Design a good-looking email
Build an email from blocks — headings, text, buttons, pictures, lines and space — and see it as you go. Then send it from Outreach to any group.
Before you start
- Pictures must already be online (a link that starts with https://), for example on your website.
- 1
Open Email designs
Go to Outreach and press "Email designs" at the top. You see your saved designs.
Your saved designs are listed here. - 2
Make a new design
Press "New design". A design opens with a name and subject line at the top, blocks on the left and a live preview on the right.
Press "New design". - 3
Name it and write the subject
Type a "Name (only you see this)" and a "Subject line", for example "A special thank-you, {{first_name}}".
Open a design from the list to change its name and subject. - 4
Add blocks
Press "+ Heading", "+ Text", "+ Button", "+ Picture", "+ Line" or "+ Space". Each block appears at the bottom. Use ↑ and ↓ to move it, and "remove" to delete it.
Open a design to add and arrange its blocks. - 5
Write and format text
In a text block, two stars make bold, *one star* makes italic, and [words](https://link) makes a link. Fill-ins like {{first_name}}, {{donor_name}}, {{total_this_year}} and {{open_balance}} work. Choose Left, Center or Right.
- 6
Add a button
Type the button text (for example "Give now") and its link. Links must start with https://. You can use {{give_link}} so each person gets their own giving link.
- 7
Save
Press "Save design". The preview shows the sample donor "Sarah" so you can see the fill-ins.
Saved designs are listed with when they were last changed. - 8
Send it
In Outreach choose the group, click "Email", and in the design box choose "Designed: …". Press "Send emails". Opens and clicks are counted under "Email results".
Choose your design when sending.
Tips
- Every designed email ends with your organization's name and address and a line saying how to stop getting emails.
- The top bar uses your brand color from Settings → Profile & branding.
- Keep pictures small (under 1 MB) so the email opens quickly on phones.
If something isn't working
A picture shows as a broken box.
The picture link must start with https:// and open in a browser by itself. Upload it to your website first and copy its address.
A link goes nowhere (#).
Links must start with https://, mailto: or tel:. Other links are blocked for safety.