Send a text to everyone who owes money
Text every person with an open pledge balance, with their own balance and their own giving link in the message.
Before you start
- Texting is set up under Settings → Email, SMS & WhatsApp (or you use Yahiv's shared number).
- Your login can send bulk messages.
- 1
Open Outreach
Click "Outreach" in the menu.
Start in Outreach. - 2
Choose "Open pledge balance"
In the first box pick "Open pledge balance" and press "Choose audience". The "Audience:" line should now say "seg: openpledge" with the number of people.
"Open pledge balance" picks everyone who still owes on a commitment. - 3
Stay on "Text message"
"Text message" is chosen when the page opens. It shows how many of these people have a cell phone and accept texts.
The number in brackets is how many can get a text. - 4
Write the reminder
Type a short, friendly message. Click "Open pledge balance" next to "Insert:" to add their balance, and "Their own giving link" so they can pay with one tap. For example: "Hi {{first_name}}, a friendly reminder that {{open_balance}} is still open. You can pay here: {{give_link}}".
Insert the balance and the personal giving link. - 5
Check the length and cost
"Before you send" shows how many characters the text is and how many "text pieces" each person's message takes, plus the estimated cost. Hebrew or Yiddish letters make each piece 70 characters instead of 160, so keep it short.
Shorter texts cost less. - 6
Look at who is left out
Next to "Left out:" you see reasons like "No cell phone" or "Asked for no texts". Click "who" to see names. You might email those people instead.
Click "who" to see the names left out. - 7
Send
Tick "Send to … donors now" and press "Send texts". You'll see how many were sent.
Confirm and send.
Tips
- Use the Outreach audience box, not a People filter, for "owes money". The "Message these … people" link on People only carries some filters (search, tag, ready-made views, city), so a filter like "Owes at least" would be dropped.
- For reminders that go out by themselves every week, set up a reminder plan under Settings → Collecting & reminders.
- If you set a contact limit, people who already heard from you enough this week are left out — see "Contact limits explained".
If something isn't working
Someone who already paid got the text.
Their payment may not be linked to the pledge. Open the gift and choose the pledge under "Applied toward commitment". See "A reminder went to someone who already paid".
The balance in the text looks wrong.
{{open_balance}} adds up every open commitment the person has. See "The pledge balance looks wrong".
The note says messages were "logged only".
Email or texting isn't connected yet, so nothing really went out. An admin connects it in Settings → Email, SMS & WhatsApp — see "Messages say logged only".