📧 Mail Merge with Education Plus License - CSV/GoogleSheet Contact List for Parental Consent

 

🔹 Step 1: Open the Shared CSV File

  1. If the CSV was shared via email, download it to your computer.

    • Click the attachment → Download.

  2. If it was shared via Google Drive, right-click the CSV → Download.

🔹 Step 2: Upload & Convert to Google Sheets

  1. Go to Google Drive.

  2. Click + New → File upload.

  3. Select the CSV you just downloaded.

  4. Once it appears in Drive, right-click it → Open with → Google Sheets.

  5. Rename the Sheet to something recognizable, e.g., Parent Mail Merge.

🔹 Step 3: Check & Format Your Data

Your Google Sheet should look like this:

Student Name Parent First Name Parent Last Name Parent Email URL
John Smith Mary Smith marysmith@email.com https://link1.com
Emma Jones Robert Jones robertj@email.com https://link2.com

✔️ Make sure:

  • Column headers are in the first row.

  • No blank rows or columns.

  • Parent Email is valid (no missing @).

🔹 Step 4: Start the Mail Merge in Gmail

  1. Open Gmail.

  2. Click Compose.

  3. In the Recipients field, click the Mail Merge icon (two stacked people—Education Plus only).

  4. Choose Add from Google Sheets.

  5. Select your Parent Mail Merge Sheet.

🔹 Step 5: Write Your Email Template

In your subject and body, use @ with your column headers.

  • Subject line:  Cedarville University Parental Consent Request for @Student Name

  • Body Example:

Dear Parents of @Student Name,

You are receiving this email because your student is under the age of 18. Cedarville University requires a parent or guardian to review the information provided in the link below. This will take you to the Students Under 18 Parental Technology Consent Form, where you may either grant or deny access.

Please complete the form at your earliest convenience:
@URL

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Cedarville University Information Technology, 937-766-7905 or techhelp@cedarville.edu

Sincerely,

✅ Gmail will automatically swap each @ field with the correct information from the sheet.

🔹 Step 6: Preview & Send

  1. Click Preview Mail Merge to check a sample email for accuracy.

  2. When satisfied, click Send All.

    • Each parent will receive their own personalized email.

📌 Tips for Success

  • Test first: Always run a test merge to your own email.

  • Duplicate Information in Google Sheet:  If there are duplicate entries in any fields you will have to separate these out and send in additional mail merge groups.

  • Stay under limits: Education Plus allows ~5,000 emails per day (per account).

  • Use the URL wisely: If it links to a private doc, make sure sharing permissions are set correctly.

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