Mass email in depth: AI writing, PDFs and limits

Who can send, and where to start

Every mass-email action (sending, AI compose, image upload, templates) requires the massEmail capability, which an administrator grants in Role Management. Administrators and RVPs typically have it; branch executives typically do not.

To open the composer, click "Mass Email (CSV)" on the Members directory toolbar. A full-screen window opens where you upload your lists, preview recipients, and send.

Mass email has limits on purpose. You can send 3 emails per hour, your whole organization can send 10 per hour, and after each Send the button counts down a 30-second cooldown. If you see "Mass-email rate limit reached. Try again later." or the org-wide version, just wait and retry. There is nothing to fix in your email, and both limits clear on their own.

Your draft saves itself

There is no "Save draft" button, and you will not lose a half-built email by accident. As you work, the app quietly autosaves your draft, including recipients, subject, body, From address, sender name, and email type.

The autosave lives in this browser on this device only. It is not synced to your account and not visible on another computer or phone. The next time you open Mass Email, if a saved draft exists, the app asks "Continue your unsent email?" and shows the subject, the recipient count, and how long ago it was saved.

Choose Continue editing to restore the whole draft and finish it, or Discard to start fresh. Sending an email clears the autosave automatically, so a sent email never prompts you to resume. Note that this is separate from Saved templates, which are shared and stored on the server.

1. 1Build your email as usual; the app autosaves quietly as you go.
2. 2If you close the window before sending, reopen Mass Email later.
3. 3When asked "Continue your unsent email?", click Continue editing to pick up where you left off, or Discard to start over.

Build the recipient list

The Recipients card builds your list. Drag CSV files onto the dropzone or click "Upload CSV(s)" to pick them. Each CSV needs a Full Name column and an Email column (case-insensitive, any order; extra columns are ignored). You can stack several CSVs, and the app deduplicates automatically and case-insensitively, so each address is kept only once. Rows missing a name or email are skipped, and malformed emails are reported. Only .csv files are accepted.

Under Manual add, you can type a Full Name and Email and click "Add" to add one person at a time. This is also how you add yourself for a test send. The list is sorted by email and shows 50 rows at a time; click "Load more" for the rest, search to filter, and use "Remove" or "Clear all" to edit it. The server re-validates and re-deduplicates everything at send time, so the counts in the result card are authoritative.

1. 1Make sure each CSV has Full Name and Email header columns.
2. 2Drag the files onto the dropzone or click Upload CSV(s).
3. 3Use Manual add to type in any extra people one at a time.
4. 4Search, Load more, or Remove rows to tidy the list before sending.

Personalize with variables

The Variables card lists five tokens you can insert or type anywhere in the subject or body: [name], [first_name], [last_name], [full_name], and [email]. Each recipient sees their own values, pulled from the Full Name and Email columns of the row you uploaded. A subject like "Update for [name]" becomes personal for everyone.

Tokens are case-sensitive and exact, so [Name] or [firstname] will not be replaced. Rather than send a broken email, the app blocks the send and tells you which tokens are wrong and which forms are valid. Tokens work in the subject, headings, text, button labels, and Custom HTML.

Compose and choose a block

Most users pick the From address from a dropdown of approved sender aliases; your own login email is always in the list too. Add an optional sender name for the display name recipients see. Then pick an email type: Optional skips anyone who has unsubscribed (use it for newsletters), while Required sends to everyone regardless of unsubscribe status (use it only for mandatory notices). Required is preselected.

The Subject is required. The Body has two modes: Newsletter (blocks), the default visual editor, and Simple (plain text), one textarea sent as typed. Simple mode has no unsubscribe link, so prefer Newsletter mode for Optional emails. In Newsletter mode a Preview pane at the top re-renders as you edit.

Blocks are the building pieces. Header image places an uploaded image (JPEG, PNG, GIF or WebP, up to 5 MB) edge-to-edge at the top. Heading gives three sizes with alignment. Text is a rich-text editor with bold, italic, underline, links, bullet and numbered lists, font sizes and font families. Button makes a clickable call-to-action with a label and a URL. Divider draws a line. Custom HTML takes your own code (unsafe markup is stripped at send time, tokens are kept). Unsubscribe link adds the small grey footer link every Optional email should have.

