Universal Application: Merge Fields in Email Templates

Merge fields in email templates populate specific information related to the recipient and request, enabling personalized communication with applicants throughout the scholarship process. Use merge fields to customize automatic and manual emails in your Universal Application (UA) site. For more details on the available fields, refer to Email Merge Field Guide.

User Role: Administrator

When to Use Merge Fields in Email Templates

Use merge fields in email templates to:

• Personalize emails with applicant names, scholarship names, award amounts, or deadlines
• Send automatic emails at specific stages (application submission, evaluation completion, award approval)
• Create reusable templates that adapt to different applicants and opportunities

Merge fields are available when you create a new template, edit an existing template, or send an email without using a template. While editing, merge fields can be found on the right-hand side of your screen.

Add an Email Merge Field

• Merge fields appear under categories. Click a category to view the fields available to merge into the email.
  • You may also click All to view all available merge fields.
  • There is not a way to add additional fields to this list. The merge fields included here are system-wide fields and not specific to the custom fields added by each foundation.
• If an Event Type is already selected for the email template, some non-contextual merge fields will be grayed out and can't be added to that type of email.
• Merge fields appear in blue text. When you find the one you would like to add to your email, click the blue text to copy the merge field code, then paste that into the email.
  • For merge fields containing a link, you can also click the chain icon to the right of the blue text to insert the link into the email.
  • Merge fields appear in double brackets once pasted into the email.
  • For example, if you want to create a template that directly addresses the recipient, such as “Dear John Doe” you would type “Dear” and use the Recipient Full Name merge field after: Dear {{Recipient.FullName}}

Additional Details

Emails with merge fields must be sent from a location where the included merge fields can populate information. For example, if you include the Amount Awarded merge field, the email could be sent with specific requests selected on the All Open Approvals workload page. If you sent the email from the User Summary page for an applicant, however, the system wouldn't know which request to populate the Amount Awarded information from. Amount Awarded will pull in $0.00 if used in the follow up context if follow ups are psuedo or common.

Specific Merge Field Considerations

• It is recommended that you use the Date merge field under the Current section instead of the Initial Submit Date merge field under the Submission section.
• Do not use the Project Name merge field, as it is not designed for use with the Universal Application feature.
• If a student has multiple opportunities in draft status and the Process Opportunity Name merge field is used in a third party reminder email template, it will send one reminder email and list all the opportunity names still in draft status, separated by a comma.
• The Opportunity Name merge field will not populate data if used within an email template that’s sent in relation to a follow up form, whether in an automatic or manual email.
  • This is because a follow up form can be related to multiple opportunities.

"To Applicant (when Submitted)" Email Template Considerations

If configured within the universe, this automatic email template is sent when the applicant submits the common portion of the application, and when they submit any supplemental sections for opportunities.

• It is recommended that you use the Name merge field instead of the Universe Name or Opportunity Name merge fields for this email template.
  • The Name field will populate with the name of the universe in the email sent when the applicant submits the common portion of the application. It will populate with the name of the opportunity in the email sent when the applicant submits a supplemental section for an opportunity.
  • The Opportunity Name field would be blank in the email sent when the applicant submits the common portion of the application, as the applicant doesn't have any opportunity-specific requests at that point.
• This email template is not opportunity-specific, so the template should be kept generic to all opportunities in your universe.