Where to begin with customizing
When customizing a statement we strongly recommend you customize in the "Email Statement" option, as this allows you to easily be able to preview changes you are making to the statement. You do not have to actually send statements by email to use this option while customizing the statement.
- Click "Email Statement"
- Click the Blue "Continue to Compose Message" button.
- At the bottom of the Compose Message Window there should be a "Giving Statement Preview" hyperlink, click on this.
- This will open a new "Preview Statement Window" where you can hit the blue "Customize Statement" button to access the Modify Statement Editor where you can make changes to your statement.
- Once you make changes, immediately preview the changes you are making to the statement in live time, by clicking "save"
- If you want to view what the statement will look like for other donors, click the name dropdown on the right hand side to see a preview of their statement.
- Make sure to save what you created as a new Statement Template.
- The statement in the "Modify Statement Window" at the time you send your statements will be what is sent to donors (printed or emailed).
Let's Start With a Template
Here's a video showing how to use a pre-existing template, that we've already built in Breeze:
You can use one of our templates by navigating to the statements editor and clicking "Templates" in the formatting toolbar. Click on the options below to view different templates breeze provides:


If you want to use a template you already created, and have it fit window envelopes, we recommend using tables to put the address in the correct place. To do so:
- In the statement editor, hover over the table icon in the toolbar and create a table 2 wide x 1 high
- Using your mouse, grab and stretch the table out to span the width of the statement
- Add the name and address mail merge options in the right table cell
- Put the cursor in the left cell and navigate to "Table > Cell > Cell Properties". Give it a width (you could start with 150) and click "Ok". This will adjust how wide a space you have to the left of your address. Tweak this number until it matches your envelope windows.

Saved templates will be accessible by all users with permission to access the customize statements section. For more information on custom templates, view Statement Templates
Then Let's Customize the Statement Layout
Breeze allows you to customize statements so that they appear just how you want them to look when a donor receives them. Here's a quick video showing how you can customize the appearance of your statement:
Customizing your statement allows for you to spruce up the design and layout, making the statements unique to your church! Click on the options below to see how to accomplish the different tasks:
Let's say you want an itemized list of contributions but you only want the date, method, fund and amount appearing for each gift without any other columns (such as name, batch etc). You can customize the mail merge options to include exactly the specific columns you would like to display by adding to the the itemized mail merge option. See the available options below:
The standard mail merge option of [itemized] list each tax-deductible contribution given with the columns of Date, Name, Method, Fund and Amount. You can specify which columns show up on the itemized list by adding specific text after the word itemized in the mail merge option. You will want to make sure to not include any spaces, to not capitalize, and to keep amount as the last word. You'll only be able to have one customized line of [itemized] mail merge per statement template. This means that if you have two [itemized] mail merges, the first will merge properly, while the second won't work.
[itemized:date:name:method:amount]
[itemized:date:envelope:amount]
[itemized:date:fund:method:amount]
Text |
Description |
---|---|
date |
Date of the contribution |
name |
Name of the contributor |
method |
Method of payment |
fund |
Fund payment was given to (if listed as first column, entries will be sorted by fund; otherwise entries will be sorted by date) |
amount |
Amount of contribution |
batch |
Contribution's batch number |
batch_name |
Contribution's batch name |
envelope |
Donor's envelope number |
note |
Note on contribution |
check |
Check Number |
account |
Checking Account Number |
The Pledge Summary Mail Merge Option brings in information for pledges that were active during any part of the selected date range.
The amount given to the pledge in this mail merge will include all previous contributions matching that pledge, even if they extend before the start date of your statements, so that the amount given to the pledge will be accurate regardless of your starting date range for statements. This ensures prepaid pledges receive accurate pledge summaries for the current year.
You can also specify what pledge information is displayed and which pledges will show up by adding specific text to the mail merge option. You will want to make sure to not include any spaces, and to not capitalize any letters. You'll only be able to have one customized line of [pledges_summary] mail merge per statement template. This means that if you have two [pledges_summary] mail merges, the first will merge properly, while the second won't work.
