Text Conversations with Volunteer
Text a volunteer directly and keep a threaded history of the back-and-forth. Messages are sent and received over SMS, with the volunteer's incoming replies shown alongside your outgoing messages.
Opening the Conversations tab
To open Conversations:
On the Volunteers page, click the Volunteers tab.
Click the volunteer's name to open their profile.
Click the Conversations tab.
The conversations list
The tab lists the volunteer's conversation threads with their Status (Open/Closed), last-message time, the assigned staff member, and when each was opened. An unread badge appears when the volunteer has replied, and the Open / Closed filters switch between active and resolved threads.
- Click Start Conversation to open a new thread (the volunteer must be opted in to SMS).
- Click View on a thread to open it.
Inside a conversation
Clicking View opens the thread. It shows the full message history — your outgoing messages and the volunteer's replies, each with a timestamp and delivery status — and refreshes automatically as new messages arrive. From here you can:
- Send / reply — type a message (emoji supported) and send it to the volunteer via SMS.
- Watch / Unwatch — subscribe to get notified of new replies on this thread.
- Close / Reopen — close a resolved thread (no further messages can be sent), or reopen it later.
Conversations require SMS to be enabled for your organization and the conversations staff permission. The volunteer must be opted in to SMS, and a volunteer can have only one open conversation at a time.