What is a Placeholder?

A placeholder is a special code you can insert into an email template — like [VolunteerFirstName] or [OrgName].

• When the email is sent, the placeholder is automatically replaced with the real information from the volunteer’s profile or your organisation’s details.
• This means you can write one template and the system will personalise it for each person — without you having to edit anything manually.

You can personalise any email template by adding placeholders - dynamic fields that automatically fill in with volunteer, referee or organisation details when the email is sent.

You can paste the personalised content to appear — in the

• subject line
• the message body
• or both

This makes your communication feel more personal, without needing to manually update each message.

Why Use Placeholders? The Key Benefits

Using placeholders in your email templates helps you save time, reduce manual work, and deliver a more professional and personalised experience to your volunteers. Here’s how:

✅ 1. Personalised Emails at Scale

Insert a placeholder like [VolunteerFirstName], and the system will automatically replace it with each volunteer’s real name when the email is sent. You write one template — and every volunteer feels like you wrote just to them.

Example:
"Hi [VolunteerFirstName]" becomes
"Hi Sarah", "Hi John", "Hi Aisling" — depending on the recipient.

✅ 2. No More Manual Editing

Instead of copying and pasting individual names, roles, or locations into dozens of emails, you set it up once using placeholders — and the system handles the rest.

✅ 3. Fewer Errors and More Consistency

Manual edits increase the chance of typos, missed names, or sending the wrong info. Placeholders pull directly from the volunteer’s profile or organisation data, so your emails are always accurate and consistent.

✅ 4. Easier Template Maintenance

Need to update a message? Just edit the template once — with placeholders in place, you don’t need to rewrite or customise it for each new batch of volunteers.

✅ 5. Professionalism and Trust

Personalised, accurate emails show volunteers that you know who they are and what role they play. It helps build stronger relationships and encourages engagement.

Where to find your Placeholders

Under Email Templates > [Template Name] you will see a Placeholder button above the email editor.

Clicking this button opens a full list of available placeholders, grouped for ease (e.g. Volunteer, Referee, Organisation).

Watch this 60 second GIF to see how to access and use the Placeholder functionality:

How to Use Placeholders

• Navigate to the Settings Gearwheel (top right of your screen)
• Click Email Templates for your Org
• Select the Email Template you want to edit

Click the Placeholder button:

This is the pop-up box that you will now see. Decide which group of Placeholders you want to view:

When you click the Volunteer Details tab you will see the Volunteer Placeholders:

Under the Volunteer Details tab you can find these placeholders:

When you click the Referee Details tab you will see the Referee Placeholders:

Under the Referee Details tab you can find these placeholders:

When you click the Organisation Details tab you will see the Organisation Placeholders:

Under the Organisation Details tab you can find these placeholders:

How to copy the Placeholder Code

Move your cursor to the right-hand side of the screen and click on any Placeholder to copy its code to your clipboard.

This GIF shows how to click and copy a Placeholder (the text in square brackets) for your email.

Navigate back to the email template you want to update, and paste the Placeholder code exactly where you'd like it to appear. Make sure the formatting looks right — including spaces or punctuation before and after the placeholder.