Moderated conversations allow sponsors and their sponsorships to communicate with one another with admin review. Conversations are available on the Essentials, Pro and Pro Plus plans only. 

REACH does not support contact directly between sponsors and sponsorships, but does facilitate easier communication between sponsors and sponsorships through Conversations. Administrators that are working within your organization would be tasked with sharing the Conversations messages to and from your sponsorships based on your organization’s policies.

Note: Conversations are disabled by default for supporters. To start using Conversations, you will need to enable them. To do so, go to Settings > Portal Setup > Sponsorships tab and check the box to Allow supporters to send messages to administrators about sponsorships. While here, you can also choose to allow supporters and administrators to send video messages and include conversation attachments in the email to supporters.

When Conversations are enabled, a sponsor has the ability to send an admin-moderated message to their sponsorship. The message works similarly to an email in that you can add text, photos, files, and link to a video.

Once the message is received by REACH, your organization will receive an email that a Conversation has been added. You then can log into your REACH dashboard and review the message before sending it on.

Notes:

• You can import your sponsorship conversations from a previous system. Consult our Sponsorship Conversations Import article to learn more.
• Conversations are emailed out from REACH using the email address: notifications@reachapp.co. 
• REACH cannot track the progress of an email once it has been sent out. However, an admin user is able to see in a conversation whether the message has been read by the supporter.
• Archived Conversations are included in exported files.
• You can export Conversations by going to Sponsorships > Conversations and clicking the Export button, or by going to Reports > Exports > Conversations. 
• Sponsorship Conversations are scoped by the Admin User settings. For example, if an Admin User is attached to a certain Place, that Admin will only be able to view Sponsorship Conversations related to that Place.

How to Send a Message to a Sponsorship as a Supporter (Video) #

How does a Supporter send a message to their Sponsorship? #

The “New Message” button is available to a supporter once they log in to their REACH account and click on Your Sponsorships > See All:

On this page, they can click New Conversation next to the sponsorship that they would like to send a message to:

The New Conversation button is also available on the sponsorship details page:

This will load a New Conversation page where the supporter can write a message to their Sponsorship, add attachments or record or upload a video (30 seconds or less):

• Add a Subject
• Choose the Sponsorship via the drop down menu that lists all current sponsorships
• Write the message in the body
  • Messages are auto-saved while being composed.
• Add any Attachments 
• Record or Upload a Video (if Video Messaging is enabled)
  • Note: Due to internet availability and data usage costs, we highly recommend that donor videos are 30 seconds or less.
• When complete, click on Send Message

This will create a conversation between the supporter and the sponsorship. When a supporter clicks the Send Message button, the message is sent to a REACH admin notifying them that a conversation was started and to sign in as an admin to review the message.

How does a REACH admin review the Conversation?#

If you have the Conversations Notification turned on for your user account, you will receive an email when any Conversation message is sent by a sponsor. Review the article on admin permissions and notifications for more information.

To review Conversation messages, go to Sponsorships > Conversations. 

The number next to Sponsorships and Conversations indicates how many messages you have to review.

To view the Conversation, click the Subject or Date. Because each organization is different, REACH provides several options for you to decide how to proceed with the message. From here, you can also preview any attachments or videos included and reply.

How does a Sponsorship send a message to their Sponsor?#

Sponsorships can send messages to their Sponsor. This is most commonly done by a sponsorship child handwriting a letter or drawing a photo and then an Admin uploading the file to a Conversation to send to the sponsor. The sponsor will then be notified via email and can then login to their Donor Portal to read the message from their sponsorship and reply.

First, the Admin can go to Sponsorships > Conversations and click + New Conversation.

Type in a Subject, search for the Supporter (Sponsor), and then choose from their Sponsorship. Once the Supporter name is entered, REACH will automatically include the Supporter’s sponsorships in the Sponsorship field.

Check the Email Attachments box if you want the email sent to the Supporter (Sponsor) to include the attachment.

Note: Review your organization’s settings for Conversations by going to Settings > Portal Setup > Sponsorships tab. Here, you can choose whether to allow supporters to send messages to admins for sponsorships, allow video messages and include conversation attachments in the email to supporters.

Add an Attachment. This will be your sponsorship’s letter or drawing and a video if desired.

Type in the Message. Most often, Admins will translate the message on behalf of the Sponsor and include the text in the Message field.

Click Send Message.

The Supporter (Sponsor) will receive an email notifying them that they have received a New Message from their sponsorship.

