Communications

Mission's Communications module lets you reach your members via email, SMS, push notifications, and in-app announcements — with a draft/schedule/send pipeline and delivery tracking.

Communication Channels

Channel	Description
Email	Delivered to the member's email address on file
SMS	Text message to the member's phone number
Push	Mobile push notification (requires member app)
Announcement	In-app announcement visible in the member portal

ℹ️

Email is the fully operational channel. SMS, push, and announcement delivery depend on additional configuration (SMS gateway credentials, mobile app setup). Contact support for channel-specific setup.

Creating a Communication

1. In the sidebar, click Communications
2. Click + New Communication (or use the Send Message quick action on the Dashboard)
3. Fill in the form:

Required:

• Subject — the email subject line or notification title
• Body — the message content (supports plain text; HTML for email)
• Channel — Email, SMS, Push, or Announcement

Optional:

• Recipients — specify recipient list (see below)
• Schedule — set a future date/time to send automatically

4. Click Save as Draft or Schedule or Send Now

Recipient Selection

When creating a communication, you can target:

• All Active Members — everyone with Active status
• Group Members — all members of a specific group
• Event Registrants — all registered attendees of a specific event
• Tagged Members — all members with a specific tag (e.g., tag = "volunteer")

The recipient_count is set when the communication is created based on the current member list. Actual delivery is tracked separately as sent_count.

Communication Statuses

Status	Meaning
Draft	Created but not scheduled or sent
Scheduled	Set to send at a future time
Sent	Delivered; delivery count available
Failed	Send attempted but failed (check channel configuration)

Sending

Send Now: The communication is queued immediately and sent within 5 minutes by the background send processor.

Schedule: Set a future date and time. The background processor checks every 5 minutes for scheduled communications due to be sent.

Delivery Tracking

After sending, Mission records:

• Recipient Count — how many people were in the recipient list
• Sent Count — how many messages were successfully dispatched
• Sent At — timestamp of first delivery

Mission does not currently track opens or clicks — delivery is confirmed when the message is dispatched from the server, not when the recipient opens it.

Communication Templates

Save frequently-used message formats as templates so staff do not have to rewrite the same message every time.

To create a template:

1. Draft a communication
2. Before sending, click Save as Template
3. Give the template a name

To use a template:

1. Create a new communication
2. Click Use Template
3. Select the template
4. Customize as needed and send

Automatic Communications

Mission sends several communications automatically without staff involvement:

Trigger	Communication
Donation recorded	Receipt email within 15 minutes
Annual giving statement period (Jan 1–7)	Year-end giving statement email
Event starts in 24 hours	Event reminder email to registrants

Automatic communications use the email address on the person's record. If no email is on file, no automatic communication is sent.

Best Practices

• Add email addresses to every person record to ensure automatic receipts and reminders reach them
• Use tags consistently so you can target specific segments with tailored messages
• Test before sending to all members — create a communication, add only your own email as recipient, and send to verify formatting before the full deployment
• Prefer scheduling for time-sensitive messages to control exactly when they arrive (avoid 11pm event reminders)