Group Officers can communicate easily with members using the Email module. Before describing how to email members, it is important to note that Yale Connect is not a dedicated eblast tool, and as such, eblasts, newsletters, and digests sent to a large number of Yale Connect users cause heavy system throttling and lag. Yale Connect’s emailing feature should not be used to send frequent eblasts to a large segment of users, nor should it be used as the sole source of communication on official Yale business. For messages being sent to a large segment of the Yale community, Group Officers must use Yale Message, a cloud-based application managed by the Office of Public Affairs & Communications and Yale ITS. 

To get started, Group Officers must select the Emails menu under the Dashboard.

To create and send a message, start by selecting Compose Email in the top right.

Select the recipients and click on Compose email for selected group.

You will be given the option to use the Email Composer or the new Email Builder.

The Email Builder is separated into additional steps. You can navigate between them using the bottom menu. Click on Next when you are done with a step or directly on the following step.

Recipients: This step allows you to review the list of recipients, add hidden recipients, paste a list of comma-separated emails, or send a push notification upon sending.

Setup: The next step lets you add a subject, choose the address from which you will be sending the email, and add an introduction to your email.

Template: You will be able to choose an email template. Clicking on a template will automatically send you to the next step.

Design: With this step, you will be able to customize your email. Drag and drop any elements from the right panel to add it to your email.

Then, click on an element on the left panel to edit it. When you do this, the right panel will be replaced by an editing view of the element you clicked. Click on Save when you are done.

You can also add dynamic content to the email. This content allows you to automatically pull data from Yale Connect and is constantly regenerated to stay up to date. Examples of dynamic items are: 

• Events (the displayed content can be controlled under the Events tab)
• Events details
• News 
• Table of contents 
• Social links
• Officers (the displayed content can be controlled under Dashboard > Officers when managing the group) 

Clickboxes: The Clickboxes step allows you to add different types of Clickboxes to your email, including: 

• Event Registration
• Surveys
• Links to edit the recipient's profile or send a thank you

Delivery: The last step is used for delivery options, such as email delivery date, sending yourself a test email, or email previewing.

To view open and click rates, click on Sent under the Emails menu in the Dashboard and select Opens & Clicks to the right of the event’s name.