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Customize System Emails

Goal: Put your affiliate's voice into the automated emails the system sends on your behalf — password resets, staff invites, event registration confirmations, and more.

What system emails are​

Some emails aren't campaigns you compose — they go out automatically when something happens: someone forgets their password, you invite a new staff member, a supporter registers for your gala. Out of the box these use a standard system message. The System Emails page lets you replace the subject line and message of each one with your own.

Find it under Administration → System Emails.

What you can (and can't) change​

Customizing an email replaces its subject line and message — written in the same rich text editor used elsewhere (formatting, links, images, merge fields, attachments).

What you can't break:

  • Action buttons — the Reset Password or Accept Invitation button (with a fallback link) is always added below your message automatically. You never need to include the link yourself, and a custom message can't accidentally leave it out.
  • Structured details — event date/location blocks, attendee lists, and order totals stay exactly as the system renders them. Your message appears above them.

Customize an email​

  1. Go to Administration → System Emails
  2. Find the email in the catalog — each entry shows what triggers it and whether it's Customized or using the System default
  3. Click Customize — the editor opens pre-filled with a starting version of the message
  4. Edit the subject and message; use the { } toolbar button to insert merge fields (each email lists exactly which fields it supports — for example, the password reset email knows {{first_name}} and {{affiliate_name}})
  5. Click Preview to see it rendered with sample data, then Save

From that moment, every send of that email uses your version.

Revert to the default​

Click the revert action on a customized email (in the catalog row or inside the editor) and recipients immediately get the built-in system email again. Nothing else changes.

Currently customizable emails​

Account & access

  • Password reset — sent when someone requests a reset link
  • Staff & volunteer invite — sent when you invite someone to join your affiliate (including re-sends)

Fundraising events

  • Event registration confirmation — sent to an attendee after registering for a fundraising event
  • Event order confirmation — sent to the purchaser of a multi-attendee registration
  • Event registration invite — sent when staff invite someone to register
  • Event registration refund — sent when a registration refund completes
  • Event registration seats issued — sent when you issue registration seats to a sponsor, board member, or honoree. Carries the code and the link their guests register with. Nothing is sent automatically: this goes out only when you fill in Send the code to while issuing, or choose Email on a code's row afterwards. The code itself, the seat count, and the Register button are always included below your message, so a customization can never leave the recipient without a way to use the seats
  • Event registration guest invitation — sent when a sponsor names one of their guests, from either the sponsor's own portal or the staff panel. Carries that guest's personal link, which covers exactly one seat. The Register button and the event details are always included
  • Event registration unclaimed seat reminder — sent once to a sponsor whose seats are still unclaimed as the event approaches. Only for events that set a reminder lead time under Manage Event → Registration — no event sends this by default — and only once per code, never daily. The outstanding seat count, the code, and the Register button are always included

Volunteering

  • Registration not approved — sent when a coordinator declines a pending sign-up. (Confirmation and approval emails have their own richer system under Volunteering → Registration Messages)

Homeowner program

  • Homeowner application invite — sent when you invite someone to start a homeownership application (including re-sends). The Start Your Application button, the fallback link, and the invitation's expiration date are always included, so a customization can never leave the applicant without a way in
  • Homeowner document upload reminder — sent on the schedule set by a document reminder rule (Homeowner Program Settings → Document Upload Reminders), or when staff click Send now on an application. The list of documents being asked for and the Upload Documents button are always included below your message

Donations & receipts

  • Donation tax receipt — covers one-time, recurring, and pledge-payment receipts. Your message replaces only the greeting and thank-you; the receipt number, amounts, tax-deductible figures, and 501(c)(3) language are always system-generated and cannot be changed
  • Donation refund confirmation — the refund details table stays system-generated
  • Annual giving statement — sent with the year-end PDF; giving totals and tax language stay system-generated
  • Recurring donation notices — the "payment method needed" and "donation paused" emails; the donation status box and Update Payment Method button are always included
  • In-kind donation receipt — the IRS-compliant PDF receipt stays system-generated
  • Pledge payment reminder — your affiliate-wide default; a custom message typed when sending an individual reminder always takes precedence

Sponsorships

  • Invoice, payment reminder, and thank-you — invoice tables, amount-due boxes, Pay Now buttons, and summary tables stay system-generated

Corporate groups

  • Portal welcome, volunteer invite, and registration confirmation — portal and registration buttons are always included

Peer-to-peer fundraising

  • Team leader welcome, team invite, fundraiser registration confirmation, fundraiser invite, and donation link share — dashboard/join/donate buttons are always included, and a fundraiser's personal note stays below your message

ReStore & POS

  • In-store receipt — your message appears above the emailed receipt; items, totals, and tax language stay system-generated

Donation Pickups

Every email in the donation pickup lifecycle. For all of them, the pickup details (confirmation number, date, arrival window, address, items) and the donor's tracking button are always included below your message, so a customization can never lose the facts the donor needs:

  • Pickup request received — sent when a donor's request lands in Pending Review
  • Pickup confirmation — sent when a pickup is scheduled (instant booking, staff approval, or donor reschedule)
  • Pickup reminder — the before-pickup-day reminders; one message covers every reminder using {{ reminder.timing }} ("today" / "tomorrow")
  • Driver en route — sent the moment the driver starts navigating to the stop
  • Pickup completed and Pickup thank-you — the IRS donation acknowledgment (receipt number, EIN, no-goods-or-services statement — never a dollar value) is always included and cannot be changed
  • Pickup rescheduled and Pickup cancelled
  • Driver route assignment — sent to each driver when a route is published; the route sheet and "Open your route" button are always included
tip

If your affiliate has built its own pickup emails under Communications → Automations, those keep winning — the System Emails customization applies when a pickup email would otherwise use the built-in default.

Also under Donations & receipts: the ACH payment return notice sent when a donor's bank returns a payment.

note

Volunteer opportunity registration confirmations have their own, more flexible system — multiple templates with per-opportunity assignment — under Volunteering → Registration Messages. See Customize Registration Confirmations.