Customize Salutations

Customize Salutations

Once FIMS automatically builds the salutations, you can manually change specific salutation lines from the Salutations Tab.

Many organizations set the default Salutation to a formal, joint format. If a particular Profile has no Partner information, the system will substitute a formal individual format. In some cases, the Partner name is present on the Profile, but in most cases, you will only send mailings to the principal name on the Profile record. In those cases, you should make sure that the default Salutation is in an individual form.

At the time of ASCII file export for a mail merge, choose one of the six Salutation lines for a batch of letters. This flexibility, especially useful when a mailing must recognize a married couple or variations in formality, requires some forethought, but the following tips should help.

Note: Since you can only choose one line at mail time, think of the types of mailings you do when you set up Salutations. Six possible lines should be more than adequate.

Here are some examples of when you might use the default and the five alternates:

• Default Salutation: (formal with Partner): Use for annual appeal (for example, Dr. and Mrs. Anderson, customized as Harry and Sally). Profiles with no Partner should have the formal individual salutation set as the default.

• Formal-Ind: Use for brochure mailed to individual investment counselors (for example, Mr. Harley).

• Informal-Ind: Use for memo to committee members (for example, Arthur).

• Informal w/Partner: Use for season’s greetings (for example, Jim and Betty).

• Formal w/Partner: Use for formal Fund-raising ball (for example, Dr. and Mrs. Anderson or Mr. and Mrs. Jones). Profiles with no Partner will use the formal individual salutation.

• Director: Use for letter soliciting volunteers for Fund-raising event (for example, Mrs. Higgins or Mary). The default value for this line should be formal with Partner, with case-by-case substitutions of first names, or nicknames.

Both the default and the Formal w/Partner salutation are automatically built in the formal with Partner format.

Tip: Customize the Default Salutation on a case-by-case basis, to reflect the wishes of recipients who may prefer a less formal salutation or an individual form even though the Partner information is on the Profile.

Note: You should generally use the default values for the Formal w/Partner salutation and the other Alternate Salutations. You can modify a particular default Salutation for routine communications, but when a formal salutation is called for, use the specified salutation type in each case.

Note: If a record has no entry in an Alternate Salutation field and that field is chosen for a mailing, the Default Salutation will be used. It is better to have an entry in every Salutation field to make sure that the appropriate Salutation is used.

Note: To create an envelope address name for an individual Profile (no Partner) that varies from the Prefix + First (name) + M.I. + Last (name) + Suffix formula, enter the variation in the Joint or Alternate Name field and select the Use Joint or Alternate Name checkbox next to the desired Salutation lines.