Templates are Microsoft Word documents that you customize with your own language and merge fields from CommunitySuite. Once the customized Word document is uploaded to CommunitySuite through the Templates area, users can then generate templated documents. Templates must be run from an item in the system like a transaction, fund, or opportunity. Merge fields will automatically populate with data from CommunitySuite records when the template is generated. General communications not related to these items can be done outside the system using mail merge.
Who: Donor services teams, communications staff, grant or scholarship administrators, or finance staff who generate tax receipts, grant letters, fund statements, and other customized documents for donors, fund advisors, grantees, students, and more.
Use Templates to Generate Documents
Templates allow you to:
- Send tax receipts for charitable contributions, including year end tax receipts.
- Generate grant or scholarship award letters as a pre-communication before grant checks are posted.
- Create grant or scholarship letters to recipients when grant checks are posted.
- Generate fund statements for fund advisors to report on fund activity.
- Send event ticket confirmations to attendees for event registrations.
- Send tribute notifications about donations made in honor or memory of loved ones.
Templates Page Table Columns
The Templates page displays all uploaded templates in a table. Each column provides information about the template record.
Type - The template category that determines which CommunitySuite record the template pulls data from, such as a donation, fund, or grant.
ID - The unique identifier assigned to each template record. When working with Support on a template issue, the template ID is the preferred way to identify the specific template.
- When contacting Support about a template issue, have the template ID ready. This is the preferred way for Support to identify and troubleshoot a specific template.
Description - The name assigned to the template on upload. Descriptions help distinguish between multiple templates of the same type.
Default - Indicates whether the template is the system default for its type. When multiple templates of the same type exist, the default template is used unless logic has been assigned to determine otherwise.
Advanced - Indicates whether the template uses the advanced format. Some template types, including grant letters and scholarship letters, have an advanced counterpart with different merge fields that are not interchangeable with the standard version.
Verified - Indicates whether the template passed the verification check on upload. All templates must be verified before they can be used to generate documents.
Types of Available Templates
CommunitySuite supports the templates listed in this section. Each template is a Word document with merge fields that pull data from CommunitySuite records and must be uploaded before use. Templates must be uploaded to your site before they can be used to generate documents.
Check
Check templates are used when system defaults for check printing formats do not fit your check stock. CommunitySuite supports multiple custom check templates that can be assigned at the account record level.
If you use a check with grant letter template, you can prevent the creation of grant and scholarship letters using the No Grant/Sship Letters setting on the template.
Custom check templates must be enabled first in Checks Settings before a custom check template will populate instead of the system default check format.
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Envelope
Envelope templates generate address information for fund statement recipients, tax receipts, tributes, check batches, and more.
When you are generating fund statements, you can also generate envelopes with address information for each applicable recipient. Different envelope templates can be assigned to specific funds, fund groups, subgroups, divisions, and segments to accommodate mailing needs.
Event Ticket Receipt
Event Ticket Receipt templates send confirmation of event registration to attendees. You can assign an Event Ticket Receipt to a campaign.
If the event ticket includes a donation amount, a tax receipt will also be generated. This is separate from the Event Ticket Receipt.
Once the first Event Ticket Receipt is uploaded, it is set as a default and each subsequent campaign will automatically send that receipt. If the receipt has language specific to that event, consider updating the template when you do another event or adding a new template and assigning that to the campaign.
Fund Statement
Fund Statements serve as a means of providing financial information to a fund advisor regarding the funds they advise. Before fund statements can be created for fund advisors, a fund statement template must be uploaded to the system and a fund statement format must be connected to a fund.
CommunitySuite can support multiple templates for different types of funds so you can share different information with fund holders in different groups.
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Grant Award Letter
Grant Award Letters can be generated when a grant is created, which makes them useful for pre-communication to grantees before grant checks are posted. Grant award letters are found in the Grant Award Letter Bucket and can be emailed or printed.
Prior to using grant award letters, load a grant award letter template in Templates. Example templates are available, or new ones can be created using the Grant Award Letter - All Fields example.
Grant Card
Grant Cards are digital gift cards that people can use on the Giving Hub. Grant Card templates generate receipts for those transactions.
