Mail Merge

Background Information

WHY USE THE MAIL MERGE FEATURE

If you need to send similar (or identical) letters to a group of people, or need to create a list of people who will receive a newsletter or flier, you will probably want to use the mail merge feature. You might be sending out thank you letters for people who helped with a workshop or meeting; composing "rejection" letters at the end of a search process; creating a file of people who will receive monthly mailings during the course of a project; or printing name tags for a conference.

Basically, to merge you need to create a data source document and a related form, called the mail merge main document. The main document can be a letter, envelope, mailing label, or another type of document which references the data source. The last step is to combine or merge these two documents into a new document. Even if you are sending a similar letter to a unique list of people who you will not need to contact again, it is faster to use the mail merge feature. The alternative—to write one letter, print it, change the address, print the second letter, and so forth—is a rather time consuming task. Also, most offices and professionals have a clientele list that is used many times throughout the year, or from one year to the next. This certainly is a job for the mail merge feature.

STEPS TO CREATING FORM LETTERS

1. Create a new Word document:

2. From the Mailings menu, select Start Merge Mail.

3. Click the Start Mail Merge, select Letters.

4. Click Active Window since the current Word document will be used.

5. Click the Select Recipients Icon, select Type New List.

6. Remove any unnecessary fields by clicking on the customize columns icon.

7. Enter required information Use the Tab key or Enter to advance to the next field, the New Entry icon to add new people.

8. After creating the last record for the data source, click OK

9. At the end of the data source document, Save the data source.

10. Choose Insert, Date and Time, then take the 3^rd option.

11. Hit enter 4 times, choose Mailings, then Address Block.

12. Choose Greeting Line, then format a greeting, hit enter twice.

13. Complete the letter. 3 times within the letter, use Insert, Merge Field to add a field, like the first name or last name or city that the person lives in.

14. Select the Preview Results icon to view the results. Hit the right arrow to go to the next letter.

15. If everything looks good, choose finish and merge, edit individual documents. Save this properly, turn it in.

16. Select the Merge to Printer button from the Mail Merge toolbar to print the merged letters.

Assignment

The Athletics department has asked you to assist with the Athletic Awards Banquet. The school must send out letters to the parents of each athlete requesting permission for their son/daughter to attend. The data source should include a minimum of 5 students. Include all the fields necessary for a mailing address as well as the name of the son/daughter receiving the award.

The letter should be 3 paragraphs written in block style format and include the following:

· date, time, location

· itinerary - use a left alignment tab for the description and a right alignment tab, with tab leaders, for the time allotments. Generally speaking, the itinerary includes a guest speaker, dinner, and award presentation as a minimum, and will look like:

Athletics Award Banquet Agenda

Keynote Speaker......................................................................5:30 - 5:50

Dinner......................................................................................5:50 - 6:30

Award Presentations.................................................................6:30 - 7:30

Athlete of the Year...................................................................7:30 - 7:45

· letterhead for John Smith, the Athletic Director - include the school motto and logo and a line separator

Category	Criteria	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
Communication	Writes a clear letter to parents detailing Athletic Awards Night	Limited ability	Some ability	Considerable ability	Through ability
Application	Able to create a letterhead with graphic word art and line separator	Limited ability	Some ability	Considerable ability	Through ability
	Able to merge the data source with the main document	Limited ability	Some ability	Considerable ability	Through ability
	Able to create a data source	Limited ability	Some ability	Considerable ability	Through ability