GC Outreach 202: Sending Text Messages

Learn how to send text messages through GiveCampus by leveraging GC Outreach Texting.

This course will cover:
- Building your messaging
- Defining your audience using segments
- Sending your text message
- Text conversations

 

Finding and Managing Text Conversations

Text Conversation Initiation Requirements

When Text Conversations Are Created

Text conversations in GC Outreach are only initiated when you send a text message to a recipient from the platform. Recipients cannot initiate conversations by texting your GC Outreach number first.

How it works:

1. You send a text message through GC Outreach to a recipient
2. A text conversation is automatically created
3. The recipient can then reply to that message
4. Their replies appear in your Text Conversations dashboard

Important Limitations

GC Outreach cannot function as a general chat system:

• Recipients cannot start new conversations by texting your GC Outreach number
• Messages from numbers you haven't texted first will not appear in your dashboard
• There is no "cold contact" messaging capability

To enable two-way messaging:

• You must first send an outreach text to establish the conversation
• Only after receiving your initial message can recipients reply and engage
• All subsequent replies will be visible in GC Outreach > Text Conversations

How to view text message conversations

To see all text conversations and replies from recipients:

1. Navigate to text conversations: Go to GC Outreach > Text Conversations

2. Search for specific conversations: Use the search bar to find conversations by:

- Recipient name

- Phone number

- Message content

3. View conversation details: Click on any conversation to see the full message thread

Searching Text Conversations

Search by recipient name: Enter the person's first or last name Search by phone number: Use the full phone number format Browse chronologically: Conversations are typically listed by most recent activity

Troubleshooting: Can't Find a Conversation

If you can't locate a specific text conversation:

1. Check the search spelling: Make sure the name is spelled correctly

2. Try partial name searches: Search with just the first or last name

3. Use the phone number: Search with the exact phone number format

4. Check the date range: Ensure you're looking in the correct time period

5. Verify the conversation exists: Confirm the person actually replied to your text

Text Conversation Notifications

When someone replies to your text messages, you'll receive:

• Email notifications (if enabled)
• In-platform notifications
• The conversation will appear in your Text Conversations dashboard