Auto Messages Overview
Your Auto Messages (found under Text Messages > Auto Messages) are exactly what they sound like: automated text messages. This powerful text messaging tool enables you to steward your donors without the need to manually thank them for their contributions, saving you and your team tons of admin time!
What Automated Text Messages Are Available?
There are six automated text messages available to you under your Auto Messages. Each can be customized/personalized (and we encourage you to do so each month) by clicking on the Auto Message's icon.
The available Auto Messages are:
Welcome Message
This is the first message a new contact receives when opting into text messages. Along with this message the contact is sent a "vCard" that they can save to their device. Doing so will add your organization's logo image and texting phone number as a contact.
This message also includes a "Text Updates" image file attachment that is unable to be removed or replaced, and no other attachments may be added. If attempting to remove or replace the image, it may appear that the image was removed or replaced. However, revisiting the welcome message in the editor will show that the image was automatically re-attached to the message.
One-Time Donation
This message is sent each time a donor makes a one-time donation through your Harness fundraising pages.
Round-Ups Sign Up
Donors will receive this message when they register a debit or credit card for a new Round-Ups donation.
Round-Ups Monthly
Your Round-Ups donors are sent this message each month one day before their Round-Ups gift is processed. You can view your active Round-Ups donors in your Round-Ups Report.
Monthly Donation
This message is sent when a donor creates a new monthly gift. Their initial monthly gift is processed right away, and in the following months they will be sent the Monthly Recurring automated message.
Monthly Recurring
Your active monthly donors are sent this message each month when their monthly donation is successfully processed (excluding the first time their monthly gift is processed). You can view your active monthly donors in your Monthly Report.
For donors/contacts to receive automated text messages, they must first provide their phone number and opt into text messaging. If they have not provided their phone number or have opted out of text messaging, they will not be sent any automated text messages.
Customizing Auto Messages
How to Edit an Auto Message
We recommend periodically, such as each month, updating your automated text messages so that donors (especially monthly and Round-Ups donors) receive a new/different text message each time they give. To customize your Auto Message, click on the icon for the message you want to make changes to. We will use the One-Time Donation messages as an example.
From there, on the left side, you will be able to edit the message content (including using emojis and merge tags), add attachment, and set the message status to either On or Off.
On the right side of the page you will also see a preview of what the recipient will receive when they are sent the Auto Message. Notice that your logo image appears at the top of their device's messaging app. This only applies if the contact received the Welcome Message and added your organization as a contact using the vCard they were sent.
Updating the Message Content
To update the message's content (what the message says), edit or replace the existing message in the text box on the left side of the page. Be sure to use the Save button to save your changes.
Best practice is to keep messages short and concise as text messages over 160 characters may be flagged as spam by Harness' text messaging provider and/or mobile phone carriers, which can prevent the recipient from receiving the message.
Using Emojis
Emojis can also be added to your Auto Messages to add a personal touch. To add emojis, use the smiley face icon in the bottom-righthand corner of the text box. From there, simply select the emoji that you would like to add to the message.
Using Merge Tags
Merge tags are a great way to personalize your Auto Messages by addressing the donor directly and even mentioning the gift they gave. Merge tags are always in the [tag_name] format where the name of the merge tag is surrounded by square brackets. Available merge tags are:
[first_name]: Uses the donor's first name[last_name]: Uses the donor's last name[organization_name]: Uses your organization's name[donation_amount]: Uses the last donor's donation amount[donation_date]: Uses the date of the donor's last donation
To add merge tags to an Auto Message, select the business card icon in the bottom-righthand corner of the text box. From there, simply select the merge tag that you would like to add to the message.
Adding Attachments
You also have a variety of attachment options that you can add to each of your Auto Messages (excluding the Welcome Message). Only one attachment can be added to a message. Attachment options include:
Ask for a Donation: Adds a link to your default giving form
Attach an Impact Post: Allows you to feature one of your Impact Posts
Design in Canva: Create a new graphic in Canva and attach the image (Not recommended. We instead suggest that you create the design in your own Canva account first, download the image from Canva, then use the Attach a photo option.)
Attach a Photo: Select a file from your computer to add as an attachment (see our photo dimension guidelines for supported file types and sizes)
Add a Video: Select a video file from your computer or provide a link to a video hosted online (such as on YouTube)
Choose a GIF: Select an available GIF through Giphy
Link to a Campaign: Share a link to one of your fundraising Campaigns in Harness
Using a Message Template
If you have already created a text message and saved it as a template, you may also use that pre-made template for your auto message instead of typing a new message. To select an existing text message template, select the Need inspiration? Start with a template link above the text box.
A pop-up window will then open, and from there you will be able to select the template that you would like to use. Once you've selected a template, click the Use Template button to apply the template to your new text message.
FAQs
Q: Where can I see the Auto Messages that have already been sent?
A: At this time, we're unable to display the automated text messages that have been sent to your contacts.
Q: Are there separate auto-messages for campaign-specific donations?
A: Harness's automatic text messages are sent to all donors, and are not campaign specific. As Harness currently doesn't offer campaign specific messages, we encourage you to either add campaign specific text to the end of your standard Auto Messages and/or, create a template of the message you'd like to send and set a calendar reminder for yourself to manually send this message at the time you prefer.
Q: Why is the phone number connected to our text messages different from our organization's phone? How do I change it?
A: When you joined Harness, we purchased a phone number for you to be able to interact with your donors via text message (send & receive texts) through our platform. While these numbers cannot be changed, you can certainly edit your Auto Messages' content to include information like: "You can respond to this text or call us at [org number]."
NOTE: These phone numbers can only be used for TEXT correspondence. If a donor attempts to call that number they will receive a message saying "your call cannot be completed as dialed."
Q: How can a donor stop receiving text messages/turn texts OFF?
A: Donors can quickly & easily reply to any of your messages with the word "STOP" to be automatically, immediately unsubscribed from all texts.
Donors can also log into their personal donor dashboard through any of your fundraising pages, then from the Profile tab turn texts off.
If a donor has responded to any of your texts, their message will appear here, and admins can select the 'Turn Messages OFF' button in the upper-right corner of the conversation.
Q: How can I turn texting ON for a donor?
A: Contacts should be encouraged to opt into text messaging on their own while making a donation of through their personal donor dashboard.
If you have received consent from a contact, then you may enable text messaging on their behalf using the View as Donor tool.
In keeping with donor opt-in & privacy/communications permissions, we strongly encourage you to ensure you have received clearly expressed consent from the contact prior to opting them into text messaging.
Q: Why didn't my donor receive my text message?
A: If the donor provided a phone number and consented to receive text messages (SMS Consent marked ON in your Saved Contacts), any messages not received are most likely due to:
The photo/GIF/video attachment size being larger than 5 MB
The phone carrier flagging/blocking media messages (photo/GIF/video attachments) as spam.
Refer to our photo dimension guidelines for supported file types and sizes.
Q: Is there a character limit for text messages?
A: Our text messaging platform supports text messages up to 1,600 characters, but it is recommended to keep text messages to 320 characters or fewer to avoid the text message being flagged as spam.
Best practice is to keep messages short and concise, as text messages over 160 characters may be flagged as spam by Harness' text messaging provider or mobile phone carriers, which can prevent the recipient from receiving them.
Q: I'm new to Harness—why aren’t my text messages going through?
A: We partner with a text messaging service that requires several steps to comply with government regulations, donor privacy, and more. As part of your onboarding steps, we save you the hassle & take care of these for you working directly with the provider. Once the provider approves (which from what we've seen can average anywhere from a few days to a few weeks), we'll let you know & you'll be able to send text messages right away!