Bulk Logging Letters Sent Outside of DonorDock

If your organization sends letters, postcards, thank-you cards, invitations, or other direct mail outside of DonorDock, you can still record those communications in bulk.

There are two common ways to do this:

  • Log Letter activities from a Contact Report

  • Import Letter activities from a spreadsheet

Log Letters from a Contact Report

Use a Contact Report when you already have the recipients identified in DonorDock and want to add the same Letter activity to the group.

  1. Navigate to Reporting.

  2. Select Reports.

  3. Open an existing Contact Report or create a new one.

  4. Apply any filters needed to identify the contacts who received the mailing.

  5. Load the report.

  6. Select Letters in the upper-right corner.

  7. Choose the option to log the Letter activities.

  8. Enter the applicable activity details.

  9. Save the activities.

DonorDock will add a Letter activity to the contacts included in the report.

For mail already sent, mark the activity as Complete and use the appropriate mailing date.

Import Letter Activities

If you already have a spreadsheet containing historical or bulk mailing information, you can also use an Activity Import to add Letter activities to contact records.

Each row of the import should contain enough contact information for DonorDock to identify the correct existing contact. Using the contact's Donor ID is generally the most reliable option, although other identifying contact information may also be used for matching.

Set the Activity Type for the imported records to Letter.

Depending on the information available in your spreadsheet, Activity imports can include details such as the activity Subject/Name and Notes. Notes imported with the activity are added to the activity's body or note section.

For example, a historical mailing import might include:

First Name

Last Name

Email

Activity Type

Activity Date

Subject

Body

Jane

Smith

janesmith@example.com

Letter

11/8/2026

2026 Annual Appeal

Annual appeal letter mailed

John

Doe

johndoe@example.com

Letter

11/8/2026

Event Invitation

Gala invitation sent by mail

If DonorDock cannot match a row to an existing contact, it can't add the activity to that contact. Review your spreadsheet before importing to make sure each row includes sufficient identifying information.

When to Use Each Option

Scenario

Recommended Method

You have a group of existing DonorDock contacts and want to record the same mailing for all of them

Log Letter activities from a Contact Report

You have a spreadsheet of historical letters or mailings

Import Activities

Different contacts need different subjects, notes, or mailing details

Import Activities

You want DonorDock to generate and personalize the physical letters

Use Printing Bulk Marketing Letters Using a Template

If you want DonorDock to create the personalized letters rather than only record that a mailing occurred, see Printing Bulk Marketing Letters Using a Template.

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