Grant Letter
A grant letter is generated when the grant check is posted. This templated letter is not generated until that time; however, the grant award letter can be used for any pre-award communication. Once generated, the grant letter is found in the Grants Document Bucket and is attached to the grant record.
There is an Advanced option for Grant Letters. When Advanced is applied to a Grant Letter template, the letter consolidates awards that are on one check.
Regular and Advanced Grant Letter templates have different merge fields.
Internal Grant
Internal grants send money from one fund to another fund. Internal grant letters notify fund advisors of the receiving fund that a grant has been awarded from another fund. Internal grant letters are processed individually from the check id.
Invoice
When your organization needs to collect a non-charitable payment, an invoice is created so it can be applied to the incoming payment. For example, your organization may rent one of your buildings, so an invoice can be used to collect monthly rent.
Invoice templates are required within the system. If you do not have an invoice template, you will need to upload one to your site. An Invoice Example is available.
You can have more than one invoice template, and you can assign logic for the system to select the appropriate template based on the fund on the invoice.
Loan Letter
Loan templates notify loan recipients of loan terms. This template is not used for loan invoices, which use the normal system invoice template. Loan letters are processed individually from the loan record.
Opportunity Letter
Opportunity Letter templates generate letters to profiles that have an open opportunity. This can be done individually or in bulk.
Prior to creating opportunity letters, load an opportunity letter template in Templates. Example templates are available, or new ones can be created using the Opportunities Letter - All Fields example. Once a template is available, add it to the opportunity before processing letters.
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Pledge Payment
Pledge Payment templates send reminders to donors about upcoming or overdue pledge payments. Pledges allow you to document a commitment from a donor to fulfill an obligation over a period of time. Pledges have an impact on the general ledger.
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Promise Payment
Promise Payment templates send reminders to donors about upcoming or overdue promise payments. Promises allow you to document a commitment from a donor to fulfill an obligation over a period of time. Promises do not have an impact on the general ledger.
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Scholarship Award Letter
Scholarship award letters can be generated when a scholarship is created, which makes them useful for pre-communication to students before the grant check for the scholarship is posted. Prior to using scholarship award letters, load a scholarship award letter template in the Templates area of CommunitySuite.
Scholarship award letters are found in the Scholarships Award Letter bucket and can be processed in bulk or individually, and can be printed or emailed.
Scholarship award letters are different from scholarship letters, which are not generated until the grant check is posted.
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Scholarship Letter
Scholarship letters are generated when grant checks are posted. Once generated, the scholarship letter is found in the Scholarship Document Bucket. Prior to creating scholarship letters, load a scholarship letter template in Templates.
There is an Advanced option for Scholarship Letters. When Advanced is applied to a Scholarship Letter template, the letter consolidates awards that are on one check.
Regular and Advanced Scholarship Letter templates have different merge fields and are not interchangeable.
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Tax Receipt
A tax receipt will be generated for any donation, or payment with a donation amount, unless No Tax Receipt is selected on the donation.
The Tax Receipt Templates setting in Donations Settings must be Yes to enable tax receipt templates. Once you have created and enabled a tax receipt template, the system will use your template. If not, a stock tax receipt will generate using donation_tax_header and donation_tax_footer content blocks.
Online donations can have tax receipts set automatically, based on your Donations Settings.
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Transfer Request
Transfer Request templates send notifications to investment advisors set on an account about transfer requests being made. Transferring money from an account with an investment advisor will generate a transfer request.
A transfer request can be emailed or printed to send to the investment advisor as a notification that the transfer is being made. Before printing or emailing a request, a transfer request template must be set in Templates; otherwise, any merge fields will not populate.
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Tribute Honor
Tribute Letter in Honor templates send notifications to the profile that is listed in the Notify section on a tribute record. The Notify Profile may be the honoree or a family member. These letters are separate from tax receipts sent to the donor that made the tribute gift.
Tributes can have a selected template other than the default template. If you have selected a tribute template for a tribute, the system will use your template for print notifications. If not, the default honor or memory tribute template will be used.
The Honor tribute letter is a separate template type than the Memory template with different merge fields that are not interchangeable.
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Tribute Memory
Tribute Letter in Memory templates send notifications to the profile that is listed in the Notify section on a tribute record. The Notify Profile may be a family member of the person being memorialized. These letters are separate from tax receipts sent to the donor that made the tribute gift.
