Login to Salesforce and click on the reports tab to get started:

Now that we have our Salesforce report exported, it's time to work some Excel magic to streamline the information and create a concise overview of each donor's contribution history.

As we approach the final stage of our streamlined tax statement creation process, it's crucial to address potential pitfalls in standard Mail Merge and implement solutions for a flawless outcome.

Issues with Standard Mail Merge:

• Dropping Zeros on Currency Amount:

  • Challenge: Currency fields in Excel may display as $1050.00 but lose the trailing zero when inserted into Word through Mail Merge.

  • Solution: The workaround involves using Shift-F9 over the merge field and adding a parameter to maintain the desired formatting.

  • Example Parameter: Currency\#$,0.00

• Stopping at the Last Gift Line:

  • Challenge: Creating multiple lines for each donor based on the most frequent donor in Excel may result in excessive blank lines in the Word document.

  • Solution: Shift-F9, once again, comes to the rescue. By adding a parameter, you can prevent unnecessary blank lines in your letter.

  • Example Parameter: \b "" (break when the field is blank)