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Merge tags let you personalize emails by automatically inserting recipient-specific information or dynamic content. This helps your emails feel more personal and increases engagement. Merge tags work in all email types: standard, simple, HTML, and Canva.

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How to Use Merge Tags

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In Email Content

You can use merge tags in any text block by typing @. A dropdown will appear showing available merge tags. Select one to insert it into your email. You can also simply type the merge tag directly (e.g., @first-name) and it will be recognized. Inserting a merge tag adds a space after it, so you can go straight on to the next word. If the next thing you type is punctuation instead (a comma, period, question mark, closing bracket, and so on), it takes the place of that space, so you don’t have to delete it yourself. Dashes and opening brackets keep the space. Example:
Hi @first-name, We wanted to let you know about our upcoming event.

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In Email Subjects

You can use @first-name and @last-name merge tags in email subject lines. Simply type the merge tag directly into the subject field. This works for both regular emails and automation emails. You can also use any custom merge tag defined on that email — a Planning Center field or a mapped CSV column. Everything else (@unsubscribe, @view-in-browser, @current-date, and so on) is not replaced in a subject: it shows a warning and is sent to recipients exactly as typed, so remove it before sending. Example:
@first-name, you’re invited to our upcoming event!

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Default Merge Tags

These merge tags are available in every email: Date and time merge tags use your organization’s Planning Center timezone to determine the current date, month, and year.

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Alternate Merge Tag Formats

If you’re pasting content or HTML from another email platform, Flowforth also recognizes two common industry merge tag formats. They work everywhere @ merge tags work — email content, HTML and Canva emails, and subject lines — and are replaced with the same values. A few things to know:
  • The table above is the complete list. These are the only Mailchimp and Handlebars tags Flowforth recognizes.
  • Both formats are case-insensitive, and Handlebars-style tags tolerate spaces ({{ first_name }}) and hyphens ({{first-name}}).
  • The link tags also work as href values in HTML emails, e.g. <a href="*|UNSUB|*">Unsubscribe</a>.
  • In subject lines, the same rule applies as for @ tags: of the alias formats, only the first and last name tags (*|FNAME|*, *|LNAME|*, {{first_name}}, {{last_name}}) are supported. Any other alias in a subject shows a warning and is sent as typed, not replaced.
  • Unrecognized tags are left as-is. Other Mailchimp tags (like *|MERGE1|* or *|ADDRESS|*) and other Handlebars expressions are not touched and go out exactly as typed. Custom Planning Center merge tags only work in the @ format.
  • The auto-generated plain-text version of an email (a fallback some email clients use) replaces only the name, email, and date tags. Link tags aren’t replaced there; unsubscribe and manage-preferences links are appended at the bottom automatically.
These formats exist so imported templates keep working — the editor’s merge tag dropdown always inserts the @ format, which is the recommended syntax for new emails.

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Custom Merge Tags from Planning Center

You can also add custom merge tags that pull data from custom fields in Planning Center. This lets you include personalized information like membership status, small group name, or any other custom field you’ve set up.

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Adding a Custom Merge Tag

  1. Click on a text block in your email
  2. In the sidebar, expand the Merge Tags section
  3. Click Add Custom Field from PCO
  4. Select a Custom Tab from Planning Center
  5. Select a Field from that tab
  6. Optionally set a default value if the person has no value for that field
  7. Click Add Field
Add Custom Field from PCO is hidden on emails whose audience is a CSV upload — those recipients have no Planning Center profile. Use Custom Merge Tags from a CSV instead.

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Supported Field Types

Custom merge tags work with the following Planning Center field types:
  • Text - Single-line text fields
  • Text Area - Multi-line text fields
  • Number - Numeric values
  • Date - Date values
  • Boolean - Yes/No values
Custom merge tags do not work with file uploads, section headers, or checkbox fields.

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Default Values

When adding a custom merge tag, you can specify a default value that will be used if the recipient doesn’t have a value for that field. If you leave this blank, the merge tag will simply be empty for those recipients. Recipients imported from a CSV don’t have a Planning Center profile, so Planning Center custom merge tags always fall back to this default value (or go blank) for them. We’ll warn you on the send confirmation if you send an email with Planning Center custom merge tags to a CSV audience. To personalize a CSV send from the file itself, see Custom Merge Tags from a CSV below.

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Managing Custom Merge Tags

After adding custom merge tags, they appear in a table under Custom Merge Tags in the sidebar. Click on any tag to:
  • Update the default value
  • Delete the tag
Custom merge tags are specific to each email. If you replicate an email, you’ll need to add the custom merge tags again.

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Custom Merge Tags from a CSV

When your audience is a CSV upload, any column beyond the email, first name, and last name columns can become its own merge tag — so a pledge amount, a group name, or a registration code from the file drops straight into the email.

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Mapping a Column

  1. On the pre-send page, open the To section and choose the CSV Upload tab
  2. Upload your CSV and pick the email address column (and optionally the first and last name columns)
  3. Below the last name column, click Map another column as a merge tag
  4. A row appears with a dropdown of your remaining columns and the tag name it will use. Flowforth names the tag from the column header — “Pledge Amount” becomes @pledge-amount — and both are editable
  5. To cover rows where that cell is blank, click Add fallback on the row and type the value to use instead
  6. Click Add another column for each further column you want to map
  7. Save the To section
Tag names must be lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens, and can’t reuse a built-in tag name like @first-name. Once the CSV is saved, the To section lists your mappings as a summary rather than a form. To change them, remove the file and upload it again.

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Using the Tag

CSV merge tags work exactly like Planning Center ones: type @ in a text block and pick them from the dropdown, or type the tag directly. They also work in the subject line. Each recipient gets the value from their own row. A row with a blank cell gets the “if empty” value you set, or nothing at all if you left it blank. In previews and test emails the tag shows its “if empty” value, or the column name in brackets (for example [Pledge Amount]) when there isn’t one.
CSV merge tags belong to the CSV audience. Switching the email back to Planning Center recipients removes them.

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How Merge Tags Work

  • In the editor, merge tags display as their tag names (e.g., @first-name)
  • In the preview and when sending test emails, you can toggle Replace merge tags with sample data to see how they will look with real content
  • When the email is sent, tags are replaced with actual data — from Planning Center, or from each recipient’s row when the audience is a CSV upload

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Example

If you’re sending to John Doe (john@example.com) on January 15, 2025: What you write:
Subject: @first-name, check this out! Hi @first-name, Thank you for being part of our church in @current-year!
What John sees:
Subject: John, check this out! Hi John, Thank you for being part of our church in 2025!

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Best Practices

  • Set default values for custom merge tags when the data might be missing
  • Use merge tags sparingly - one or two personalization points is usually enough
  • Check your data in Planning Center to ensure fields are populated for your recipients
Need help using merge tags? Reach out to support@flowforth.co.