1. 1Pick a From address, add a sender name if you like, and choose Optional or Required.
2. 2Enter a Subject, then keep Newsletter mode for most emails.
3. 3Click "+ Add block" and pick a type, or type / inside a Heading to open the quick block picker.
4. 4Drag the handle or use the up and down arrows to reorder; click Remove to delete a block.
5. 5Add an Unsubscribe link block to every Optional email.

Save and reuse templates

In Newsletter mode, the Saved templates section of the Compose card stores reusable layouts, such as your standard header-image and footer skeleton. A template saves its name, the blocks, and optionally the subject. It does not save recipients, the From address, the sender name, or the email type, so those stay specific to each send.

Templates are shared. Everyone with the massEmail capability sees the same list, with each template's creator and date. To save one, type a name in "Template name…" and click "Save current as template". You need at least one block and a name. Loading a template replaces your current blocks (and the subject, if it saved one), and deleting one asks you to confirm first.

Templates are different from the per-device autosave. Autosave is a private recovery of the email you are working on right now, while templates are a shared, server-side library of layouts you reuse across many sends.

1. 1Build the blocks you want to reuse, then switch to Newsletter mode if you are not already in it.
2. 2Type a name in "Template name…" and click "Save current as template".
3. 3To reuse it later, load the template, which replaces your current blocks and subject.
4. 4To remove one, delete it and confirm when asked.

Write with AI and add PDFs

The AI writer lives inside the Custom HTML block as a "Write with AI" section, open by default. Paste your message into the text box, add free-form directions in the instructions box if you like, and click "Generate HTML". The result is a polished, email-safe layout in your union's house style, written into the block and shown in the Preview. You can edit it by hand afterward, but generating again overwrites the block, so adjust your text first.

By default the writer produces a bilingual email: an English section, a separator, then a French section. If you paste both languages yourself, each is used exactly as written and never re-translated or reworded; only a missing language gets translated. Write "English only" or "French only" in the instructions for a single language. Paste every link exactly, because the AI uses URLs verbatim and never invents them.

Tick "Include a downloadable PDF version (button at the bottom)" to also generate a clean, document-style PDF (a letter with a centered title, paragraphs, links, and the sign-off), not a screenshot of the email. A bilingual email produces two PDFs, English and French, with side-by-side download buttons. These PDFs sit at public, login-free, permanent links so recipients can open them without signing in, so do not include anything you would not want publicly reachable. The PDF step takes about 10 to 20 seconds; if it fails, the email is still generated and you can add the PDF later.

1. 1Add a Custom HTML block; the Write with AI section opens by default.
2. 2Paste your message text (English, French, or both).
3. 3Add any instructions, such as a sign-off name and title, a button URL, or "English only".
4. 4Optionally tick "Include a downloadable PDF version (button at the bottom)".
5. 5Click "Generate HTML" (or "Generate HTML + PDF") and let the progress messages finish.

Test, send and read the result

There is no separate test-send button, and you do not need one. Use Manual add to put yourself in as the only recipient and click Send, check the result in your inbox (and any PDF buttons), then Remove yourself, load the real list, and send for real. Each test counts against your 3 sends per hour, so test once, not five times.

When you press Send, the 30-second cooldown starts and the job submits. The server deduplicates again, drops unsubscribed recipients on Optional emails, personalizes every message, and hands them to the email provider in batches of 100 with a short pause between batches, so large lists take a little longer. A green result card then shows Sent (accepted out of total) with an email-type badge, plus counts for Skipped (unsubscribed), Excluded (duplicates), Invalid rows, and Failures. Failures are rejections at hand-off; bounces that happen later are not reported back into the app, so watch the From address for bounce-backs on important sends.

Right under the result card, administrators see "Add this to the comms calendar?". Click Add to calendar to attach the email to one of today's planned communications or create a new one for today. Either choice automatically generates a PDF and a Word (DOCX) copy and attaches both, giving you a one-click record of what you sent. Choose Not now to skip it. This panel only appears for users with comms-calendar access. Administrators manage the unsubscribe list itself in Role Management under Email Routing, where they can search it, block an address, or remove an entry to re-subscribe someone who asks.

1. 1Under Manual add, enter your own name and email and click Add.
2. 2Send the test, inspect it in your inbox, then Remove yourself.
3. 3Load the real recipient list and click Send.
4. 4Read the result card: Sent, Skipped, Excluded, Invalid rows and Failures.
5. 5Admins: click Add to calendar to file the send, or manage unsubscribes in Role Management under Email Routing.