Tributes can have a selected template other than the default template. If you have selected a tribute template for a tribute, the system will use your template for print notifications. If not, the default honor or memory tribute template will be used.
The Memory tribute letter is a separate template type than the Honor tribute template with different merge fields that are not interchangeable.
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Yearly Tax Receipt
Yearly Tax Receipt templates consolidate all donations from a single profile within a specified time frame into one receipt document. These are typically generated at calendar year end for annual donor tax documentation.
If you have a Yearly Tax Receipt template uploaded to your system, you can run yearly tax receipts for your donors individually or in batch.
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Create and Customize Templates
Templates can be created by using example templates and customizing them, or creating them completely from scratch in Word. Start with an example template and modify the merge fields and language as needed, or use any existing Word document and insert CommunitySuite merge fields. Merge fields can be inserted into any existing templates that your organization may already have.
Enable Check and Tax Receipt Templates in CommunitySuite
Before creating and customizing check or tax receipt templates, it is important to enable using custom templates for these areas first.
Enable Check Templates
Set the Enable Check Templates setting in Checks Settings to Yes to enable using a custom check template. Enable this if system defaults for check printing formats do not fit your check stock, and you need to use a custom template instead.
Enable Tax Receipt Templates
Set the Tax Receipt Templates setting in Donations Settings to Yes to enable tax receipt templates. If the box is unchecked, the system will use the default Donation Tax Header and Footer from Donations Content.
The resources listed below provide detailed guidance for creating and customizing CommunitySuite templates.
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Upload and Update Custom Templates
Upload a Template
Once you create a template in Word with merge fields, upload it to CommunitySuite through the Templates page. After uploading, verify the template to confirm there are no merge field errors before it can be used in the system.
Assign Logic to a Template
The first template uploaded for each type automatically becomes the default template. When multiple templates of the same type exist, the default template can be changed or logic can be assigned to determine which template the system selects based on fund, donation type, or other criteria.
Update an Existing Template
An existing template can be updated by uploading a revised Word document, rather than deleting and creating a new template. This allows you to keep historical template versions in the system. You can revert back to a historical version.
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Test Templates
After uploading and verifying a template, test it to confirm merge fields display correctly with actual CommunitySuite data. It is recommended to test templates in your Sandbox site to ensure they work correctly before uploading them in your Live site.
Test via Left-Side Menu
Most templates can be tested by clicking Test in the left-side menu of the template record.
Test from a Specific Record
Some templates require specific testing methods, such as navigating to a fund record to test fund statements, printing a check to test check templates, or generating a ticket receipt from a campaign to test event ticket templates.
- Check template
- Event Ticket Receipt template
- Fund statements
- Opportunity Letter
- Promise Payment template
Transaction Data Required
There must be a transaction in the system to test. For example, a tax receipt cannot be tested without having a donation record in the system. The system will choose which record to insert into the test. To test a particular transaction, navigate to that transaction and run the template.
Test Merge Fields via Template Fields List
To test merge fields on a particular record, use the Template Fields List and add the corresponding transaction ID to the search, which populates all the merge fields that have data for that record.
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Common Template Issues
Common template issues include errors caused by missing or improperly formatted opening and ending tags, merge fields that do not populate with data, or dates displaying in incorrect formats.
Merge Fields with No Data
If merge fields do not populate, verify the merge field is inserted exactly as it appears in the Template Fields List and confirm the field contains data in CommunitySuite. For grant and scholarship letters, ensure merge fields match the template type of advanced or non-advanced.
Read the resource listed below for detailed guidance on working with common template issues.
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Introduction to Templates in CommunitySuite Video
The video below provides an overview of templates in CommunitySuite, including how to navigate to the Templates page, what each column on the Templates page means, and how to use example templates to get started.
- Templates Overview and Navigation (:38) - An overview of the Templates page, including where to find Templates under the Communications module and a walkthrough of the page layout.
- Templates Page Table Columns (2:01) - A description of each column on the Templates page: Type, ID, Description, Default, Advanced, and Verified.
- Example Templates (4:48) - How to access and use example templates, including downloading a prebuilt template to customize and upload to your site.
Check Templates Audio Tutorial
The audio tutorial below provides a brief overview of how to edit, upload, and test check templates.