Broadcasts

Managing Email Senders

Before launching your first email broadcast, verify at least one sender email address:

  1. Navigate to Broadcasts > Email senders

  2. Select Add sender

  3. Complete verification through the confirmation email

You may add multiple verified sender addresses and resend verification emails as needed.

Authenticating Your Domain

Once a sender is verified, you'll see "Verified (domain pending)" on its row. This is your prompt to set up DNS authentication for the sending domain.

Why this matters

Modern inbox providers can treat unauthenticated email with suspicion - even from verified senders. Without DNS authentication, your broadcasts are sometimes likely to:

  • Land in spam or promotions tabs

  • Show a "via pm.mtasv.net" tag next to your camp's name

  • Fail outright if your domain has a strict DMARC policy

Adding two DNS records signs your messages with your camp's domain so providers can confirm they really came from you.

Setting up DNS records

  1. From the email sender's row, open the ⋮ and select Set up domain

  2. The drawer shows two records to add at your DNS provider:

    • DKIM: a TXT record that signs each message

    • Return-Path: a CNAME record so bounce handling uses your domain

  3. Add the records at your DNS provider (e.g., Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Route 53). Each record has a Host and a Value you can copy.

  4. Once the records are saved, return to the drawer and click Verify DKIM and Verify Return-Path

Each record can be verified independently, so you can come back to finish later if your DNS provider takes time to propagate.

What happens next

  • DNS changes can take up to 24 hours to propagate. Campfront rechecks every 10 minutes automatically - you don't have to keep clicking Verify.

  • Once both records are verified, the sender row shows "Verified".

  • Multiple sender addresses on the same domain (e.g., hello@yourcamp.com and staff@yourcamp.com) share the same DNS records - you only need to set this up once per domain.

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:

  • Camper - parents and guardians of enrolled campers, 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

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

  • Custom - build a filtered audience using conditions. Camper broadcasts filter by Stage, Session, Session group, Camper group, or Tag; staff broadcasts filter by Stage, Department, Role, or Tag. Each condition uses is/is not logic, and you can combine multiple filter groups, matching all, any, or none of their conditions, 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

  • Attachments - attach files to include with your email

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

A template is a saved broadcast you can start from again. If you send the same welcome message every season, or a packing reminder before every session, writing it once as a template saves rebuilding it each time and keeps the wording consistent across the people sending it.

Templates live under Broadcasts > Templates.

Creating a template

A template is either email or SMS, picked when you create it, and it can't change type later. Email templates use the same two formats as a broadcast:

  • Styled - a rich layout with a header image, headline, formatted text, and a button

  • Simple - a clean, text-focused email

SMS templates are plain text, with the same merge tags available.

Draft, published, and archived

Templates have three states, so a half-finished one never reaches a family:

  • Draft - visible to you while you work on it, and not offered when composing a broadcast

  • Published - ready to use, and available to anyone creating a broadcast

  • Archived - retired from the list without being deleted

Edit a published template and your changes sit as unpublished changes until you publish them again. The version people are sending stays as it was in the meantime, so you can revise a live template during a busy week without anyone picking up a half-edited draft.

Using a template

Select a template when you create a broadcast and its content is copied into your new message. Templates are also available when sending a message to an individual contact, so a common reply doesn't have to be retyped.

From there it's an ordinary broadcast. Editing it changes only the message you're sending, never the template, so you can adjust the wording for one session without disturbing anything else. That also means a template is a starting point rather than a link. Changing a template later won't update broadcasts you've already created from it.

Duplicating a template

Duplicating gives you a copy to work from, which is the easiest way to build a family of related messages. Make one packing reminder, then duplicate it per session and change the dates rather than starting each from scratch.

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