SMS Texting Readiness Guide
What your organization needs before we can set up SMS messaging
Before your organization can send SMS text messages, your business needs to be registered and approved through a system called A2P 10DLC (Application-To-Person 10-Digit Long Code). This is a requirement from U.S. wireless carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon to make sure businesses sending text messages are legitimate and that recipients have agreed to receive them.
When you sign up with Harness, we take the information you provide during onboarding and automatically submit your A2P 10DLC registration on your behalf. In many cases, this goes through without any issues. However, some organizations are flagged or rejected during the approval process due to missing information, mismatched records, or incomplete website requirements. When that happens, we need to correct the issues and resubmit.
This guide exists to help you make sure everything is accurate and in place, either before your initial registration or ahead of a resubmission. The more complete and accurate your information is up front, the faster we can get you approved and sending texts.
1. Organization Identity
The registration system checks your organization against IRS records. Everything you provide needs to match exactly what the IRS has on file.
Legal Organization Name — Must match your IRS records exactly, including punctuation and capitalization. Found on your CP 575 EIN Confirmation Letter or 147C letter.
Employer Identification Number (EIN) — Your 9-digit EIN in XX-XXXXXXX format. If issued within the last 90 days, it may not yet appear in verification databases.
Twilio May Request Your CP 575 EIN Confirmation Letter In some cases, Twilio will request a copy of your IRS CP 575 EIN Confirmation Letter (or 147C letter) as additional verification before completing your registration. This doesn’t happen with every submission, but if it does, Harness will reach out to you to request a copy. Having this document accessible ahead of time can help avoid delays. If you’re unsure where to find it, contact the IRS Business & Specialty Tax Line at 1-800-829-4933 to request a verification letter. |
Physical Mailing Address — The address on file with the IRS. P.O. Boxes are not accepted.
Authorized Representative — Name and title of someone authorized to act on behalf of the organization (e.g., Executive Director, CEO).
Representative Email Address — Must use your organization's domain (e.g., [email protected]). Free email addresses like Gmail or Yahoo will cause failure.
Representative Phone Number — A direct phone number for the authorized representative.
Check your IRS records first
The most common reason for registration failure is a mismatch between what you provide and what the IRS has on file. You can verify your EIN information by calling the IRS Business & Specialty Tax Line at 1-800-829-4933.
2. Website Requirements
Your website is reviewed as part of the approval process. A screenshot is automatically captured and evaluated for compliance. These items must be in place:
A live, publicly accessible website — Under-construction pages, parked domains, or password-protected sites will result in rejection.
Organization name clearly visible on the site — Reviewers need to see the connection between your website and the organization being registered.
A Privacy Policy page — This is the #1 reason campaigns get rejected. Must be a dedicated, publicly accessible page on your website.
A Terms of Service / Terms and Conditions page — Must be a separate, publicly accessible page. Carriers require this in addition to the privacy policy.
Your Privacy Policy Must Include SMS-Specific Language
This is non-negotiable. Your privacy policy must include ALL of the following:
A statement that mobile phone numbers will NOT be sold or shared with third parties for marketing purposes — for example: "We will not share mobile contact information with third parties or affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes."
A description of what types of messages you send.
Message frequency language (e.g., "Message frequency varies").
A "Message and data rates may apply" disclosure.
Missing any of these will result in rejection.
3. Opt-In: How People Agree to Receive Texts
Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), nonprofit organizations have a degree of implied consent when communicating with their existing supporters. However, Twilio and the wireless carriers require a more formal, documented consent process for A2P 10DLC registration regardless of your TCPA status. The opt-in requirements below reflect what Twilio specifically needs to see during the campaign approval process.
Good news: Harness already handles consent in your donation flow
When donors complete a transaction through Harness, they consent to TCPA messaging as part of the donation process. This covers donors who give through your Harness-powered forms. However, your website still needs to reflect the opt-in language and policy links described below, because Twilio reviewers will check your site directly during the approval process.
A clear opt-in method — A checkbox on a web form, a keyword people text to a number, or a physical sign-up form at an event.
