Send email and SMS blasts to event RSVPs outside your group
Reach supporters who RSVP to your events but aren't group members
Sometimes people RSVP to one of your group's events even though they are not members of your supporter group. You can still reach them, by targeting a blast on event RSVP status.
Who gets the blast
An RSVP-targeted blast draws its recipients from the event's RSVP list. Group membership plays no part in the selection.
- All RSVPs (including those outside your group) will receive the blast.
- These recipients will appear in the recipient list for that blast.
Target a blast on RSVP status
Start the blast
In the left-hand menu, go to Email blasts > Create new email blast, or SMS blasts > Create new SMS blast.
Choose the RSVP audience
Under Choose your recipients, click Event RSVPs/attendees.
Pick the group and the event
Select your Supporter group, then pick the event under Group events, a list that holds that group's events only.
Set the RSVP type
Choose an RSVP type, where an upcoming event offers All RSVPs on its own and a past event offers three options.
Draft the message
Fill in the message content as you would for any blast, and click Create email blast or Create SMS blast.
Send or schedule
Approve and send, schedule, or submit for approval, as described in the Blast communication guide.
RSVP types
| RSVP type | Who it covers | Offered on |
|---|---|---|
| All RSVPs | Everyone holding a live RSVP to the event | Every event |
| Attendees | People marked as having attended | Past events |
| Non-attendees | People who RSVPed and were not marked as attended | Past events |
A cancelled RSVP is excluded from all three types.
Who is left out
An RSVP on its own does not guarantee delivery, and a recipient drops out of the list in any of these cases.
- They have no email address on an email blast, or no mobile number on an SMS blast.
- They have opted out of that channel for this group.
- They have unsubscribed from the group entirely, or an admin has approved their removal from it.
- They carry one of the group's exclusion tags.
- They have neither a first nor a last name recorded.
NationBuilder preferences
Where Apply NationBuilder contact preferences and unsubscribes in addition to SupporterBase contact preferences and unsubscribes is on under Settings > Configurations, a NationBuilder opt-out removes the person as well.
Filters that do not apply
The RSVP audience carries no filter fields, because levels of engagement, tag filters and advanced filters belong to the Group members/supporters audience. The event and the RSVP type are the whole of the targeting, and a blast saved against this audience carries no tag filters at all.
Event and shift variables
An RSVP-targeted blast offers variables that a member blast does not.
| Variable | What it adds |
|---|---|
[%event_details%] | The event name, location, date, time and host contact details. Email blasts only |
[%assigned_shifts%] | The recipient's assigned shifts on the event, as bullet points on their own line |
- Ticking I want to include shift information in this email blast narrows the blast to supporters who hold an assigned shift.
- The shift checkbox is disabled on a past event, showing This field is disabled as shifts can't be included for past events.
- An SMS blast includes a maximum of five matching shifts.
Check the recipient list before you send
Open Recipients on the draft blast and read the list before you approve it, since non-members sit in it alongside your group members and the count is the quickest signal that the audience is wider than you planned.