Note: The Email Template used here is Conversation Update which can be found by going to Settings > Email Templates. Organizations on the Essentials plan and above can customize this email template, including the Subject. Refer here for more information.

The Supporter (Sponsor) can then login to their Donor Portal to review the conversation message from their sponsorship.

Once logged in, the Supporter will see they have 1 unread message. This is indicated by the blue box and my the 1 next to My Profile.

The Supporter (Sponsor) can click on Inbox to be taken to their Conversations.

You’ll see the new conversation message here, it’ll be highlighted in red.

Click on the conversation message to open, read and reply.

Once read, the Admin will be able to see that the Supporter (Sponsor) has read the conversation message.

The Admin can go to Sponsorships > Conversations and click on the Subject or Action > Open in new tab to review the conversation message.

From this screen, the Admin can Archive, add to a folder, see stats on the conversation message and see the date/time of when the supporter read the message.

They can also Reply or File Supporter Letter.

Printing Conversation Messages#

For a simple message printout: In the message view, find the message that should be printed and select Actions > Print. A PDF of the message will immediately download to your computer and can be printed or emailed as needed.

If you would like to format the template for your specific purposes: Go to Settings > Mail Merge Templates and first make sure the following Mail Merge Templates have been added to your templates list – Conversation Thread and Print Single Conversation Message. You can then customize the templates as needed.

Once added, open a Conversation message – you can click Generate Mail Merge at the top to print the conversation thread, or from a single message box, click the Actions button and select Generate Mail Merge to print a single message. This will generate a PDF of the conversation or message that can be delivered as your organization sees fit.

Translate a Message#

The reply will be in the language their computer browser is set for. For example, say an admin in Haiti responds to the Conversation and it goes back to the Supporter. If they are using Haitian Creole as their browser language, when the reply comes through, the message is automatically translated into the language set on the receiver’s browser. If the admin replies in Haitian Creole and a supporter in the States receives the message, as long as the supporter’s browser is set to English, the message will automatically translate. We also give you the option to manually select a language and translate.

Note: To print a translated message, you must select Translate first before creating a mail merge.

Organizing Conversations#

Use the Folders to organize your Conversations. Drag and drop a conversation into a folder, create a new folder, rename and delete folders and use the Archive to file any Conversations you no longer want to remain in your Inbox.

From the individual conversation, you can use the top buttons to Generate a Mail Merge, Archive the conversation or move it to a folder.

Within the conversation, you can Select Language and click Translate to translate the conversation or use the Actions button to Generate a Mail Merge, Mark as Unread or Print.

The Mark as Unread option is included so if an admin state-side reviews the message they can still mark it as unread, so the Conversation is still flagged as needing review for an admin that is in-country. 

Initiating a Conversation on Behalf of a Supporter#

Click + New Conversation to start a new message.

When you type in the Supporter’s name, their current sponsorships will automatically populate in the Sponsorship field. Or you can simply select the Supporter & Sponsorship. Compose your message, add a file or add a video and click Send Message once complete.

What happens when a Supporter receives a reply to a Conversation?#

When a message is sent to a supporter, they will receive an email notifying them, with a link to login to their account to view the message.

Note: By default due to privacy concerns, the email notification sent to the supporter does not include the message body but directs the supporter to login to view the message.

If you’d like to include the message body in the email sent to the supporter, you can go to Settings > Email Templates and Edit the Conversations Update Email Template to add the following Liquid Tag that will pull in the Message body:

{{ conversation.conversation_messages.last.body }}

Once logged in, they will see any unread messages highlighted in their Inbox and the number of messages will be shown next to My Profile. 

The Conversation will remain highlighted until the Supporters clicks on it regardless, of what action an Admin takes in the REACH admin area. 

Enabling Video Messaging in your Conversations#

REACH provides the ability for organizations to use Video Messaging in their sponsorship conversations. This option can be enabled or disabled based on the organization’s preferences. When enabled, videos can be included in conversations. This setting can be changed in Settings > Portal Setup > Sponsorships tab. Check the box to Allow supporters and administrators to send video messages about sponsorships.

Enabling Attachments in your Conversations#

Due to privacy concerns, the ability to view attachments added to Conversations is disabled by default. When disabled, if an attachment is added to a Conversation, a supporter must login to their portal to view the attachment. This setting can be changed in Settings > Portal Setup > Sponsorships tab. Check the box to Include conversation attachments in the email to supporters.