Consent language near any phone number fields — Include language like: "By providing your phone number, you agree to receive text messages from [Organization Name]. Message frequency varies. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out."
Privacy policy link at the point of opt-in — A link to your privacy policy must be visible wherever you collect phone numbers.
Terms and conditions link at the point of opt-in — Both policy links must be present and functional at the point of consent.
4. Opt-Out and Help Messages
Every SMS program must give recipients a way to stop messages and get help. Harness handles opt-out and help responses automatically on your behalf, so there is no action needed from your team here. This section is just so you understand how it works.
STOP keyword is honored — When someone replies STOP, they immediately stop receiving messages. Harness handles this automatically.
HELP keyword returns contact info — When someone replies HELP, they receive an auto-reply with your organization's name and how to get support. Harness handles this automatically.
First message identifies your organization — The very first text someone receives must clearly state your organization's name.
5. Sample Messages
As part of the registration, sample text messages must be submitted that represent what your organization will send. Harness provides these sample messages to Twilio on your behalf, using standard messaging templates that align with industry best practices and compliance requirements. No action is needed from you on this step.
For reference, the types of messages typically submitted include donation receipts, event reminders, campaign updates, and thank-you messages. Each sample includes your organization's name, opt-out language, and uses your website domain for any links (never generic URL shorteners, which trigger automatic rejection).
6. Nonprofit-Specific Notes
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, your organization qualifies for the Charity special campaign type, which provides higher messaging throughput than standard registrations. SMS messaging is included in your Harness service, and we register you under this campaign type automatically.
Confirm your 501(c)(3) status is current — Must be active and verifiable with the IRS. If recently granted or reinstated, allow 30–90 days for databases to update before registration will succeed.
The Charity campaign type does not apply to religious organizations — If your organization is classified as a religious entity rather than a 501(c)(3) charity, a standard campaign type will be used instead.
501(c)(4) and (c)(5) organizations have different options — These nonprofit types can register with standard campaign types and may qualify for special use cases depending on their work. Let your Account Manager know if this applies to you.
7. Top Reasons for Rejection
These are the issues we see most often. Addressing them before we submit saves everyone time.
Issue | How to Fix It |
No privacy policy on website | Add a dedicated privacy policy page with the SMS-specific language from Section 2. |
Privacy policy missing SMS language | Add the "no sharing of mobile data" statement and message frequency/rates disclosures. |
No Terms of Service page | Add a dedicated Terms page. Must be publicly accessible. |
Org name doesn't match IRS records | Check your CP 575 or 147C letter. Use the exact legal name, not your DBA. |
EIN doesn't match | Double-check format (XX-XXXXXXX). New EINs can take 30–90 days to appear. |
Free email address used | Use an email on your organization's domain, not Gmail or Yahoo. |
Website is down or under construction | Make sure your site is live and accessible before we submit. |
No opt-in process described | Document exactly how people sign up to receive texts and add consent language to forms. |
URL shorteners in messages | Replace bit.ly, tinyurl, etc. with your actual website domain. |
Sample messages don't match use case | Make sure examples reflect what you actually plan to send. |
8. What to Expect: Timeline
Once we have everything listed above, here's the general timeline:
Step | Timeframe |
Brand Registration | Usually approved within minutes to a few days. Occasionally requires manual review (7+ business days). |
Campaign Registration | Currently taking 10–15 business days due to high volume industry-wide. |
Phone Number Activation | Begins after campaign approval. Usually completed within a few days. |
Total time from submission to sending your first text is typically 2–4 weeks, assuming everything is in order. Rejections add time since corrections and resubmission restart the review clock.
Next Steps
The good news is that most organizations are approved automatically based on the information we submit during your initial setup with Harness. In many cases, you won't need to do anything beyond what you've already provided, and your SMS capabilities will be activated without any extra steps.
Where this checklist becomes important is if your initial submission is denied. When that happens, Harness will reach out to you directly to work through the issue together. Before we can resubmit, we need to make sure every item in this guide is addressed and accurate. Resubmissions restart the review process from scratch, so it's critical that everything is buttoned up before we try again.