Have you completed the REACH setup process? Are you ready to launch REACH?

If so, we have prepared the following list of system checks to review and complete before launching your REACH site. This list will help ensure that all aspects of your setup are working properly for both your Admins and your Supporters.

Step 1: Set up a Supporter Account and Test Group#

Creating a Supporter account and Test Group allows you to test out the Donor Portal, Donation process, review all system Communications and test your Supporter export options.

If you have not done so already, first create a supporter record for yourself.

• Go to Supporters > + New Supporter
• Create a Supporter record for yourself and include: a valid email address, mobile number to use Text to Give, and valid payment information.
• Click Create

Create a Test Group and add Supporter records to that Group.

• Go to Supporters > Groups > + Add Group
• Give the Group a Title – we suggest “Test Group“
• Click Create
• Next to the new Group, go to Actions > View Supporters
• In the search bar, type in the name of the supporter you want to add. The name should populate automatically. Click Add to add them to this test group.
• Note: We recommend adding any other Admins with Supporter records to this group for testing purposes.

Once testing is completed, we recommend keeping this Test Group for future use. This group can be used to test your Contribution Statements, Emails and Text Messages before sending, for example.

Step 2: Review Your Donor Portal#

This step allows you to review and test your Donor Portal. We recommend you sign into the Donor Portal to review the options and information that is presented to your Supporters.

• Go to your REACH Portal and click Sign In
• If this is your first time logging in to the Donor Portal, click on the “Forgot Password?” link to have an email sent with a password reset link.
  • Note: You will need to use your Supporter record information to sign in. Your Admin login and Supporter login are different–you cannot sign in as a Supporter using your Admin login information.
• You can then update your Supporter Password and sign in as a Supporter.
• Review your Donor Portal:
  • If you have imported Donations, any donation imported for your Supporter will be listed.
  • Review the Update Profile area to see what options your Supporters have to enter and update information.
  • If you have a sponsorship set up already in REACH, review the Actions related to your Sponsorship.

Step 3: Test Your Donations#

The next step is to test your Donation Setup. This process will allow you to ensure that your payment gateway is setup properly and you can receive donations through REACH. It will also ensure that all communications are correct following a donation.

Note: This process is the same if you are using REACHpay as your payment gateway or any other payment gateway.

First, review your setup to ensure you have enabled the correct confirmation settings:

• Go to Settings > General Settings and confirm you have enabled all Supporter emails. This allows a confirmation email to be sent to your Supporters following a donation.
• Optional: If you’d like to also send a text confirmation to your Supporters following a donation:
  • Go to Settings > Donation Setup and review if you have enabled the option to Send Donation Text Message. This requires that the Supporter has a valid mobile number on file.

Second, process a donation as an Admin from the Admin Console.

• From your Admin Console, choose your own supporter record for the test
• From the record, click Actions > + Donation
• Add in the Donation details and add a small donation for testing purposes (you can refund after testing if needed). Be sure to choose the Online option as the Payment Type for the donation.
• Select the Send email receipt option to ensure emails are being sent out from your system.
• Complete the Donation
• You will then be able to review if the donation was processed and if your donation communication settings worked correctly.
• Did you receive a confirmation email? Did you receive a confirmation text message (optional)?

Third, process a donation as a Supporter from your public portal.

• From your REACH portal, Sign in as a Supporter.
• Once signed in, attempt to make a small donation on the Donation page for testing purposes that you can refund after testing.
  • Note: If you are signed in, you will see your Supporter payment details already listed.
• A successful donation will trigger an Email to you, as the Supporter, once the donation completes.
• Did you receive a confirmation email? Did you receive a confirmation text message (optional)?

To review how the Donations appear in the Admin Console:

• Sign into the Admin Console
• Review both the Donations Module and your Supporter Record for the donations
• Once reviewed, you can refund the online payments if desired
  • Note: Before refunding the donations in your Admin Console, you can also sign into the Donor Portal and review the donation to ensure all is shown correctly.

Step 4: Test Your Communications Sent From REACH#

This step will allow you to test communicating to your Supporters via email or text messaging directly from REACH.

Note: Emails and Text Messages sent from the Communications area of REACH may take up to 15 minutes before being sent out. If you have a large email recipient list, emails will be batched into separate sending times and will take longer for all emails to be delivered.

First, let’s test emailing your Supporters directly from REACH:

• From your Admin Console, go to Communications > Emails > New Email
• For Send To, select Group and use the Test Group you created in Step 1 above.
  • Note: You could also add a list of emails in the Recipients field.
• Add a Subject and Message and click Send.
• Did you receive the email? Was the formatting correct?
• If you did not receive the email: Check your Account Rules–have you unchecked Disable All Supporter Email?

Second, let’s test texting your Supporters directly from REACH:

• From your Admin Console, go to Communications > Text Messages
• Click + New Text Message
• For Purpose, click Group and then choose the Supporter Test Group you created in Step 1.
• Add a Title, add the message in the Body field and click Send.
• Did you receive the text message?

Step 5: Generate a Supporters Report#

This step will allow you to review your Supporter records and test the Supporter report capabilities available within REACH.

REACH includes several export and filtering options for when an organization needs a list of their Supporters. Supporter lists can be exported using Excel or various Mail Merge options.

• From your Admin Console, go to Reports and click on the Supporters report
• Leave the Date Range blank
• Optional: To filter the report to your Test Group only, in the Group filter, select your Test Group
• Scroll down to the bottom and click Select Columns to Display
• Review the options, and select/deselect as preferred
• Click Search
• Once the report has generated, click Download CSV or Download Excel to review your supporter information

That’s it! Once your testing is complete, you should be ready to go with using REACH!

If you have any questions, please contact our Support team.