Broadcasts

Broadcasts let you send targeted email or SMS messages to groups of families and staff. Whether you are sharing a camp update, sending reminders, or reaching out to a specific group, Broadcasts make it easy to communicate at scale.

Written By Marshall Ivler

Last updated 17 days ago

Managing email senders

Before sending your first email broadcast, you need to verify at least one sender email address:

  1. Go to Broadcasts > Email senders

  2. Click Add email sender

  3. Complete the verification via the confirmation email

You can add multiple verified sender addresses and resend the verification email if needed.

Creating a broadcast

To get started, click Send broadcast and choose your channel:

  • Email - for rich or simple email messages

  • SMS - for short text messages

Then select your verified sender address (for email), and set the Subject and Preview text.

Choosing your audience

Select who should receive your broadcast:

  • Families - parents and guardians, with the option to include all parents and/or emergency contacts

  • Staff - staff members, with the option to include emergency contacts

Next, select the season and choose your audience scope:

  • All - every recipient in the selected group

  • View - recipients from a saved Datatable view (see Using Datatables for more on saved views)

  • Custom - build a filtered audience using conditions like Stage, Role, or Department with is/is not logic. You can combine multiple filter groups for precise targeting.

Composing an email

Choose between two email formats:

  • Styled - a visually rich layout with headlines, images, and your camp's branding

  • Simple - a clean, text-focused format

You can start from a saved template or build from scratch. Styled emails support:

  • Header image - recommended size 1200x400px

  • Headline - a prominent title for your message

  • Content - rich text with formatting options

  • Button - an optional call-to-action with custom text and link

Use Preview to see how your email will look, and Send Test to send yourself a test copy before going live.

Composing an SMS

Type your message content directly in the editor.

SMS messages are sent from a Campfront phone number, so be sure to include your camp's name so recipients know who the message is from.

Sending your broadcast

Review your broadcast details, then choose how to send:

  • Send now - deliver immediately

  • Schedule send - pick a specific date and time for delivery

Opt-out and delivery tracking

Campfront tracks opt-outs and delivery issues for both email and SMS:

  • Email - tracks undeliverable addresses, bounces, and spam reports

  • SMS - tracks opt-outs from recipients

Delivery status is surfaced on individual contact profiles so you can see who has opted out or had delivery issues.

Tracking sent broadcasts

The Broadcasts dashboard shows all sent and drafted messages. You can:

  • Filter by Email, SMS, or All

  • View details including type, audience, recipient count, sender, and status

  • Search for specific broadcasts

  • Export broadcast data

Templates

Create reusable templates for email and SMS broadcasts to save time on recurring communications:

  • Draft or Published - keep templates in draft while you refine them, then publish when ready

  • Apply to broadcasts - select a template when creating a new broadcast

  • Use for individual sends - templates are also available when sending messages to individual contacts