[pledges_summary:campaign_name:date_range:amount:remaining:percent]
[pledges_summary:campaign_name:amount:remaining:percent]
[pledges_summary:campaign_name:amount:remaining:percent:campaign-5823]
Text |
Description |
---|---|
campaign_name |
The name of the campaign |
date_range |
The start and end date of the donor's pledge (e.g. 1/1/2017 - 12/31/2017) |
frequency |
How often and how much the donor planned to give (e.g. $50 weekly) |
amount |
The amount given and total amount pledged (e.g. $200 of $500) |
remaining |
The amount that still needs to be paid (e.g. $300 Remaining) |
note |
The note associated with the pledge |
percent |
The percentage paid (e.g. 40%) |
campaign-nnnn |
The ability to specify a specific campaign to include, excluding the rest. Replace nnnn with the campaign ID. The campaign ID can be obtained by navigating to the campaign in your Breeze account and looking at the number on the end of the URL. You may include multiple campaign IDs if desired (e.g. :campaign-1000:campaign-1001:campaign-1002). An example using this option might look like: [pledges_summary:campaign_name:amount:remaining:percent:campaign-5823] |
- To include giving to non tax-deductible funds on the statement place your cursor where you would like to include this item.
- Click "Mail Merge" and choose "Non Tax Deductible" and then select what type of mail merge you would like to include for the non tax deductible giving (Total Amount, Itemized List, or Funds Summary):
When customizing statements you may want to add your church logo or a signature of an authorized signer to your statements. This can be done using the Upload Tool in the Modify Statement Window.
It is important to understand the resources available to you in the Modify Statement window when customizing your statement. Regardless of if you are modifying your statement through the "Email Statement" option or the "Print Statement" option the Modify Statements editor box allows for you to customize your statements to be exactly as you want them to appear when you send out a statement from your organization.
Options within the First Row of the Formatting Tool Bar:
- Bold allows you to bold text in your statement
- Italicized allows you to italicize text in your statement
- Underlined, you guessed it, allows you to underline text in your statement.
- Text Color allow you to change the color of the text.
- Background color allows for you to change the
- Select Mail Merge Options to show the list of items able to be mail merged (included) in your statement
- Upload an image or a signature the statement
- ... (this opens up the second row of formatting options)
Options within the Second Row of the Formatting Tool Bar:
(Select the ... in the first row to reveal the second row of the formatting options)
- Font Sizes allows you the ability to highlight text and change the font size.
- Templates allows you to use Breeze provided templates, save new templates, replace templates, delete templates.
- Left Align formats your text with a left alignment
- Center Align formats your text with a center alignment
- Right Align formats your text with a right alignment.
- Table allows for you to input tables into your statements
- Full Screen allows for you to modify your statement in a fullscreen view, rather than small box.
- More reveals more options
- Bullet List allows for you to add bullet points into the content of your statement
- Numbered List allows for you to add a numbered list into your statement
- Horizontal Line inserts a Horizontal Line that can be used to provide clear separation between parts of your statement.
- Page Break will insert a page break where you place it in your statement. This can be helpful when writing a cover letter and wanting your statement to be on a separate page.
The following information is available to insert into your statement by using the "Mail Merge" dropdown on the formatting toolbar.
