Creating and Managing Templates

Templates in DonorDock provide a reusable starting point for emails, letters, receipts, acknowledgments, and other donor communications. Once created, templates are stored in your organization’s Templates Library, where your team can return to them for future use. This article walks through the steps to create a new template, edit or copy an existing template, and manage Print templates created in Microsoft Word.

Create a New Template

1. Navigate to the Templates Library.

   • Go to Outreach > Templates for Marketing templates.

   • Go to Transactions > Templates for Transactional templates.

   • Or select the Settings Menu (grid icon) and choose Manage Templates.

2. Click + New Template.

3. Select the Template Type:

   • Marketing

   • Transactional

4. Select the Output Type:

   • Email

   • Print

5. If you select Print, choose the Design Location:

   • DonorDock Template Editor

   • Microsoft Word

6. Enter a Template Name. This is the internal name your team will use to identify the template.

7. Click Create Template.

If you selected the DonorDock Template Editor, the new template will open so you can begin adding content.

If you selected Microsoft Word, the template will open with an option to upload your DOCX file.

💡 Template Type and Output Type cannot be changed after the template is created. If you need the communication available as another type or output, create a new template.

Edit a Template Created in the DonorDock Template Editor

Existing templates can be opened from the Templates Library whenever you need to update wording, branding, formatting, merge tags, or other content. Editing and saving the template updates the existing version so your team can continue using the same template with the latest changes.

1. Navigate to the Templates Library.

2. Open the appropriate Marketing or Transactional tab.

3. Select the template you want to edit.

4. Make the desired changes in the Template Editor.

5. Click Save to update the existing template.

Changes saved to the template will be available the next time the template is selected for use.

Create a Copy of a Template

If you want to reuse an existing design or communication as a starting point without changing the original, create a copy using Save As. This is useful when building similar templates for different campaigns, audiences, programs, or communication types while preserving the original version.

1. Open the template you want to copy.

2. Click Save As.

3. Enter a name for the new template.

4. Save the new copy.

The original template will remain unchanged. This can be useful when creating variations of an existing layout for different campaigns, programs, audiences, or communication purposes.

Create a Print Template from Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word can be used as an alternative design method for Print templates only. This option is useful when your organization prefers to build letters, receipts, envelopes, or other printed materials directly in Word and then upload the finished DOCX file into DonorDock. Email templates cannot be uploaded from Word and must be created in the DonorDock Template Editor.

1. Navigate to the Templates Library.

2. Click + New Template.

3. Select Marketing or Transactional as the Template Type.

4. Select Print as the Output Type.

5. Select Microsoft Word as the Design Location.

6. Enter a Template Name.

7. Click Create Template.

8. Click Upload Template File.

9. Select the DOCX file from your computer and upload it.

Once uploaded, DonorDock will display the file with the template and make the appropriate merge tags available for use.

💡 Microsoft Word templates must be uploaded in DOCX format.

Update an Existing Microsoft Word Template

Uploaded Word templates are maintained a little differently from templates built in the DonorDock Template Editor. To change the wording, layout, merge tags, or other content, download the current DOCX file, make your updates directly in Microsoft Word, and then upload the revised file back to the template in DonorDock. The Word document itself cannot be edited within DonorDock.

1. Open the Word template from the Templates Library.

2. Under Template File, download the current DOCX file.

3. Open the file in Microsoft Word.

4. Make the desired changes and save the document.

5. Return to the template in DonorDock.

6. Click Upload New File.

7. Select the updated DOCX file.

8. Test the template to confirm the revised document generates correctly.

Uploading the new file updates the document associated with that template.

Test a Template

Before using a new or significantly updated template, we recommend testing the template to confirm the communication generates as expected. The Test button is available in the upper-right corner of the template, next to Save. Before testing, save the current version of the template so the test includes your most recent changes.

Testing lets you review how the completed communication will appear before you send it to donors. Depending on the template type, check formatting, merge tags, images, links, spacing, signatures, and overall layout. For Print templates, also review how the document generates in the selected print format to make sure page breaks, margins, and placement appear correctly.

Organize Templates

Templates can be organized into folders within the Marketing or Transactional areas of the Templates Library. Folders help group related communications by campaign, program, department, audience, or another structure that makes sense for your organization.

As your template library grows, using folders can make it easier for team members to find the correct template quickly and reduce the chance of creating unnecessary duplicates. Marketing and Transactional templates remain separate, so create and manage folders within the template type where you use them.

Templates can remain in the unfoldered area if they don't need additional organization, or you can move them between folders as your communication needs change.