Volunteer shift need (YES/NO reply)
Volunteers: we are two people short for Saturday's food distribution, [time] at [location]. Can you cover a shift? Reply YES and [coordinator] will confirm the details. Reply NO if not this time.
Free guide
The NonProfitBlasts Playbook
A practical playbook for bringing your supporters onto Blasts: where the connection invitation belongs, how to organize audiences for donors, volunteers, members and the people you serve, who on your team sends what, and a 30-day launch plan. Every capability described here exists in the NonProfitBlasts Hub today.
Written for the person who will actually run it: the volunteer coordinator, the development director, the program lead, or the executive director of a small team.
Start with the moments, not the tool
A nonprofit does not need a new channel for the annual report. It needs one for the moments when a message has to land now, with the right people: two volunteers short for Saturday's distribution, a snow closure the families in a program need before they leave the house, a matching gift live for six more hours. Blasts is the connection a supporter makes once; the NonProfitBlasts Hub is where your organization runs it.
Place the connection at every supporter touchpoint
Supporters connect at the moment they are already engaged, so the invitation belongs on the pages and emails they already see. Your Hub gives you a standing enrollment link, a QR code and a short code, all leading to the same consent-first connection, plus a printable enrollment kit.
- Donation thank-you page: the warmest moment you have. QR code and link right under the thank-you: "Hear how your gift is used."
- Donation receipt email: the enrollment link below the receipt.
- Volunteer signup confirmation: "Shift needs and reminders reach you here first."
- Event registration confirmation: "Arrival details and any changes will reach you here."
- Membership renewal: the link on the renewal confirmation and in the renewal reminder.
- Website forms: point the confirmation step at the Hub's inbound webhook so a new person is invited within minutes.
- QR codes at events: the printable kit at check-in and the volunteer tent, the QR code on the closing slide.
- Your existing list: import an opted-in CSV. Each person is invited, never added, at up to 200 invitations a day.
Only people who agreed to hear from you belong in an import. Supporters can mute or disconnect at any time, and anyone who prefers email still hears from you through the email leg.
Organize supporters into audiences
Your donors are not your volunteers, and neither group is the families you serve. All Supporters reaches everyone connected; the nonprofit starter pack adds the rest. Supporters pick their optional audiences on the preferences page; you assign the private ones.
- All Supporters: organization-wide news and urgent needs. A send to it asks for a step-up confirmation.
- Donors: impact stories, campaign progress, giving opportunities.
- Volunteers: open shifts, urgent needs, reminders.
- Members: organization news, meetings, voting, benefits.
- Program Participants: the people your programs serve. Closures and schedule changes for a pantry or a clinic.
- Program Updates: supporters who follow the programs without being enrolled in them.
- Events: registration reminders, arrival details, changes.
- Community Updates: the broad picture.
- Staff: operational notices.
- Board & Leadership: meeting reminders and organizational updates. Mark it private.
This is not a donor-only list: service organizations message the people they serve, and Program Participants exists for that.
Give your team the right access
More than one person will send. Roles keep that safe; everyone signs in as themselves, and the audit trail on Home records who sent what.
Owner
Usually the executive director: everything, including billing and the organization's Blasts account, which belongs to the organization, not a person.
Admins
The development director and the communications lead: every audience, team management and integrations, no billing.
Program leaders
The volunteer coordinator as a Leader limited to Volunteers; the pantry manager limited to Program Participants. A Leader sends to, and reads replies from, only the audiences you grant.
Approval and step-up
In Settings, decide whether a Leader's messages wait for approval. A send to All Supporters always asks for a passkey or phone confirmation.
Send, and handle what comes back
Open Send, pick an audience, type the message. The composer supports formatting, links and images, up to three attached files, a YES/NO reply the Hub counts, and Send a test to me. Send now, schedule for later, or repeat weekly. The Delivery panel shows how many people receive it on Blasts and how many by email, each person's own choice: one credit per person on Blasts, one email credit per email.
