What happens if a merge tag cannot find data for a recipient?

If a merge tag cannot find the corresponding data for a particular recipient, the tag is replaced with an empty string (blank). No brackets, placeholder text, or error messages will appear in the sent email. To use words of your own instead, add a bar and fallback text inside the tag: [MailingCity|your area] reads your area for anyone with no city on file.

[FirstName] is the single exception. It never comes out blank: Argenta uses the recipient nickname when there is no first name, and the word Friend when there is neither. So Hi [FirstName], reads Hi Friend, at worst, never Hi ,.

Common scenarios where a tag resolves to blank:

• [TotalDonated] - The recipient has never made a donation
• [MembershipLevel] - The recipient is not a member
• [RenewalDate] - The recipient has no active membership
• [Nickname] - No nickname has been entered on their constituent record
• [MailingAddress] - No mailing address on file
• [Phone] - No phone number on file

Every tag in the picker resolves to a blank when the recipient has no data for it, apart from [FirstName].

Best practices for handling missing data:

• Write your email so it still reads naturally if a tag is blank. "Dear [FirstName]," already handles this for you and needs no pairing; it is the other tags that need the care.
• Avoid sentences that depend entirely on a tag being present, such as "Your total giving of [TotalDonated] has made a difference" unless you know the recipients are donors.
• For donation or membership tags, only use those tags in emails being sent to lists that you know contain donors or members.
• Use the [OrganizationName] tag freely since it always has a value from your account settings.