Email Categories are a great way to group similar messaging and give your stakeholders a way to unsubscribe from certain types of email, without unsubscribing from your overall effort.

Let’s start with an example. You may be sending advocacy alerts as well as weekly newsletters. Creating categories for each of these types of messages means that your stakeholders have the option to unsubscribe from one or the other, rather than just a general unsubscribe from all email messages that you send.

At the same time, Email Categories give you another way to group emails and view stats and data on engagement and participation with certain types of messages. In that way, you can begin to track the performance of your newsletters vs. your action alerts vs. fundraising or other types of email.

Getting Started

Adding Categories

Head to the Communications Dashboard, and you’ll see a sidebar area listing your current Email Categories. Click Update Email Categories.

On the next screen, you’ll see the Email Category Breakdown box at the right where you can enter a Category Name and Category Description, then click Add New Category.

Editing/Updating Categories

Head to the Communications Dashboard, and you’ll see a sidebar area listing your current Email Categories. Click Update Email Categories to view a full list of all categories stored.

On the next screen, click on an item in the Email Categories List, and the details of that category will populate in the fields at the right. Adjust the Category Name and/or Category Description as needed, and click Update Category.

Note: You can also edit an existing category when looking at the specific category’s overview and data points. Look for the Edit link in the header on the individual Email Category overview screens.

Assigning Categories to Email Messages

During the email drafting process, on the Basics screen (where you set the Email Subject, From Name/Email, and more), you’ll now see a field for What Type of Email is This?. Simply select the category from the dropdown menu, and proceed with drafting your email.

Please note:

• Emails can only be assigned to a single category.
• You cannot assign new email messages to any categories that are currently Archived.
• The Email Category cannot be changed once the email is sent.

Sending an Email

You’ll send an email in much the same way you do now. That said, as stakeholders update their email preferences and potentially unsubscribe from certain types of messages, the system will look at the email’s assigned category and automatically remove the respective opted-out stakeholders from the email’s recipient list during the send process.

Note: With Email Categories, you don’t need to update your saved searches for specific types of email. The system will automatically remove those unsubscribed from the email category on send.

Archiving Categories

Head to the Communications Dashboard, and you’ll see a sidebar area listing your current Email Categories. Click Update Email Categories.

On the next screen, click on the item in the Email Categories List that you’d like to archive. The details of that category will populate in the fields at the right. Click the Archive button.

You’ll see that the category is now displayed with the note [Archived] in the listing at the left.

Please note:

• You cannot assign new email messages to any categories that are currently Archived.
• Previous emails assigned to categories that are currently archived will remain assigned to that category.
• Archived categories will not appear on the Unsubscribe/Update Preferences landing page.

Reactivating Archived Categories

Head to the Communications Dashboard, and you’ll see a sidebar area listing your current Email Categories. Click Update Email Categories.

On the next screen, click on the item in the Email Categories List that you’d like to archive. The details of that category will populate in the fields at the right. Click the Reactivate button.

You’ll see that the [Archived] flag has been removed from the item in the listing at the left.

Deleting Categories

NOTE: Only Email Categories that do not have any email messages assigned to them can be deleted. If a category is able to be deleted, you’ll see that option in two places:

• From the Category Listing screen: Navigate to the Communications Dashboard, and you’ll see a sidebar area listing your current Email Categories. Click Update Email Categories. On the next screen, click on the item in the Email Categories List that you’d like to archive. The details of that category will populate in the fields at the right. Click the Delete button.
• On the Category Overview screen: Navigate to the Communications Dashboard, and you’ll see a sidebar area listing your current Email Categories. Click on the category you’d like to delete, and you’ll be taken to the category overview/landing page. At the top of the page, under the category name, click Delete.

Data & Reporting

Each Email Category will have its own landing page where you can view overall stats for the category, a list of messages that have been assigned to the category, and a list of stakeholders who are unsubscribed from the category.

Head to the Communications Dashboard, and you’ll see a sidebar area listing your current Email Categories. Click on the category you’d like to view, and you’ll be taken to the category overview/landing page.

• The Overview tab will display stats on how many stakeholders have been Sent emails in this category, the total number of Opens, total number of Clicks, and total number of email messages assigned to this category.
• The Messages tab displays a list of all the email messages assigned to this category, and their individual Received, Opened, and Clicked stats.
• The Stakeholders tab displays a list of all stakeholders who are unsubscribed from this specific email category.
• The Message Breakdown Flash Report in the top right corner of the screen provides a more detailed Outbound Email Report for all messages assigned to this category.
• The Unsubscribe Breakdown Flash Report in the top right corner of the screen provides a listing of all stakeholders who’ve unsubscribed from that category. (Only visible when unsubscribes from the category exist.)