Text |
Description |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Donor's Name. If part of a family, names of adult's will be used (e.g. 'John & Jane Smith') If a "Nick Name" is in the profile, the nickname will be used in place of "First Name". | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Address | Donor's Address | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Start Date | Contributions included start at this date | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
End Date | Contributions included end at this date | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Church Name | Name of your church as defined within "More > Account Settings" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total Amount | Total amount of tax-deductible contributions given. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Itemized List |
An itemized list of each tax-deductible contribution given by the donor, if not modified the [Itemized_List] includes the columns of Date, Name, Method, Fund and Amount. Only one itemized list can be mail merged into a statement. [itemized:date:name:method:amount]
[itemized:date:envelope:amount] [itemized:date:fund:method:amount] [itemized:date:envelope:note:amount]
The Options Are:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Funds Summary | A list of each tax-deductible fund the donor has given to along with the total given to each of those funds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pledges Summary |
A list of pledges that were active during any part of the selected date range. There can only be one Pledges Summary Mail Merge per statement, if you need to include multiple pledge summaries include multiple campaign-nnnn options to the [Pledges_Summary] mail merge. [pledges_summary:campaign_name:date_range:amount:remaining:percent] [pledges_summary:campaign_name:amount:remaining:percent] [pledges_summary:campaign_name:amount:remaining:percent:campaign-5823:campaign-28938]
The Options Are:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Envelope Number | The envelope number of the donor (lists all envelope numbers if people in family have different numbers) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Family Members | A list of all family members | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non Tax Deductible Total Amount | Total amount of non tax-deductible payments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non Tax Deductible Itemized List |
An itemized list of each non tax-deductible payment. You can also specify which columns show up on the itemized list by adding specific text. [itemized_non_tax_deductible:date:name:method:amount]
[itemized_non_tax_deductible:date:envelope:amount] [itemized_non_tax_deductible:date:fund:method:amount] The Options Are:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Non Tax Deductible Funds Summary | A list of each non tax-deductible fund the donor has given to along with the total given to each of those funds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Family Name | The last name of the family surrounded by 'The' and 'Family' (e.g. 'The Smith Family'). If the person is not a part of a family, the person's name is used instead (e.g. 'John Smith') | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Family Members | A list of all family members | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unique ID | A unique number (this number changes each year) Unique ID is pulling from start date, end date and Breeze ID. (YYMM) (YYMM) (Breeze ID). For example: A statement from 2019 - Dec 2019 and the Breeze ID was 65559384, it would look like this: 1901191265559384 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Today's Date | The current date with the full month name listed (e.g. January 14, 2018) |
Notes:
When using the [funds_summary] and [pledges_summary] mail merge features in the statement reports, the Funds order will populate in a different order for each person receiving their statement, based on their giving history. This order is based upon the first gift given. For example, if a gift was given to the "General Fund" first, this will show up first in the Funds (and Pledges) Summary. There is no ability to customize this order at this time. For more customization options, see "Itemized List" in the mail merge options.
Why You Shouldn't Copy/Paste into Statements
We understand that sometimes a pastor or financial secretary want to write a letter to be included in with the statements you are generating.
The Email and Modify Statement Editor windows don't handle copying/pasting from other platforms. When you copy and paste there is hidden formatting that is brought into Breeze, which can cause your statements to break when sending, or look very messy.
If setting up the letter in Breeze with the formatting tools available is not an option, we recommend creating the content as Plain Text this can be done using Note Pad (Windows) or using Text Editor (Mac). Creating content in these resources ensure no additional formatting coding is hidden in the back ground.
Another option that may work to remove source formatting, is to use COMMAND+SHIFT+V (on Mac) or CTRL+SHIFT+V (on Windows) to paste as this is supposed to cause the pasted content to exclude or remove any formatting. However, we cannot guarantee this will work.
Additional Information
- For more information on Sending Statements review this article.
- For more information on Ensuring Data is Ready for Statements review this article.
- For a Complete Guide to Creating Giving Statements review this article.
Statement Logic
Breeze has built-in logic that intelligently retrieves the list of statements the user most likely desires. While most users will never need to reference this section, for users who would like a peek under-the-hood to better understand this logic, here is how Breeze determines what statements to retrieve:
When Printing/Emailing Statements for a Specific Person
When printing or emailing statements for a specific person:
- Breeze will generate a statement for that person. The option to generate a statement only exists if that person has giving history within the specified date range.
When Printing/Emailing Statements from a Contributions Search Result
When printing or emailing statements based on a specific contributions search result.
- Breeze will generate a statement for everyone in the list.
When Printing/Emailing Statements for Everyone
When printing or emailing statements for everyone using the buttons located at "More > Contributions > Statements":
- If the church's customized contribution statement does not include any of the non-tax deductible mail merge fields:
- Statements will be generated for people who have tax-deductible giving
- Statements will be ignored for people who do not have tax deductible giving (even if they do have non-tax deductible payments)
- If the church's customized contribution statement does include any of the non-tax deductible mail merge fields:
- Statements will be generated for people who have tax-deductible giving
- Statements will be generated for people who have non-tax deductible payments (even if they don't have tax-deductible giving)