GC Outreach Texting: List Processing Times and Troubleshooting

GC Outreach Texting: List Processing Times and Troubleshooting

Normal Processing Times

How Long Should List Processing Take?

Processing times for text outreach recipient lists typically depend on:

Small lists (under 1,000): Usually process within 1-2 minutes Medium lists (1,000-10,000): Generally complete within 5-15 minutes Large lists (over 10,000): May take 15-30 minutes or more What Affects Processing Speed

1. List validation: The system checks each number for deliverability 2. Carrier verification: Numbers are validated against carrier networks 3. Compliance screening: Automatic filtering for opt-out status and regulations 4. System load: Processing may be slower during peak usage times

When Processing Takes Too Long

Troubleshooting Extended Processing Times

If your list has been processing for over an hour:

Daily texting limits can pause recipient processing

• What happens: Text messages that would exceed your school's daily texting limit can get stuck in Processing recipients. The system validates your send during recipient processing and enforces the daily limit; if that validation fails, the outreach remains in processing until the issue is resolved.

• How the validation works: The validation happens in the ValidateSendableService and checks your remaining daily allowance before a send proceeds. If the send would exceed that allowance, the validation adds the error message: "Sending would exceed your texting daily limit." You may see this exact message while processing is underway.

• How to spot a limit-related stall:

  1. Processing time is unusually long (for example, still processing after an hour) and other causes (file format, high exclusion rate, platform status) have been ruled out.
  2. The outreach shows no progress and no new exclusions are being applied during processing.
  3. You observe the error string "Sending would exceed your texting daily limit." during validation or in processing diagnostics.

• What you can do now (workarounds that don't require a manual override):

  1. Cancel the stuck process (the article's existing steps note you can cancel and start over) and reduce the recipient count so the send falls within your remaining daily allowance, then re-upload or split the list into multiple sends under the limit.
  2. Remove recipients who are likely to be excluded (invalid numbers, opt-outs) before re-uploading to lower the effective send count.

• When an override is required: Allowing a send that exceeds the daily texting limit cannot be done from the Outreach UI. If you need the send to proceed despite exceeding the limit, a manual override by GiveCampus is required; until that override is applied, the outreach will remain in the Processing state if validation fails for limit reasons.

• Quick checklist to include when investigating a suspected limit stall:

  • Approximate list size and how many recipients you expect to be eligible
  • How long the list has been stuck in Processing
  • Any instance of the error message: "Sending would exceed your texting daily limit."

Adding this information helps you distinguish a true processing stall caused by daily texting limits from other causes (CSV formatting, carrier checks, or platform load) and choose the fastest path forward: split the send, reduce recipients, or arrange for an override when necessary.

1. Refresh the page: Sometimes the display doesn't update automatically 2. Check system status: Look for any platform-wide issues

Common Causes of Delays

Large exclusion rates: If many numbers are invalid or opted out Network connectivity: Issues between GiveCampus and carrier networks File format problems: Incorrectly formatted CSV files may cause delays List Exclusions and Filtering

Why Recipients Get Excluded

During processing, recipients may be excluded for:

Invalid phone numbers: Numbers that don't exist or are malformed Landlines: Non-mobile numbers that can't receive texts VoIP numbers: Some internet-based phone services Opt-out status: Previously unsubscribed numbers Carrier restrictions: Numbers blocked by specific carriers Understanding Exclusion Reports

After processing completes, review your exclusions to understand: How many recipients were filtered out Specific reasons for each exclusion Whether you need to clean your source data Best Practices for Faster Processing

Optimize Your Upload

1. Clean your data first: Remove invalid numbers you are able to identify 2. Use proper formatting: Include country codes and proper formatting

CSV Format Tips

Use consistent phone number formatting Include area codes for all numbers Remove any non-numeric characters except + for country codes When to Contact Support

Escalation Guidelines

Contact GiveCampus support if:

Processing takes longer than 2 hours You receive error messages during upload Large numbers of valid-looking numbers are being excluded The process appears to be stuck or frozen Information to Include

Approximate list size How long it's been processing Any error messages you've seen Whether you've tried refreshing or re-uploading FAQ

Q: Does list size affect processing time? A: Yes, larger lists generally take longer to process, but an hour is unusually long even for large lists.

Q: Can I send other campaigns while one list is processing? A: Yes, you can work on other outreach campaigns while one list processes.

Q: What if I need to cancel a processing list? A: You can typically cancel and start over if a list seems stuck in processing.

quick, time‑sensitive troubleshooting for test texts (for live campaigns)

When running a live campaign and testing a text, follow these steps before moving on to extended troubleshooting:

1. confirm the send succeeded

   • After clicking Send Test, verify that the message "Your test text message is being sent." appears. If not, the test was not queued.

