How to Manage Your Email Communications Setup

Download PDF
Micall Searles
Micall Searles
  • Updated

Contents


Overview

This guide shows Program Admins how to manage the Email Communications Template Library in an award cycle in Next. 

⚠️ You can change your Communications at any time, even after publishing your cycle. 


Key Terms

Here are a few terms you’ll see throughout this article. 

Term What It Means
Trigger The action that sends an email (e.g., applicant clicks "Submit").
Template The email content that gets sent (Found in the Template Library).
Template Library

The “filing cabinet,” where you view, create, and manage email templates.

  • To access: Open the Award Cycle > Go to Communications > Template Library

Setup 

🌟The focus of this article

The control center,” where you choose which emails to send and when. 

  • To access: Open the Award Cycle > Go to Communications > Setup. 

Video Intro

This video covers both the Email Template Library and Setup for your award cycle’s email communications. 

For Setup tasks, skip to:


What is the Email Communications Setup?

The Email Communications Setup area is the “control center” for emails in your award cycle. It's where you can choose which emails to send and when, and link email templates to triggers. 

The setup area is organized by workflow phases (Intake, Review, Award, Post-Award).

From here you can:

  1. Remove emails that are set up by default. 
  2. Add custom emails to trigger conditions.
  3. Change the timing of when emails are sent.

What “Set Up By Default” Means

  • Some emails are automatically included in a cycle’s setup: 
    • These emails are active by default. 
    • You can remove them if they’re not needed. 

To learn more about which emails are set up by default, and which emails you might want to add or change, see ➡️ Email Communications: Default Setup & Recommendations.
 


Access the Email Communications Setup 

  1. Open your Award Cycle (Open the Program > Program Settings >  All Award Cycles > Open the Award Cycle). 


     
  2. Click Communications > Setup in the left-hand menu. 


Setup Page Overview 

  • The Setup page displays the following:

 

a. Workflow phase tabs: Select a tab to view the specific emails associated with that phase of your cycle. 

b. Trigger Conditions: The action that sends the email. 

c. Recipient: Who will receive the email (e.g., Individual Applicant, Org Applicant, Program Manager, etc). 

d. Schedule: The timing of the send. 

- Immediate: Sends as soon as the trigger happens 

- After/Before: Sends a certain number of days before/after a trigger happens (e.g., “before 7 days”) 

e. Preview button: Click this to see a preview of the email template, as it will appear to recipients. 

f. Setup button: Click this to manage your email setup for that specific workflow phase. 
 


Manage Emails in Setup 

What You’ll See When You Click Setup

  • When you click the Setup button within a workflow phase on the main Communication Setup page, a new screen will appear:

📌Note: The screenshot above shows the setup screen for Post Award emails

a. Back to all: Click this to return to the main Communications Setup page. 

b. Email trigger condition buttons: A list of available email triggers for that workflow phase. Click a button (like “Application Edited”) to see the emails set up for that specific trigger. 

c. Choose Email Template: A list of all available email templates for that workflow phase. Select the template you want to send when the trigger happens.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: You cannot edit an email template here. If you need to change an email template’s content, you must go to the Email Template Library, create a new template, then return here to select it.

d. Choose Recipient: A list of who can receive the email. (The available options depend on the trigger condition).

e. Timing: When the email is sent. You can choose Immediate or Schedule - Before/After (The available options depend on the trigger condition). 

f. +Setup communication: Click this to add an email to the trigger condition, if desired. 

g. Eye icon : Click this to see a preview of the email template, as it will appear to recipients.  

h. Trash can icon : Click this to delete an email from your setup (You can always add it back, if needed). 

💡 Tip: If you want to delete all emails associated with a specific trigger, click the trash icon next to the Save button.

g. Save button: Click this to save any changes you make. 
 


Preview an Email Template

To preview how a template will look to recipients: 

  1. Click Preview on the far right of the trigger condition containing the email you want to view.


     
  2. Review the Preview. Variables appear in {{double curly braces}} and are replaced with real information when the email is sent. To learn more about variables, see ➡️ Communication Variables Reference Guide.


     
  3. Select anywhere outside the preview to close it. 

📌Note: Published email templates cannot be edited, but they can be deleted and replaced with new templates. To manage your email templates, see ➡️ How to Manage Your Email Communications Template Library.
 


Remove an Email Template

  1. Click Setup in the workflow phase where the email appears (Intake, Review, Post Award, Award).


     
  2. Select the email trigger condition where the template needs to be deleted. 


     
  3. In the list of scheduled emails, locate the email template to delete.
  4. Click the trash can icon on the far-right to delete the template.


     
  5. In the confirmation pop-up, click  Remove.
     
  6. A confirmation message appears in the bottom-left. That email is no longer scheduled in your award cycle and will not be sent. You can add it back at any time, if needed. 

📌Note: The template is only removed from setup. You can still access it in the Template Library (and delete it from the library, if you don’t need it at all). 
 


Add an Email Template

  1. Click Setup in the workflow phase where the email appears (Intake, Review, Award, or Post Award).


     
  2. Select the email trigger condition where the template needs to be deleted. 


     
  3. Click +Setup communication in the bottom-left.


     
  4. A new row appears:

a. Choose Email Template: Select an email template from the dropdown.

b. Choose Recipient: Select a recipient from the dropdown. (The available options depend on the trigger condition). 

c. Timing: Select  Immediate or Schedule from the dropdown (The available options depend on the trigger condition). 

If Schedule is chosen, a new line appears:  



- Duration: Select Before or After from the dropdown. 

- Days: Enter the number of days as related to the previous dropdown.  (For example, sending an email 7 days after an intake deadline). 

  1. Click Save in the upper-right corner. 


     
  2. A confirmation message appears in the bottom left. 

Related Articles

➡️Email Communications: Default Setup & Recommendations
➡️Email Communications: Variables Reference Guide
➡️How to Manage Your Email Communications Template Library
➡️Intake Communications: Email Trigger Guide
➡️Review Communications: Email Trigger Guide
➡️Award Communications: Email Trigger Guide
➡️Post Award Communications: Email Trigger Guide

 

 


What did you think of this article? Please leave a comment below! 
Your feedback helps us improve the experience for everyone.
 




 

Related to

Was this article helpful?

Have more questions? Submit a request

Comments

0 comments

Please sign in to leave a comment.