Batches - FS Guide

• Batches are organizational folders that allow you to group mail together to streamline processing.

• You can either create a batch in advance (by going to Mailroom > Batches and clicking the “+” in the top-right corner) or make a batch on the fly when logging or sorting mail by writing out a new batch name and choosing “Create a new batch.”

• Individual batches can be assigned “Owners.” A batch owner’s responsibility is to monitor their assigned batches and the mail within. Use the filters on the right side of your screen to view your batches.

  • We recommend that each batch is owned by the staffer who handles those requests. If a change needs to be made to the batch owner and the individual requests, feel free to alert Fireside, and we can help!

• You can mass edit a batch by going into Mailroom > Batches, clicking the name of the batch you want to edit, and then choosing the snowman button in the top-right corner when viewing the mail within. From this menu, you can update details about the batch’s mail en masse or print/send out the mail. Batches are especially powerful in this way because you can use a few clicks to process dozens or hundreds of messages rather than manually editing a few.

  • Before printing your batch or sending out the emails in a batch, we strongly recommend test printing the first letter in the batch or previewing the email. This will save you from printing/sending a whole batch with content you do not wish to send. From within the batch, open up the first mail item, and if it’s a letter response, print out just that one to make sure it looks good on letterhead. If it’s an email, open up the mail item and click preview next to the outbound message. Make sure to review that email using the appropriate email template!

• When it comes to naming batches, we strongly recommend using a consistent naming convention which all staff working in the mailroom know and follow. This helps prevent duplicate batches with similar names (i.e., both a “117 H.R. 115” batch and a “117 For the People Act” batch), and it helps ensure that staff understand which mail items belong in the batch when logging.

  • A common naming convention includes the Congress, general issue area, bill number/specific issue area, and the policy stance (i.e., 117 - EDU - HR 115 For the People Act - Pro).

• Batches are intended to be reused and are not automatically deleted when all mail in the batch is sent. You should expect to receive more mail on that issue, and keeping the batch allows you to log more mail there in the future.

  • Batches can be deleted when they are empty and no longer needed.

• "Ready to Send" Batch

  • You’ll notice that your office will have a Ready to Send pinned to the top of the Batches page and automatically show you all of the mail with an approved form letter. That means you'll only have to go to one place to find all the mail that's "ready to send," instead of having to go into each batch separately to Print/Send!

  • To ensure efficient mail turnaround times, we recommend sending mail in the “Ready to Send” batch at least once a week to prevent newer mail from getting bogged down by mail that is all set to go out

  • Keeping your batches under 1,000 messages will ensure a quicker turnaround time.