Neon CRM's 2024-2025 Product Releases have included many updates and improvements for building and sending emails. This guide is intended to give a consolidated overview of all of the recent changes.

 

What's New in the Campaign Emails tool?

Although the Campaign Email Builder looks similar to what you're used to, there are some subtle changes. We know it can be a pain to get used to a new flow and click pattern, but these changes bring Neon CRM's Campaign Email building experience in line with other email builders in the software industry and streamline the building experience.

Tokens and Emoji in the Subject and Preview lines

Although the Campaign Email Builder has supported Tokens in the subject and preview lines for a while, it wasn't obvious that this option was available. We've added a button where you can select and insert tokens to personalize your emails. We've also extended emoji support to the preview text line.

 

Email Link Authentication

Email Link Authentication recognizes constituents already in your database and creates a unique link to a constituent version of forms pre-filled with their information to save time and prevent duplicate accounts. So, when you send an email to the constituent and Email Link Authentication is turned on, as soon as they click the link they will be recognized by Neon CRM and automatically logged-in to their account.

Previously, Email Link Authentication could only be turned on or off for your Neon CRM system as a whole, covering all emails sent from your CRM. With this update, Email Link Authentication is now a setting that can be turned on or off for each email you send (with the exception of System Emails which will be adjusted in a future update).

Turn Email Link Authentication on inside the settings for your email. System administrators can turn off this functionality globally, however, inside Global Settings > Email Link Authentication.

 

Test Emails

As always, you can trigger a test version of your email to any email address, for review. What's new is that Neon CRM will now automatically include a message at the top of your test email, with this information for the recipient:

This is a draft email sent to you by Neon CRM System Admin.
Email Name: <<Email Name>>
Note: Content populated via Tokens will use a fake constituent account, Jo Person, to simulate the appearance of a real email. Account and transaction data included in this test is not associated with a real constituent account in your Neon CRM system.

 

Email Templates

Previously, Neon CRM's Email Builder had options to start building a new email using one of the following options:

• An Email Theme (saved header, footer, and settings - managed in Global Settings > Email Themes)
• A Layout (pre-configured but editable arrangement of email content blocks)
• A copied version of a draft or sent email

However, we realized that since we've updated Email Themes recently, we can make email creation easier by allowing you to build using a layout + theme combination, or allowing you to copy a previously-sent email but swap out the Theme to use a different version of your branding. Introducing: Email Templates!

Now, when you start building a new email, you'll select an option from the "Select a Template" page:

 

Neon CRM Templates: Previously named "layouts", these are some pre-configured content arrangements you can use to jumpstart an email build.

Saved Templates: This is a brand new option to streamline your email list by designating which emails you plan to reuse as templates for future emails - for example, you might want to designate your monthly newsletter email as a template for future copying. To add templates to your list, go to Emails > Email Campaigns and click the action button next to the email to mark is as a template.

Copy from Existing Emails: This option is unchanged. You can choose to copy any draft or sent email from this list. Your "Saved Templates" are a subset of this list.

Code Your Own: As always, if you have coding experience and would like to upload an HTML template, this option is available. We've just moved the upload option onto the Select a Template page for ease.

 

Email Content Builder

After selecting a Template, you'll land in the Email Builder, and a few things have changed. Instead of one sidebar with the email settings, you'll now see three tabs in the sidebar: Theme Editor, Content, and Settings.

Theme Editor

As mentioned above, you can now apply an Email Theme (saved header, footer, and settings) to any template. This includes switching the Theme for a copied email, or changing your mind about the Theme while editing the email. You can also edit the header, footer, and settings after applying a Theme. 

If you make changes while using a Theme you've saved previously, you'll get the option to save your changes to just the one email or to the Theme in Global Settings.

 

Content

You can still use the + icon to add content blocks inside the email preview, as always.

However, we've added a new Content sidebar where you can drag and drop content blocks into your email.

 

When you drag and drop a content block, the options for the content will appear in the sidebar, with the exception of text editing which happens inside the email. We made this change to make it easier to see your edits and changes in a live preview while editing the email - for example, you can see how the changed size of an image will look without needing to leave the editing screen.

 

Managing Images inside the Content Builder

We've made a couple of changes to make managing images easier inside the Email Builder.

