With many Gmail users out in the world, we know that having a working email sync is an important aspect of using Virtuous. Currently, we are working with Google to get our Gmail sync available for all of our customers. However, if you need something to bridge the gap while we await approval from Google, we have a potential stop-gap for you to use. This is a great option for your major gift officers who may send personal emails to donors in their portfolio, you can save them time by syncing the email accounts so their personal emails will populate on the donor record.
A Moment of Caution
When setting up this integration there are a few things to consider:
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Having multiple addresses in the "To" field or the "From" fields will cause the Zaps outlined in this article to not work correctly
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Gmail's dates and times do not work with Virtuous' date time input field for the note. This field could probably take extra transformation and zap steps if desired to have this date placed into the note (not outlined in this article)
- There is a cost associated with using Zapier- the more steps involved in the integration, the more costly it will be.
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Using auto labeling in Gmail with this Zap can create unwanted notes in Virtuous.
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The note cannot be connected to an Individual; this can of course be updated manually once the note exists in Virtuous.
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You need to be able to log into the connected email address and the Virtuous database you intend to connect with this Zap.
Outgoing Emails
For this to work, you will need to create a new label in your Gmail account first. By creating a label, you'll be able to identify what emails should be synced to Virtuous. You will do this by logging into your Gmail, and on your email menu on the left, you'll select "Create New Label."
In Zapier, you'll create the Trigger for New Labeled Email in Gmail. The first step in this trigger will be to select the event which will be New Labeled Email. Next you'll choose the associated account (the email account you're wanting to connect with Virtuous).
Then, you'll set up the trigger which will be selecting the appropriate label.
After you have set up the trigger (what makes this integration start up), the next step is to choose the action you want to happen when it starts. In this case, the action should be to find a contact in Virtuous CRM. After you've chosen to find a Contact, you'll choose to find them by To Email address.
The next step will be to add another action of Creating a Contact Note in Virtuous CRM based on the contact found in the previous Action. In the note section you can then choose what information is included in the note.
Outgoing Emails
Setting up outgoing emails is going to be very similar to the incoming emails. The trigger will be the same of "New Labeled Email in Gmail." Where it begins to differ is on the action. You will still Find a Contact in Virtuous CRM but this time, you will use the "From" email.
You'll then follow the same steps of outgoing emails for creating a Contact Note in Virtuous CRM.