Step by step

1. Create a new message aimed at a committee

   In the nav column, under the Communications group, follow the Messages link to open the messages collection. Press Create and fill in a subject, a body, and set Audience to 'A committee'. A committee field will appear — select the committee you want to reach. Attach any documents if needed, then save. The message is saved as a draft.

2. Open the Send a message screen

   Click the action menu at the top of your office and choose 'Send a message'. The screen that loads shows all your draft messages and any already-scheduled messages for this organisation.

3. Select the draft and check who would receive it

   Choose your committee message from the list, which shows each draft by its subject and the date it was written. Press 'Who would get it?' to fetch a live preview of the recipients.

4. Review how the audience is resolved

   The platform fetches the committee record, collects the chair and every member assigned to it, removes any duplicates, and then looks up each person in your member records. Names and email addresses are retrieved for everyone on the committee.

5. Check the recipient list before sending

   The screen shows a list headed 'X members would receive this'. Anyone without an email address on file is flagged as 'no address' and counted separately. Contact those people by other means — they will not receive this message.

6. Press Send

   A Send button labelled 'Send it to N' appears, where N is the number of members with an address. The button is disabled if nobody has an address. Press it to dispatch. The platform sets a scheduled time of right now on the message record; a server-side hook then sets the status to 'scheduled' and records who triggered the send.

7. Wait for the confirmation notice

   The screen shows 'On its way — it goes out within the minute…'. The platform's sweep picks up the message, builds one individually addressed email per recipient with your organisation's footer, and sends each one. The message record is then updated to show whether sending fully succeeded or partially failed, along with the outcome for each address.

What happens next

Once you press Send, the platform sets a scheduled time of right now on the message record and a server-side hook marks it as scheduled. Within the minute, the platform sweep claims the message, resolves the committee's chair and members again, and sends one email to each person who has an address on file. When delivery is complete, the message status moves to sent or partially failed, and the record notes what happened for every individual address.

Good to know

The committee field only appears on the message form when you set Audience to 'A committee'. If you do not see it, check that setting first.

Members shown as 'no address' are fully excluded from the send — the platform has no way to reach them by email. Make a note of the count shown on the preview screen and follow up with those members through another channel.