Text messages
Reply to supporters by text, save common replies, and let people give by texting a word.
Givable can hold text conversations with your supporters, and let them give by texting a keyword to your number.
Before you start, there's setup that can't be rushed. You need a phone number, and carriers require every organization sending business texts to register first. Registration is reviewed by the carriers, so allow time for it before a campaign depends on it.
Set both up under Settings > Integrations, then come back.
The inbox
Messages shows conversations across every number your organization holds. A conversation starts when somebody texts you.
You'll land in one of three states:
| State | What you see |
|---|---|
| No number yet | A prompt to buy and register one |
| Disconnected | Past conversations, read-only, until a number is reconnected |
| Ready | The full inbox, with New message |
A conversation can be popped into its own window, which is handy on event day when someone is watching messages while doing something else.
Saved replies
Templates > SMS Templates holds replies your team inserts instead of retyping: directions to the venue, how to claim a receipt, your office hours.
A saved reply is inserted into the message box for you to edit, never sent on its own, and merge fields fill in with that person's details as you insert it.
Each one shows its character count and how many segments it costs, which is the honest cost signal: texts are billed per segment.
Emoji cost more than you'd think. One turns a message from 160 characters per segment to 70, which can double the price of a large send. That's why there's a plain-text emoticon palette beside the emoji picker.
Text-to-give
Settings > Text-to-give creates keywords supporters can text to your number, replying with a link to a giving form. "Text GIVE to 555 0123" on a screen at your gala.
Two things must exist first, and Givable tells you if they don't:
- A number that can receive texts.
- A published form for the keyword to point at. A keyword aimed at an unpublished form sends nothing at all, rather than texting someone a link that won't open.
Each keyword shows a ready-made signage line you can copy straight onto a poster.
A keyword can't be renamed, and can't be moved to another number. Ever. Signage outlives settings: a poster, an order of service or a printed programme carries that word for years, so Givable won't let a settings change turn printed material into a dead end.
You can point a keyword at a different form whenever you like, and switch it off. Choose the word carefully the first time.
If you need to retire a keyword that's printed somewhere, point it at another form rather than switching it off. Someone texting a dead keyword gets nothing back, and thinks it's you who failed.
What the reply says
The reply is assembled as: your organization's name, your lead-in, the giving link, and the rate and STOP information carriers require.
You write the lead-in. The link and the disclosure are added for you, because they're what the carrier registration promises. Keep the lead-in short: the link and disclosure alone are already more than one segment.
Texting a whole list
A broadcast can be sent as a text message instead of an email. See Broadcasts. It goes only to people with consent to receive marketing texts and a mobile number, and STOP, quiet hours and frequency limits are applied at send.
Pictures
You can attach JPG, PNG or GIF images, up to 500 KB each and 10 per message.
Picture messages cost roughly twice a text, and reliable delivery is limited to US and Canadian numbers. WEBP images are refused outright, because carriers don't deliver them dependably.
When someone texts STOP
They're added to your suppressions immediately and won't receive marketing texts again. That's carrier rules, not a Givable setting, and it can't be undone from inside Givable. See Marketing lists.
Still stuck?
We're here for you, and no question is too small. Tell us what you were trying to do and what happened, and we'll help you get it sorted.