Person records can store information about relationships, such as siblings, parents, and spouses, as relationship records.

Relationship records maintain much of the functionality of person records: they can store interactions, contact information, and data in custom relationship-scoped fields. This article covers best practices for messaging these relationship records. 

Communicate with relationship records directly

Whenever possible, you should communicate with these relationship records directly:

• A relationship-scoped query pulls one row per relationship, allowing each relationship to be a recipient of the mailing.

• Messaging relationships directly helps to avoid erroneous opt-outs, since the relationship email address will be in the recipient field.

• Emailing relationships directly allows users to more effectively track message engagement via the relationship timeline.

Messages with one recipient list query

By building a relationship-scoped recipient list, the message sent to these records will be linked to the relationship record and will appear as an interaction on their Timeline.

1. Go to Deliver.

2. Select an email mailing or create a new one.

3. Select Recipient Lists.

4. Select New Query.

5. Configure the following settings:

   • Name: Enter a name for the recipient list, like Parents of Applicants.

   • Type: Configurable Joins

   • Category: Related

   • Base: Relation

6. Configure exports. You must include an Email export. Exports are available as merge fields in the message editor.

7. Add filters. Add filters to isolate the records being targeted (or suppressed) for the mailing. For example, the Relationship Type filter identifies relationship records of certain types, like parents.

⭐ Best Practice

Add the Relationship Deceased filter to ensure that the query does not pull any relationships marked Yes.

Messages with multiple recipient list queries

To create a mailing to relationship records with multiple recipient list queries:

1. Follow steps in the previous section to create the mailing's first recipient list query.

2. Select Edit Recipient Lists.

3. Select New Query.

4. Configure the following settings:

   • Name: Enter a name for the recipient list.

   • Type: Configurable Joins

   • Category: Records

   • Base: Select Person or Application, depending on which records should receive the mailing.

5. Add any necessary exports and filters:

   • For a message identical for both prospects/applicants and relationship records, these exports should have the same names as the exports in the first recipient list query.

   • Rename any exports as necessary, namely the Email export, so that both email export names match.

With multiple recipient list queries, there is no need to CC recipients on these mailings in the same way that would be necessary with one recipient list.

🔔 Important!

When sending the same message to both the person record and a relationship record, both recipient lists must contain exports with the same exact names in order for the field values to merge correctly.