Please take notice this article applies to the New ParishSOFT Platform. If your diocese hasn’t migrated yet, explore our knowledge base for relevant resources.

Note: If you would like to pull sacrament data into any certificate or notification, please begin the process in Add/Edit Sacrament in the Sacraments tab.

Important: If you have never performed a mail merge, read through the section on requirements to ensure they are met before continuing. 

1. Create a list of recipients. Depending on the page you are working on, do the following:
   • On the Family List or Member List page, select the recipients from the grid.
   • On the Family Workgroups or Member Workgroups page, select the desired workgroup in the left panel to display its members. Then, in the right panel, select the recipients from the grid.
2. Select the Mail Merge Icon. From the displayed menu, select either Merge Selected Records or Merge All Records. 
3. The Mail Merge window will open, and you must select your template. By default, a list of the templates in the My Templates folder is displayed.
   • To open a template under My Templates, click the template's link.
   • To open a template in the Global Templates or ParishSOFT Templates, select the folder to open it. Then, select the template's link.
   • To open a template stored on your computer, select the Open One link, then click Browse. Navigate to the location on your computer where the template is stored and open it. The template name appears in the file name field. Click Open.

Note: For instructions on creating a template, go to How to create a Mail Merge Template. 

4. Click the Mail Merge Tab. The contents of the selected template are displayed in the document text area.
   • The template contains both the fixed text and merged fields in the document. Merged fields are enclosed in angled brackets (<< >>).
5. Review the document and, if necessary, edit the content and your merged field selections.
6. To preview all documents in the set, select the Mail Merge tab and click View Data.
   • The merge fields in the document are replaced with actual data from the records of individuals you selected in the grid. The first recipient's copy of the document was |displayed. For example:
7. If you have multiple recipients, click Next Record to view the next recipient's copy.
8. Repeat until you finish previewing each recipient's copy of the document, ensuring each is correct.
9. Finalize the merge by clicking Merge to File to open the Merge to File window
10. From the Merge mode dropdown list, select one of these options:
    • The new section specifies that the next merged fields start in a new section or page in the document. If you have headers and footers in your document, select this option. If you are creating a plain document, such as a form letter, select this option to insert a page break between each recipient's copy.
    • New Paragraph specifies that the next merged fields start with a new paragraph.
    • Join Tables joins rows from a mail merge involving a table with merged fields into a single table.
11. From the Choose file type dropdown list, select the document's file type. Mail Merge supports these file types:
    • .docx is a Microsoft Word document file. This file is readable by Microsoft Word only.
    • .txt is a plain text file. This file is readable by any text editing or word processing program.
12. Click OK to close the Merge to File window. The software downloads the file to your computer. The single file contains all of the individual documents or letters.

Mail Merge Requirements

To perform a mail merge, you need the following:

• The data source is your ParishSOFT database. Mail Merge pulls data from your database to populate merge fields in your document.
• The recipient list comprises the set of records you want to work with. The list is created by selecting individuals from a grid (for example, the Family List grid).
• A template is a document that contains defined merge fields and your custom text. The template must exist and be located in the My Templates, Global Templates, or ParishSOFT Templates folder or stored in a folder on your local computer. If you do not have a template, you must create one or use one of the ParishSOFT templates. For instructions on creating a template, go to How to create a Mail Merge Template. 
  • My Templates: templates stored in this folder are accessible only to the logged-in user. No other users can view these templates unless the logged-in user shares the templates. The templates in the My Templates folder reside on the ParishSOFT server where your database is hosted—not on your local computer.
  • Global Templates: templates stored in this folder are shared by all users in the currently selected organization. Other users can open these templates and save them to their personal My Templates folder or to their local computer. The templates in the Global Templates folder reside on the ParishSOFT server where your database is hosted—not on your local computer.
  • ParishSOFT Templates: templates stored in this folder are provided by ParishSOFT. These templates are read-only and are provided as samples that you can use. You can view these templates and use them as a basis for developing your own, but if you want to edit them, you must first save them to the Global Templates folder or to your My Templates folder. The templates in the ParishSOFT Templates folder reside on the ParishSOFT server where your database is hosted—not on your local computer.

Updated March 10, 2026 14:25