E-Mailing contribution statements

[LaVerne]

I have 13 members who decided to have their statements e-mailed rather than printed & mailed. I followed the Power Church "E-mailing a report" guide and get to the Selected people from Personal Profiles. When I click next, I get my list. Is there a way to select ALL on my list or must I do each one separately?
Assistance needed. FYI-1: I tried to do this for one member yesterday and ended up with a message saying "cannot connect to SMTP server 76.96.54.13:587, connect error 10060". My server is comcast.net
FYI-2: These 13 members are the only ones in personal profiles so far who have submitted e-mail addresses. I also tagged them - in case that may be an easier way to go.

[NeilZ]

I have 13 members who decided to have their statements e-mailed rather than printed & mailed. I followed the Power Church "E-mailing a report" guide and get to the Selected people from Personal Profiles. When I click next, I get my list. Is there a way to select ALL on my list or must I do each one separately?
Assistance needed. FYI-1: I tried to do this for one member yesterday and ended up with a message saying "cannot connect to SMTP server 76.96.54.13:587, connect error 10060". My server is comcast.net
FYI-2: These 13 members are the only ones in personal profiles so far who have submitted e-mail addresses. I also tagged them - in case that may be an easier way to go.

FWIW ... tagging them to get their statements as an email is the easier way to go, there is a checkbox in the statement dialog that will only send those out, and print the rest:

email.jpg

As far as the SMTP error, the error 10060 usually means that you are on a an ISP that blocks their users using any SMTP server other than their own. Are you working from home, and trying to use the church account, or vice versa ?? If you are at church, then continue, if not, let us know.

Make sure that the email settings are the same as that used for your email program, this is found under File > Preferences > System Setup Options, look for the E-mail tab.

email2.jpg

As you see here, my email server requires authentication, and a different port number from the standard. That is the :465 listed at the end of the SMTP server name. I know Comcast uses the port 587 as their standard email port and turns off port 25 to prevent SPAMmers from using it.

All you may have to do is add :587 to the end of your SMTP name (usually, mail.comcast.net:587). You should UNCHECK Outgoing e-mail server requires authentication , I'm not sure about validating certificates, but try it both unchecked, then checked to see which works.

To check your settings, click on the Test button.

Let us know what happens.

[LaVerne]

In response to your question whether I am using the church computer or if I am doing it at home....the answer is I am working from home.

By the way, I like the way you repond. Everything is spelled out quite clearly which will help me understand exactly how to do whatever I need to do. I look forward to your reply.
LaVerne

[NeilZ]

In response to your question whether I am using the church computer or if I am doing it at home....the answer is I am working from home.

By the way, I like the way you repond. Everything is spelled out quite clearly which will help me understand exactly how to do whatever I need to do. I look forward to your reply.
LaVerne

OK .. if you're working from home, and you don't have Comcast, then you'll have to set things up differently. Let me know.

Here's another question, are you keeping the church database in sync with what you have at home (restoring Contributions backups to the church computer). If so, then its very easy to take care of the emailing and printing the statements from the church computer directly.

[LaVerne]

Back again. I am working from home and I do have Comcast.

Yes, I restore contributions backup to the church computer once per month. Everything is in sync as of June 30th. I also make sure that membership & personal profiles is up to date on both machines.

I usually print all the statements from home, but I guess I can do it from church instead. (Can I still do it from there using my comcast address?)

[NeilZ]

Back again. I am working from home and I do have Comcast.

Yes, I restore contributions backup to the church computer once per month. Everything is in sync as of June 30th. I also make sure that membership & personal profiles is up to date on both machines.

I usually print all the statements from home, but I guess I can do it from church instead. (Can I still do it from there using my comcast address?)

You would have to use the church email address and email setup, which I would do as this is official church email.

That said, if you still want to send it from home, you're going to have to check that the program's email settings are correct. I should have asked this previously, but when you check email from home, do you use an email program such as Outlook, or Thunderbird; or do you use your browser and access it from Comcast.net ??

[LaVerne]

I use comcast browser at home.

Computer at church is used by a number of people so it is hard for me to access it when I am free.

[NeilZ]

I use comcast browser at home.

Computer at church is used by a number of people so it is hard for me to access it when I am free.

OK .. since you use a browser to access your email, you don't use a local email program. In that case you will have to setup the email settings to conform with what Comcast expects.

1. In the Email Settings, enter your email address as used at Comcast. You won't be able to use the church email, as it may be rejected by Comcast if its not a Comcast email address.
2. Enter a Display Name: suggested name: MyChurch Contributions Secretary
3. Outgoing Email Server: smtp.comcast.net:587
4. Check the box for Outgoing e-mail server requires authentication
5. User Name: Enter your Comcast email address, EG: myname@comcast.net
6. Password: Enter your Comcast email password
7. Security: select the radio button for None
8. Validate Certificates: uncheck if checked.

Then click on the test button, you should get a good test result.

Hope this helps.

[LaVerne]

Here I go again. Unable to send out contribution statements for first quarter. Get a message saying a problem occurred in connecting to SMTP server 2.0.0 omta19.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net
Please help!
LaVerne

Setup: outgoing server.....smtp.comcast.net:587
box checked for requiring authentication
user name entered (myname@comcast.net)
password entered
security: none
validate: unchecked

[NeilZ]

Here I go again. Unable to send out contribution statements for first quarter. Get a message saying a problem occurred in connecting to SMTP server 2.0.0 omta19.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net
Please help!
LaVerne

Setup: outgoing server.....smtp.comcast.net:587
box checked for requiring authentication
user name entered (myname@comcast.net)
password entered
security: none
validate: unchecked

I take it you're again trying to send these from home? If so, when was the last time you were able to email statements ??

[LaVerne]

I e-mailed the annual statements on January 15, 2011

[NeilZ]

I e-mailed the annual statements on January 15, 2011

Has anything changed on your home computer ?? Has Comcast done anything different with their email setup ??

[LaVerne]

Not that I know of. I chatted with them the other day about this problem. They replied, but nothing has been resolved.

[NeilZ]

This does sound like an issue on the Comcast side:

However, if you can copy the exact message you're getting when you try to send the contributions it may help to pinpoint the exact issue.

[LaVerne]

Guess what? I decided to try changing my comcast e-mail address and password. Then, went into Power Church and tried sending the statements...............yay!!!!...it worked. I don't know why that change would make a difference, but it did and I am one thankful secretary. Thank you for your patience with me.
LaVerne