Contents
Introduction
Neon CRM’s Material Tracking tool is useful for keeping track of which constituents have received specific materials from your organization. A material can be anything that you might give to a large number of your constituents. The tool combines the reporting module with an inventory tracking interface. The idea is that you set up a material, build a list of constituents who are supposed to receive it, and then check them off as you deliver the material.
Here are a couple of scenarios where you could use it:
- Your organization sends gift baskets to its senior citizen members every year at the holidays. You could query your database for constituents who were born before 1945, and add them to your “Gift Basket” list. As you send out the baskets, check them off the list.
- Your organization holds a bike ride every year. Use the Material Tracking to track your riders’ Race Packets. Query your database for all constituents who are attending the race, and add them to your Race Packet material tracking list. At the table where riders pick up their race packets, check constituents off the tracking list.
To access letter tracking:
1) Select Letters in the navigation menu and then select Campaign Letters & Tracking on the drop-down menu.
Letters Campaign Letters & Tracking.
Creating Material
On the Campaign Letters & Tracking page:
1) Select New Letter and then select External Material on the drop-down menu.
On the Create External Material pop-up that appears (as seen below):
1) Enter a Material Name (required).
2) Enter a Code (optional).
3) Enter a Description (optional).
4) Enter Inventory (optional). This refers to how many items you have to send. Enter a number in this field. If you leave this field blank, you can still use this feature. In such cases, the CRM will not track how many items of this material have been sent.
5) Adjust the Status as needed.
6) Select Create External Material when all information has been entered.
When you select Create Material, you are taken to the details page for the material you just created.
If you return to the Campaign Letters & Tracking page, you will see that the material has been added to the Material/Letter Tracking list.
Adding Constituents to a Material Tracking List
Once a material tracking entry has been created, you can add constituents to the tracking list in several ways, as described in the next sections.
Adding a constituent from their account page
Whenever a constituent is being tracked for a Material, this is reflected on their account page under Campaign Letters & Tracking. Here, you can see all materials that have been tracked with this constituent, when they were sent, and the status of each material. You can add tracking for a new material by clicking New Tracking.
From this menu, select the Tracking Item you’re sending them, how many, the date, and the status of the material. If you add a Note, it will only appear on the constituent’s record.
Once saved, the material displays on the account's record.
Adding a Group of Constituents from the Material Page via a Report
If you want to add a group of constituents who match a specific criterion to your material tracking list, you can do this from the Material's page. Locate your External Material on the Campaign Letters & Tracking list page.
On the Campaign Letters & Tracking page, find the name of the material you want to track, and click the name to go into Material Details.
On the next page, in the External Material Recipients section, add a group of constituents by selecting the Add drop-down menu and then selecting Add from Report.
On the Add From Report pop-up, select a report type. Once you have made your selection, select Continue.
This brings up the reporting module. Use the filters as in a report to find the group of constituents you want to add, then click Run Report.
When you have the results of running your report, to add the group to your Material Tracking list, click Add All to Material/Letter Tracking.
Adding a Group of Constituents from the Material page Via an Account Search
You may add constituents individually via an account search.
To do so, on the Campaign Letters & Tracking page, find the name of the material you want to track, and click the name to go into Material Details.
On the next page, in the External Material Recipients section, select the Add drop-down menu and then select Search Accounts.
On the Add Account pop-up, search for and add accounts as needed.
Managing Tracked Constituents
The real utility in using material tracking is being able to filter your tracking list by status. As you “check off” constituents, you will need to change their status. A constituent can have these statuses for material tracking:
- Pending – The constituent has been added to the list, but no action has been taken yet.
- Processing – The constituent has been marked as Processing.
- Deleted – The constituent has been Dropped or ignored, but not removed from the list.
- Complete – The constituent has been marked Complete.
You may filter by Status using the filters located on the left side above the recipient list. To change a Status for a recipient, select the three dot Action Menu in the recipient's row and select Mark Complete (if the status should be complete) or select Update Status to update the status to Processing or Canceled status.