A reply lands in Conversations as a private one-to-one thread, by Blasts or by email: the donor who wants her monthly gift moved to the 15th. Threads can be assigned to a colleague, with staff notes the supporter never sees.
A YES or NO is the supporter's own reply, which the Hub counts. A read count says a message was opened, not that anyone confirmed it.
Keep stewardship running with Impact Stories
A Content Series is a set of different prewritten messages on a schedule you choose. Write four Impact Stories from the field, one per week, choose Donors, start the series, and donors keep seeing their gift at work without anyone remembering to hit send. A supporter who joins midway gets the current story, never the backlog. Content Series is included from the start.
Journeys (a New Donor Welcome timed from each person's own gift date) and Event Campaigns (save-the-date, reminders, day-of logistics and thank-you around the gala) are part of Hub Pro, which unlocks at $500 in cumulative credit purchases for any organization, verified or not.
Credits, verification and what unlocks what
Three things are easy to confuse.
- Credits: prepaid on BlastCredits, never expire, no subscription. One typed message to one person is one credit; one email is one email credit, and every new Hub includes 50.
- Hub access: organization membership. Sign in at /hub/signin/ with an email code, a passkey or a Blasts sign-in. A new organization sets up its Hub through onboarding after signing in, or from the setup link in its verification email, and it activates with the first credit purchase.
- Nonprofit verification: optional, free, applied for once on BlastCredits. An approved nonprofit receives 20% bonus credits on purchases through $500, 10% bonus credits on Volume Credits above $500 (up to the $3,000 package), and 20% on email packs. That is all it does: it never unlocks the Hub or Hub Pro, and buying credits does not depend on it. The Hub is open before, during and after verification.
Connect the Hub to the systems you already run
The Hub adds a channel. It does not replace your CRM or donor database, your giving platform or your volunteer scheduler; those keep owning who someone is, what they gave and when they are scheduled. Four generic doors connect them:
- CSV import: the opted-in people from your donor database, volunteer roster or mailing list. Email is the only required column.
- Inbound webhook: one URL your donation platform, signup form, CRM or Zapier can post a new person to; they are invited the same consent-first way.
- Signed outbound events: JSON posts to your endpoint when someone connects, opts out, replies, or when a message goes out.
- Zapier: a private Blasts Hub app, available on request, for people who would rather not write code.
There is no built-in connector for any specific donor database or CRM; a CSV export works on day one.
Your 30-day launch plan
Setup happens in one sitting. The connection habit is what the 30 days are for.
Day 1 Set up your organization
Sign in at /hub/signin/ if your organization already has a Hub. If not, sign in and set it up through onboarding, or use the setup link in your verification email; the Hub activates with your first credit purchase. Guided setup takes your name, website, timezone, starter audiences and team invitations.
Week 1 Add the connection everywhere supporters engage
Click Sync connections once so your code is published. Place the link and QR code on the donation thank-you page, the receipt email, the volunteer and event confirmations, and the membership renewal. Print the kit for your next event. Import the opted-in part of your list.
Week 2 Send something genuinely useful
One audience, one real moment: a volunteer need with a YES/NO reply, an event reminder, a program notice. Send a test to yourself first, and answer replies in Conversations. Give your coordinators their Leader roles.
Week 3 Turn on Impact Stories
Write four short stories from the field and load them as a weekly Content Series to Donors or All Supporters. Schedule what you already know is coming: the board meeting notice, the next event reminder.
Week 4 See what is working and lean in
The Reach funnel shows where each connection came from: code, import, webhook, request or Zapier. Sent and Scheduled shows delivered and read counts. Keep the touchpoints that are growing, and top up before a giving day.
What the Hub does, and what it does not
- Sends typed messages with formatting, links, images and up to three attached files to the audience you pick.
- Counts YES/NO replies and shows delivered and read counts under Sent and Scheduled.
- