in this feature. It defaults to Test<\/strong> every time you load the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat Test\/Live mode does<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen Test<\/strong> mode is selected:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\nA single email is sent to your own admin address<\/li>\n\n\n\n The email has a bright yellow TEST MESSAGE<\/strong> banner that says “THIS HAS NOT BEEN SENT TO YOUR MEMBERS”<\/li>\n\n\n\nNo row is added to the Send History<\/li>\n\n\n\n The message’s status is not changed to “Sent”<\/li>\n\n\n\n The unsubscribe link in the footer is deactivated<\/strong> (so accidentally clicking it doesn’t unsubscribe the real member)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nWhen
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