2. understand test message delivery

   • Test texts travel through the same delivery pipeline as regular messages and may encounter similar errors.

3. wait for network and carrier delays

   • Allow 3–5 minutes for the message to arrive, as delays can occur due to network and carrier processing.

4. perform a quick exclusion check

   • Phone numbers can be excluded for reasons like opt-out status, carrier restrictions, invalid format, or previous unsubscribe activity. To check, send a one-number test or upload a one-row recipient list, then review the Removed Recipients section. The exclusion reason will indicate why the number was filtered out.

5. review device filters and spam folders

   • Check your device’s spam or filtered folders (e.g., iOS "Unknown & Spam" or Android "Spam & blocked"). If the test text is there, move it to your main inbox and add the sender to your contacts.

6. verify the test number format

   • Ensure the test number is correctly formatted with the appropriate country code (e.g., +1).

7. try a second test

   • If the test still doesn't appear, resend it to a different phone, ideally on another carrier or device, to determine if the issue is device- or carrier-specific.

These steps address the most common causes of missing test texts during live campaigns. If these quick diagnostics do not resolve the issue, proceed to more comprehensive troubleshooting.

Testing and Troubleshooting Text Delivery

Not Receiving Test Text Messages

If you're not receiving test text messages you sent to yourself:

1. Upload your text recipient list, including your phone number

2. After the list is processed, review the exclusion reports

3. These reports will show if your number was filtered out and the reason, such as:

- Opt-out status

- Carrier restrictions

- Invalid number format

- Previous unsubscribe activity

• Check that the number isn't blocked on your device
• Ensure you can receive messages from unknown senders
• Check spam/blocked message folders

• Number opted out of marketing messages
• Carrier-level blocking
• Invalid phone number format in your upload
• Network delays (can take several minutes)

  iOS and Android message filtering can hide delivered texts

  Both iOS and Android have automatic text message filtering features that can divert test messages out of your main inbox. Promotional texts may be filtered to a special folder in your messaging application, so messages that should appear in the main view may be hidden by these filters.

  • On iOS: Open Messages and check the 'Unknown & Spam' or 'Junk' folders. Also check your message filtering settings if you use features like Filter Unknown Senders.
  • On Android: Open your Messages app and look in the 'Spam & blocked' folder. If enabled, spam protection can route promotional texts there.

  Users should check their phone's message filtering settings. If you find the test text in one of these folders, move it to your main inbox (if your device allows) and add the sender number to your contacts to help prevent future filtering.

Understanding Text Message Delivery Reporting

When Delivery Numbers Look Wrong

If you see unexpectedly low delivery numbers for your text outreach (like 15 delivered out of 700 sent), this is often a reporting display issue rather than an actual delivery problem.

Steps to verify actual delivery:

1. Go to GC Outreach > Sent
2. Click on your outreach name to view detailed metrics
3. Check the delivery percentage in the outreach details
4. The main outreach list may show preliminary numbers while processing continues

Common causes of reporting confusion:

• Initial processing displays partial counts while delivery continues
• Dashboard summary may show different numbers than detailed outreach view
• Text messages process in batches, so early reporting may be incomplete

Viewing Removed Text Recipients

When uploading text recipient lists, many numbers may be removed because they don't accept SMS or have other delivery issues. You can view these removals:

To see removed recipients:

1. Navigate to your text outreach after processing
2. Look for "Removed Recipients" count in the recipient summary
3. Click on the excluded recipients count to see the full list
4. This shows you which phone numbers were removed and why

Common removal reasons:

• Number does not accept SMS messages
• Invalid or disconnected phone numbers
• Numbers that have previously opted out
• Duplicate numbers in your upload

You can view the excluded recipients list within the outreach interface to help you update your records and clean your contact database for future campaigns.

Text Message Opt-Out Reporting

How to View Text Opt-Outs

To see who has opted out of text messages from your organization:

1. Navigate to opt-out reporting: Go to GC Outreach > Reporting > Text Opt-Outs
2. View opt-out data: The report shows all recipients who have unsubscribed from text messages
3. Export data: Click the CSV export option to download the opt-out list for your records

What the Opt-Out Report Includes

• Constituent ID
• Phone numbers that have opted out
• Source (campaign name, if applicable)
• Opt-out date

Using Opt-Out Data to Update Your Records

You can export this data to update your constituent database and ensure you don't include opted-out numbers in future manual uploads to other texting platforms.