Add Ability to send Autoresponder to Temporary Contacts

[esowers]

We would like to use the SF C&P Autoresponder to send receipts for donations. However, if the donor is not in SF then it creates them as a temporary contact (semi-automatic contact creation) and requires that we either create a new contact or merge them before the autoresponder is sent. Unfortunately that delay could be 1-2 business days from their donation. It would be helpful to send the autoresponder right away and then resolve the Temp Contact at a later time.

The system receipt is not customizable enough to meet our needs.

[CnP.Support]

Good day!

There is a catch to this and one that forced this design. In the next release we will provide this as an option for those that wish to use it as you describe.

The problem is our clients asked for access to the "Contact" record as wildcards to be included in the body of the email, e.g. Membership, etc. Naturally for us to have access to these records the transaction has to be assigned to a contact first.

If a transaction is to trigger with the posted data then no data from the Contact record may be accessed. In the next release we have an option in the Designer for fields that are only available in the transaction and only designs using those fields will be available in the autoresponder if the option is checked for sending with the posted data.

Hope that makes sense.

Every client has a specific need and when one tries to satisfy each and every need one ends up with a lot of checkboxes and options. In the presence of all these options the system will be labelled as difficult since nobody wants to read the manual or make all these decisions, e.g. "send the email immediately" or "send email after creating contacts" - what does it mean? tell us the use case.. etc. etc. Every single option requires explanation.

What is also quite interesting is every client that complaints that a feature is not present complaints about all the options they have no use for but the very option that is missing makes the system "not customizable enough to meet our needs".

A paradox indeed.

[esowers]

Please do not get me wrong. I've found Click and Pledge to be TREMENDOUSLY customizable, and we appreciate that greatly (because our processes are pretty complex). By saying the system receipt was not customizable enough I'm referring to the receipt sent by default from the processor, not the Autoresponder emails (which are pretty flexible).

As far as the feature you're looking at adding to the next release will the "send with the posted data" checkbox be a universal setting (ie set so all autoresponders have the limitation of only using transactional information), or will that be specific to the Autoresponder (ie one autoresponder can have the transactional data turned on and another can have it disabled)? We would find it very useful if we could turn that on for one autoresponder email, but not be required to use it universally for all autoresponders.

Thanks for all your work on this and for the great product you provide.

[CnP.Support]

Good day!

The idea is to have the option for EACH autoresponder to behave independently. The checkbox for the autoresponder will be to work with the posted data or the Contact information.

The same idea is being explored now for events & levels. Instead of having the event being anonymous or named, it is better to have the level named or anonymous. We want to make each action as independent as it can be from the rest.

It is a good idea and we will be introducing it in release 10.

Keep the ideas coming

[kate79]

Hello!

Did this change ever happen? I still have to approve all the temporary contacts before the autoresponder sends. Would love to know how to do it so the receipt automatically sends!

Thanks!

[CnP.Support]

Good day kate79

No- this is naturally easily doable by using Connect custom receipt. Connect responds to transactions.

In Salesforce the fields you are using are using Contact fields and as such a contact is needed before the email goes out. if you want an immediate receipt then use Connect receipts. Autoresponders will need a Contact.

In the future we are going to add a feature that says ignore the contact and use the posted the data so if the patron uses all caps or lower case or invalid text or comment all will be posted in real time. This very issue resulted in us changing the feature early on per customer requests. Clients were asking not to send the autoresponder without first making sure the contact is set right, e.g. title, etc.

Hope that helps.

The additional feature is scheduled as part of release 10 in Q4.

[Kofo]

Hi CnP.Support

I'd like to know if the below statement is still accurate and if the additional feature to ignore the contact has been put in place?

Also, in your suggestion to use Connect receipts, is that an either/or situation? We use autoresponders and would also like to have a way for temporary contacts to receive immediate receipts like everyone else. Is there a way to only use connect receipts for temp contact situations? Also, another issue with using connect receipts for this donor communication is that there is no way to include SKU or Salesforce campaign in the connect receipt builder.

Good day kate79

No- this is naturally easily doable by using Connect custom receipt. Connect responds to transactions.

In Salesforce the fields you are using are using Contact fields and as such a contact is needed before the email goes out. if you want an immediate receipt then use Connect receipts. Autoresponders will need a Contact.

In the future we are going to add a feature that says ignore the contact and use the posted the data so if the patron uses all caps or lower case or invalid text or comment all will be posted in real time. This very issue resulted in us changing the feature early on per customer requests. Clients were asking not to send the autoresponder without first making sure the contact is set right, e.g. title, etc.

Hope that helps.

The additional feature is scheduled as part of release 10 in Q4.

[CnP.Support.AM]

Good day @Kofo

NO, it is NOT possible. In Connect, you may keep the receipt ON to send for every transaction OR turn it off for all. Connect receipts are not depended on Salesforce data process. However, the feature discussed above is a part of version 10.x which is yet to release (As of now, there is NO ETA).

[alaquidara]

Hello,

In reference to the above comment, how do I turn off the receipt for every transaction?

Thank you!
Annie

[CnP.Support.AM]

Good day @alaquidara

You may turn off the receipts under Receipt >> Receipt Settings for all transactions processed through Connect:



But please note that the portal setting may be overridden by any application. For example, if in the Salesforce VT you check the box "Send Receipt" for the system receipt, since it is being manually stated the system receipt will be sent to the patron. Any application may force the receipt to be sent if specifically asked to send.

Hope that helps.

[gvanullen]

So is there any way to send an acknowledgement email when the transaction happens (via Connect) but NOT send an email every month when it's a recurring donation? I've been following instructions in another thread, but this snag seems to totally defeat the point...

[CnP.Support.AM]

Sorry, it is NOT possible to restrict the Connect receipts specific to the first installment.