For images inside "Image" or "Image & Text" content blocks, you can now select the image and click & drag a corner to resize it, in addition to entering specific dimensions inside the image settings.

For images places inside Text content blocks, including 1 Column, 2 Column, and the "Text" portion of Image & Text, you can now easily apply text wrapping to images. You'll find new options inside the Image settings for "Text Wrapping" and "Margin". The image must be left- or right-aligned in order to use the setting "Wrap text around image."

 

Here is an example of a image with the "wrap text around image" setting:

Copying Content Blocks

We've also a quick tool to copy any content block inside your email - this can be helpful if you have a standard format for items in a newsletter, or a standard set of styling customizations for your divider lines. To copy any content block, hover your mouse over the content block you'd like to copy, then click the "Copy" button - highlighted here in yellow.

Resending Emails to Non-Openers

When managing Email Campaigns, you may sometimes want to resend your email to the group of recipients who have not opened the original email that you sent. This can be useful to boost response rates, ensure that all recipients receive and read important notices, or save you time when scheduling a follow-up reminder for important information.

After the Neon CRM Product Release on July 27, 2024, you'll find a new "Automatically resend to non-openers" setting when you Schedule or Send a Campaign Email.

A re-send of the email can be scheduled between 1-10 days after the original email is sent. Neon CRM will automatically track a list of recipients who have not opened the email, and only non-openers will be included in the resend. Within the 1-10 day timeframe, you can customize the sending date, time, and subject line of the resent email. 

After the initial email has been successfully sent to recipients, the resend email will be added automatically to the Campaign Emails page. You can unschedule is from there, if needed.

If an email has already been sent but you would like to schedule a resend and are within the 1-10 day timeframe, click on the Action button next to the email in the Campaign Emails list to set up a resend campaign.

What's changed for account, volunteer, and workflow emails?

First, some definitions:

Account Emails - These are the emails you can send from a constituent's account by clicking the button next to their email address and selecting "Send Email"

Volunteer Emails - If you use the Neon CRM Volunteer module, you can select a group of volunteers from the Applicants list, Volunteers list, a Group page, or a Project page, and send them an email.

 

Workflow Emails - When building a new workflow, editing your current workflows, or editing a one-click workflow, there are three Actions that can send an email: Internal Email, External Email, and Email Report.

 

 

What's New

Now, account, workflow, and volunteer emails have all of the same flexibility, functionality, and design capabilities of Campaign Emails. When you click to send an email from any of these locations, you'll enter the New Email step exactly as you would for a Campaign Email.

The only difference are that you will not be able to edit the Recipients for these emails, because they're already pre-determined based on your volunteer list selection, account, or workflow targets. 

Also, although we wanted to give you the full editing capabilities of the Campaign Email Builder in other Neon CRM emails, we didn't want to prevent you from sending off a quick email to a constituent, so you'll also see the "Quick Edit" option.

 

With Quick Edit, you'll be able to add a message to a text box and send it off speedily. The text box will have all of Neon CRM's typical options though, including tokens, photos, emoji, buttons, links, video, etc.

 

 

If you want to have multiple content blocks, multiple columns, customized settings, or advanced content sections like the Transaction Summary, however, open up the Full Editor.

Some cool things you can do with Full Editor emails send from accounts, workflows, or to volunteers:

• Quickly copy a previously-sent Campaign Email (for example, last month's newsletter) to send it to one person from their account page.
• Create a full-feature email drip campaign for new members or donors with a workflow
• Need to send an extra copy of a year-end tax receipt? Quickly send an email with the full Transaction Summary content block from a constituent's account
• Send attractive, newsletter-style emails to volunteers right from the volunteer module, without needing to build new email audiences.

Content Library

If you've built Neon CRM emails in the past, you'll be familiar with the Content Library - where Neon CRM stores all of your photos for use in different emails and forms. Neon CRM collects the images you upload and hosts them on the internet, effectively giving them a URL, so that they can then be rendered correctly when a constituent opens an online form, logs into the Constituent Portal, or opens an email. 

Previously, it could be a pain to manage these images because you could only open the Content Library while editing an email. Now, we've added a shortcut in Global Settings so you can manage photos anytime. You'll find it in Global Settings under the "Email" heading.

