Ultimate guide to notifications

In Good Grants, notifications are pre-configured emails or SMS messages that are sent by the platform based on a related trigger. For example, users can receive a notification when they submit an application or when an action stage has been started. While there are default notifications included in your account, these can be customised to fit your needs. In this guide, we'll discuss how to create, edit, and customise a notification as well as reviewing some commonly asked questions. 

Create a notification

To create a new notification for your program, follow the simple steps outlined below.

1. From the Manage workspace, go to Settings > Communications > Notifications
2. Click New notification
3. Select the Trigger for the notification; see the list of available triggers below
4. If desired, select whether this notification should apply to all forms or just some under the Forms heading
5. Set the Recipient(s) for the notification, from the following options
   
   Tip: you may create multiple notifications with the same trigger, so the event sends different notifications to different people.
   • User: the person the event relates to
   • Email addresses and/or phone numbers: one or more specified addresses separated by a comma or semicolon
     
     Note: mobile notifications are a feature of the Enterprise plan. 
   • Address specified in a field: allows an email or phone number field from the application process to be selected. This setting allows for someone an application relates to, to receive a notification
6. A Sender name and Reply-to address may optionally be set--we strongly recommend adding a reply-to address so your users may contact you if necessary
   
   Note: to improve email deliverability, the sending address cannot be updated.
7. Write an Email subject and compose an Email body message and SMS body using merge fields and markdown formatting as desired; see the Customise a notification section of this guide for more information
   
   Note: if both an email and SMS are defined, what is sent depends on the recipient. Should the recipient have both an email address and a mobile number defined, only the email is sent. SMS messages are limited to 160 characters and available only on the Enterprise plan. 
8. Save

Edit an existing notification 

If you would like to edit an existing notification, follow these steps:

1. From the Manage workspace, navigate to Settings > Communications > Notifications
2. Click the subject of the notification you need to update
3. Make your required changes
4. Save

Tip: you can activate and deactivate your program's notifications to allow or prevent them from sending. This may come in handy if you'd like to submit applications on behalf of users or if you're staging notifications for future use. To do so, simply switch the Active notification toggle off. 

Customise a notification

When creating or editing an existing notification, you have the ability to not only customise your message by editing its text, but also through the use of merge fields and markdown formatting. These tools allow you to pull in information from the user's registration, their submission, or even documents from your organisation's website. To learn about the options available to you, check out these guides:

• Can I personalise emails? What are merge fields?
• Formatting using Markdown: linking documents/websites, adding images and stylising text

Available triggers

FAQ

My users aren't receiving notifications--what can I do?

Good Grants uses a third party mail provider to send your program's broadcasts and notifications. While the system has been refined to improve the chances of delivery, it's impossible to guarantee that an email will arrive. Individual inboxes may have advanced filters applied that could reject even crucial messages.

If some users have reported not receiving email notifications (or broadcasts), there are a few things you can check:

• Ask the user to look for the message in their junk or spam folders or any social/promotional tabs that they've configured in their inbox. Broadcasts and notifications from the Award Force platform can occasionally be routed to these areas.
• Ask your user to mark the address from which notifications and broadcasts are sent, no-reply@app.goodgrants.com and sender@app.goodgrants.com, as allowed or safelisted.
• Look at the user's profile to see whether they have unsubscribed from broadcasts and notifications. To do so, go to Users and click on the user's name, then open the Preferences tab. Do note that the account confirmation notification is sent regardless of the users's preferences as it is a system requirement. 
  

Can I bypass the notification preferences of a user?

Yes! When composing a notification for your program, you have the ability to set the legal basis for sending the message as either: freely given consent by user, or legitimate interest of the data controller.

You can learn more about those options here: Legal basis for sending emails. 

Important: it is not recommended that you modify a user's subscription preferences as this may be in violation of their local data laws. Please check with your legal team before making any changes.

Can I link to a document in a notification?

Absolutely! You can link to a publicly hosted document using markdown formatting. Please note that we strongly recommend the document be accessible to anyone; i.e. not password protected. Should the document need to be password protected, you may need to include the password in your notification. 

Can I personalise the sender or reply-to email address?

You can set a sender name reply-to address for your program's notifications under the 'Sender' heading when configuring your message. 

In order to improve deliverability, the sender address cannot be updated. 

Can I still use notifications if my program is multi-lingual?

Yes! For programs that support multiple languages, notifications can be configured in each language that you've enabled. 

Can I set CC/BCC recipients?

While CC and BCC recipients cannot be added to a notification directly, you do have the ability to duplicate notifications and assign different recipients. One common use case is grant managers wishing to be alerted when an application is submitted. You can find instructions on how to configure this notification in our guide, Can I receive notification of new applications submitted?