Text Broadcasts are the ultimate time saver and the best way to get quick, direct communication to your people! It only takes one minute to send a message to all of your people or groups of your people. Everyone receives the message as if it is a personal message.
How to send a text broadcast
Under your Communications menu navigate to Outbound -> Broadcasts. Click Create New Broadcast.
Select who you want to send it to: individuals, groups, or your entire congregation. If there is a group or individuals you'd like to exclude, click Exclude these groups and/or people. Then select which groups and/or individuals you don't want included.
Craft your message. Note the credit count to know how many messaging credits this Broadcast will cost per recipient.
Pro Tip: Enhance your messages in 6 different ways:
Boost your message by adding an image (up to 525kb) or video (up to 500mb).
Add a more fun and personal touch by using emojis.
Personalize your message by adding user data so that each recipient receives the text with their first, last, or full name inserted. Note that if the person you are sending to does not have a name, this will be left blank when sending the Broadcast to them.
Attach a Memo for additional formatting options and longer messages.
Clean up the message by shortening any URL's you've included.
Gloo+ members also have exclusive access to our AI Help Me Write feature! Click this tool to use powerful AI to instantly adjust the clarity, tone, and grammar of your Broadcast. You can make it more Biblical, more casual, shorter, longer, etc. If you find a version you like, just click Apply to copy it to the message text. From there, make any changes you want before finalizing!
You can send the message immediately by clicking Send Now. Or you can Schedule for Later, and select a date and time for the message to be sent. Remember to note the credit usage per recipient.
If you have a Gloo+ membership, you can also set your Broadcast to be recurring! Select the Recurring option and choose how often you'd like the Broadcast to be sent (daily, weekly, monthly), and a start and end date.
Once you've chosen when to send it, click Preview Broadcast.
Make sure you have the Broadcast the way you like it. On this final page you can note the total number of credits that will be used to send this message (Number of Recipients x Number of Credits per message).
Once you've verified all the information is correct, click Send to X People to send your message.
See any upcoming scheduled Broadcast messages
See previous Broadcasts and related information
See previous Broadcasts that did not send and need attention
Free Gloo accounts are entitled to 500 free messaging credits each month, and Gloo+ accounts are entitled to 15,000 messaging credits each month. In general, if you try and create a Broadcast that will exceed that limit, you will be immediately warned and be unable to schedule or send the Broadcast. But what if you schedule a Broadcast for next month, but by the time that date comes around you've exceeded your credit limit for that month? That's where the Needs Attention tab comes in.
If a the date comes around and you don't have enough credits to send a previously Scheduled Broadcast, that Broadcast will not be sent, but will be moved to the Needs Attention tab. It will explain the reason it didn't go out (insufficient credits), and help you take steps to get it sent out.
If you have a free Gloo+ account, you'll need to upgrade to Gloo+ in order to send more messages during that month. For you, this page will display a banner for Gloo+. Click Get Gloo+ to learn more.
If you already have a Gloo+ account but have used all 15,000 credits, you'll need to purchase a Powerpack in order to send more messages during that month. For you, this page will display a banner for Powerpacks. Click Add a Powerpack to purchase.
If you do choose to purchase either Gloo+ or a Powerpack, you can return to this tab afterwards and send the Broadcast by clicking the 3 dot drop down on the right side and selecting Retry. You can also Edit the Broadcast from here before retrying.
If you choose not to purchase, you can also Delete the Broadcast to remove it from your account entirely.
Save Broadcasts as a Draft
Create a Broadcast as normal.
After creating the message you'd like to send, click Save.
View your drafted Broadcasts under the Draft tab.
Duplicate, edit, or delete Broadcast messages
The contents of any Broadcast can be easily copied and pasted into a new Broadcast, in case you need to send several very similar Broadcasts. Just hover your mouse over the message in your Sent log and click the copy button the appears on the left-hand side. The text will be copied, and then when you open a new Broadcast just right-click your mouse and paste the message in.
You can also duplicate a message by clicking the 3 dot drop-down to the right of the message and selecting Duplicate. This will immediately open a new Broadcast with the old content copied in, and you can make any adjustments you need before sending.
You can edit a scheduled or drafted Broadcast that has not been sent yet by clicking the three dot dropdown menu on the right side of the message. This also gives you the option to delete the Broadcast. If you delete a Scheduled Broadcast before it is sent, this message will not be delivered to anyone.