To upload a group of emails from your computer to Neon CRM, use Shift +Click.

You can also use Shift + Click, then Right Click > Delete Files to delete files as a group. Keep in mind: don't delete images while they might still be circulating in emails you've sent recently! The images need to stay online in order to load correctly when someone opens your email.

 

 

What's changed for system emails and letters?

As of our Product Release on October 19, 2024, system emails and letters are receiving a full redesign for more convenient email and letter design, easier segmentation using Conditions, and many new settings and options.

Email and Letter Lists and Pages

First, you'll notice that when you navigate to Global Settings > System Emails or System Letters, we have a brand new design for the email and letter lists. Click between the tabs at the top of the page to navigate to the email or letter you want to work with.

We've also updated your view of each specific Email and Letter Type to more easily review settings, conditions, and versions for each email or letter.

In the Settings section, we've moved settings from Global Settings > System Email & Letter Defaults into the settings section for each email and letter, to make it easier for you to manage communication settings without needing to visit multiple pages in the CRM.

The Conditions list has a new look. Your Default Version is always locked at the bottom of the Conditions list, to more clearly show which email will be sent to each constituent, and you can easily reorder your conditions list with the buttons on the left. We're also adding support for many new conditions, including custom fields, additional conditions for recurring donations and auto-renewal memberships, Individual Type and Company Type, and more.

The Email/Letter Versions list includes new filters and search functionality to sort through your versions, a quick indicator of whether the email or letter has a condition applied to it, and we've added a new "Archive" function to keep your lists clean.

Email Builder

When building a new System Email version, you can expect to have the same experience as with Campaign Emails - a full-featured Email Builder with various content blocks you can include for appealing formatting. See the Campaign Email preview section above for more details about what to expect for building emails.

Letter Builder

We've also updated the Letter Builder for simpler letter design and management. The experience is similar to working with the Campaign Email Builder, but with some additional settings and options for print letters.

Letter Themes

Letter Templates are updating to "Letter Themes" to match our Email Themes. You can manage Themes inside the Letter Builder or from Global Settings > Letter Themes.

 

Letter Content Blocks

In the new letter builder, you can drag and drop content blocks onto the page to manage the overall layout of your letter. Many content block options match the Email Builder and will be familiar: 1 Column Text, 2 Column Text, Image & Text, 2 Images, Single Image, and Divider Lines. Specifically for letters, however, we're adding a QR Code content block and 3 Column Text options.

 

Letter Settings

As you can with the Legacy Letter Builder, the Letter Settings allow you to choose whether to have Neon CRM print a header and footer for your letters, or print onto premade letterhead by setting margin sizes. Various other settings options, like fonts and colors, are also available.

 

 

What's changed for Campaign Letters and Material Tracking?

With the January 11, 2025 CRM release, the Campaign Letters & Tracking tool has a brand new look and design experience. 

We've updated the list of Letters and Materials, adding the ability to filter, sort, edit columns, and export a report. By default, letters and materials in "Archived" status will be hidden from the list, but can be found by editing the Status filter.

From this list, a letter can be deleted, copied, archived, edited, or saved as a template. Saving as a template makes the letter easily available in the templates list when creating future letters.

Each letter and material has a detail page found by clicking on the letter/material name. Inside this page, you can view letter information and prepare your mailing list.

When creating or editing letters, Campaign Letters have been updated to the full, new Letter Builder experience, including Letter Themes, Content Blocks, and styling. For more details about the letter builder, see the section above covering System Letters. 

We've also added a new content block for Campaign Letters - the Transaction Summary. This content block allows you to add a formatted table to your letters containing the account or household's summary transaction information for either the current or previous calendar or fiscal year. This is particularly useful for consolidated recurring donor summaries or annual donor receipts. Use the settings to control the year being shown, columns included in the table, and types of transactions to include.

 

Hey... didn't you forget something, Neon CRM?

We hear you! We haven't forgotten about the Letter Merge tool - we'll be completing a redesign of the Letter Merge tool in 2025.

If you have feedback for us about this update, other email building needs, or any other Neon CRM functionality, we'd love to hear from you in our Suggestions Portal.