Prepare Your Sync List for Dotdigital
A Dotdigital sync is driven by a Donorfy List. Only constituents appearing in that List are eligible for syncing.
Which Constituents Will Sync?
A constituent will sync to Dotdigital when:
They have at least one email address on their profile.
They appear on your sync List.
Synced constituents appear in Dotdigital as subscribed contacts unless:
They are unsubscribed in Dotdigital.
They are suppressed in Dotdigital.
Such contacts are blocked from syncing.
How to Filter Your Sync List
There isn't any need to filter your Donorfy list by Channels or Purposes, this is because Preferences between Donorfy & Dotdigital should be controlled through the available DataField mappings. You should map all of your Channels & Purposes before syncing.
Green Channels/Purposes: sync to Dotdigital as True
Red Channels/Purposes: sync as False
Amber preferences: sync as False
📌 Note:
Red or Amber preferences do not unsubscribe a contact in Dotdigital, they simply update the mapped DataField.
If you filter your List so that only certain preferences appear, constituents may fall off the sync List and not receive updated preference values in Dotdigital.
Tags follow the same rule
If a Tag is mapped to Dotdigital, do not use it as a List filter.
If you want to filter for segments in your sync List:
Use a non-mapped Tag so Dotdigital DataFields are not affected.
Recommended Filters for Your Sync List
The only recommended criteria is ensuring the constituent has an email address.
Example:
Personal_Email1Address > Is not Empty
You may also include Work and Other email address fields if appropriate.
Perform a Manual Sync
You can sync immediately from a Donorfy List or from the Dotdigital integration screen.
Manual Sync from a List
Open your List.
Click the bulk email icon in the results area.
Select the Dotdigital Address Book to update.
Manual Sync from Dotdigital Settings
Go to Integrations, then click Dotdigital.
Click Sync, then select your List and Address Book.
Click Save and Run now.
After the sync completes:
You receive an email summary (if enabled).
A summary appears under Bulk Email Updates in the List.
All sync history is stored under Integrations, Dotdigital, History.
Enable a Scheduled Sync
Go to Integrations, then click Dotdigital.
Click Sync, then select the List and Address Book to sync.
Enable scheduling for the Dotdigital account.
Scheduled syncs run daily at 9pm GMT.
Each Dotdigital account can run one update at a time.
Important Notes
Unsubscribes in Dotdigital
If a contact unsubscribes in Dotdigital:
The Email Channel in Donorfy does not change to “No”.
Mapped Purposes are set to Red.
Activities added to Timeline:
Dotdigital contact suppressed.
Dotdigital unsubscribe request.
The Test Address Book cannot be synced
This Address Book is reserved by Dotdigital and will always produce an error if selected.
Each List can only run one update at a time
Bulk syncs must finish before another begins.
Get Sync Confirmation Emails
You can receive a confirmation email after each manual or scheduled sync.
To enable notifications:
Go to your Profile (top right).
Ensure you are an Administrator or a Standard user with Data Management permissions.
Enable email notifications.
⚠️Important: To access the Dotdigital integration you'll need to raise a support ticket.