GC Outreach Texting: List Processing Times and Troubleshooting

Recipient-list processing times

What affects processing time?

Processing times for text outreach recipient lists typically depend on:

• Small lists often finish faster than larger lists.
• Processing can take several minutes or longer, depending on list size, validation and system load.
• These are estimates, not guaranteed completion times.

• Phone-number validation and filtering
• Opt-out and duplicate checks
• List size and current system load

When processing takes longer than expected

Check the list and platform status

If your list has been processing for over an hour:

Daily limits block sending, not recipient-list processing

1. Refresh the page to confirm the current state.
2. Check the GiveCampus status site for relevant incidents.
3. Review any upload or validation errors and correct the CSV if needed.

Common checks

• Large lists or many excluded recipients
• Incorrect phone formatting or CSV structure
• An active processing incident

Why recipients are excluded

During processing, recipients may be excluded for:

• Invalid or disconnected phone numbers
• Non-SMS-capable numbers, including some landlines or VoIP numbers
• Opt-outs or earlier unsubscribe requests
• Carrier restrictions

After processing, review Removed Recipients to see counts and reasons, then correct your source data where appropriate.

Prepare your upload

1. Remove invalid numbers you can identify.
2. Use consistent phone formatting with the appropriate country code.

CSV format tips

• Include area codes.
• Remove punctuation other than the + used for a country code.

When to contact Support

Contact GiveCampus support if:

• Processing remains unusually long or appears stalled.
• An upload reports errors you cannot resolve.
• Many numbers you believe are valid are excluded.

Include the outreach name, approximate list size, time processing began, exact errors, and checks already attempted.

Frequently asked questions

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 Outreach > Outreach > Outreach History

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.

If you attempt to send while recipient processing is still underway, GiveCampus displays the message: "Recipients are still processing. Check back in 15 minutes." Wait and try sending again once processing has completed.