Members in flockUp
Members of your community will receive your invitations and text blasts. Members can have different names across communities.
Users (hosts or admins) are not sent invitations or text blasts, unless they are explicitly added as a member. We recommend adding yourself and hosts as members so you can see how invites and text blasts are received.
You can add a single member manually or import a CSV of members.
Member invitation flow
What happens when a member gets added to flockUp?
- They will receive a text message with your community welcome message, which includes an opt-in request.
- The member must respond with a “yes” (“YES”, “Yes” or other variations are supported) to receive any text blasts or invites from your community.
- Once a member is successfully opted in, they will receive a confirmation message that they are now opted in.
Opt in requirement
An explicit opt-in is required by law in order for anyone to get text messages from numbers provided by flockUp.
An inactive member has a question mark (?) instead of a bird avatar in the members list. Inactive members cannot be added to any flocks or will not show up as a recipient for invites or text blasts.
Adding Members via CSV
If you already have a list of members with their phone numbers, it’s easy to import your CSV (easily exportable from Google Sheets or Excel) into flockUp.
Your sheet should have these required headings (the headings should look exactly like this):
name |
phone |
opt_in_status |
pod_ids |
|---|---|---|---|
| Person Name | 2345678912 | pending | 1,2,3 |
Important Note About Opt-In Status
The opt_in_status is optional and can have valid values of pending, opted_in, or opted_out. If not provided, it defaults to pending. The import is flexible and will recognize variations like opted in (with a space) or OPTED_IN (uppercase).
When setting opt_in_status to opted_in, you must ensure that:
- You have received explicit consent from the member to receive text messages
- The member understands they can reply “STOP” at any time to opt out
- You have informed the member about message frequency and any applicable charges
- You are compliant with all applicable telecommunications regulations
If you haven’t received explicit consent, set opt_in_status to “pending”. Members will be sent a welcome message and can opt in by replying “YES” to the welcome message.
What is a pod_id?
The pod_ids column is also optional. In our system, “flocks” are internally known as “pods.” This column is a comma-separated list of pod IDs to add the member to, in addition to the default pod. For example, 1,2,3 will add the member to pods with IDs 1, 2, and 3. Spaces around commas are also supported (e.g., 1, 2, 3).
You’ll find a pod id in your dashboard when you click into your flock:
After the sheet is processed, you’ll get a message showing how many members were successfully created.
Failures in your import?
It’s likely the phone numbers weren’t formatted correctly, your headers didn’t match exactly, or you may have included a duplicate phone number.