Campaigns

What it is for

A campaign sends one template to an audience you define: newsletters, prayer letters, event invitations. The system handles personalisation, unsubscribes, bounces and the delivery report.

Before you start

• Campaigns access.
• A saved template.
• Know who should receive it: a group, tags, a region, a saved map shape, or people near an event.

On the development site

Campaigns can only be sent to the Email Testing group. The send button is disabled otherwise, and a banner reminds you. The dev database contains real people.

Steps: create and send

1. Open Campaigns → New campaign. The wizard has four steps.

2. Email & event: name the campaign, pick the template, set the subject and, if it is about an event, choose the event so the registration link variable works.

   Screenshot pendingStep 1: Email and event

   Step 1: Email and event

3. Audience: add rules (in group X, has tag Y, in region Z, inside saved shape, within N miles of event). The count updates as you go; Preview contacts lists who matches. Unsubscribed and bounced contacts are excluded automatically.

   Screenshot pendingCapture with two rules and the preview list open

   Step 2: Audience builder with the live count

4. Prepare & test: the recipient list is frozen. Send a test to yourself and check it. Fix anything in the template, then prepare again.

   Screenshot pendingStep 3: Prepare and test

   Step 3: Prepare and test

5. Send now, or Schedule a date and time. Large sends ask for an extra confirmation. Sending runs in the background; the page shows progress.

   Screenshot pendingStep 4: Send or schedule, with the confirmation dialog

   Step 4: Send or schedule, with the confirmation dialog

Steps: read the report

1. Open the campaign → Report.

2. Charts show delivered, bounced, opened and clicked over time; the table lists each recipient's status. Export the recipients as CSV if needed.

   Screenshot pendingA campaign report

   A campaign report

Managing campaigns

Action	When
Return to draft	A prepared campaign needs changes
Cancel	A scheduled or sending campaign must stop
Duplicate	Reuse last month's campaign as a starting point

Tips and troubleshooting

• Send button disabled: on dev, the audience includes people outside Email Testing; on production, the campaign is not prepared or a test send is still required.
• Opens are under-reported (many mail apps block tracking); clicks are reliable.
• People unsubscribe with one click from the footer and are excluded from future campaigns; you can see this on their contact page.