How to set up the Upcoming Weekly Events email?

The Upcoming Weekly Events Email is an automated email that displays events scheduled in your Helpful Village (HV) calendar for the next two weeks.

This feature is available only when your Helpful Village platform is synchronized with a Mailchimp account.

This tutorial explains how to customize the email template used for your automatic weekly events email.

How Does the Automatic Email Work?

• When is it sent? Every Sunday morning, starting at 11:00 a.m. in your Village's local time zone.
• What does it include? A customized introductory message followed by upcoming events pulled automatically from your Helpful Village calendar for the next two weeks.
• Who receives it? The email is sent to the Events mailing list, which you can find under Admin → People Management → Groups → Mailing Lists.

Customize Your Events Mailing List

You can configure the Events mailing list to suit your Village's needs. For example, you might include:

• Active Members only.
• Active Members and Active Volunteers.
• A broader group of people, depending on whom you want to keep informed about upcoming events.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Access Settings

Navigate to Admin → Settings.

Step 2: Open the Weekly Events Email Template

Click the Email Templates button. From the list of available templates, locate Weekly Events Email Intro and click Edit.

Step 3: Customize the Introductory Message

By default, the template contains a basic introductory message. You can edit this text to reflect your Village's information and communication style.

We recommend customizing the introduction to include:

• Your Village's logo.
• A welcoming message for members and volunteers.
• Highlights of upcoming events.
• Any other relevant information you want to share.

Examples of the Email

Default Email Layout

When the email is sent on Sunday, recipients will first see the introductory message, followed by the upcoming events automatically pulled from your Helpful Village calendar.

Customized Email Layout

You can create a more personalized and engaging email by adding your logo, highlighting selected events, and customizing the introductory message.

The email will display your customized introduction first, followed by the upcoming events from your Helpful Village calendar.

Important Notes

💡 Keep time-sensitive information up to date.

If your template includes specific dates, times, or other time-sensitive information in the introductory section, as shown in the recommended template, that information will remain unchanged and appear in every Sunday's email until you update it.

To avoid sending outdated information, either update the template regularly or use an introductory message that does not contain time-sensitive details.

💡 Manage email addresses in Helpful Village.

Always update users' email addresses in Helpful Village, not in Mailchimp.

Helpful Village synchronizes user information with Mailchimp to keep the mailing list up to date. However, this synchronization does not work in reverse: changes made directly in Mailchimp are not sent back to Helpful Village.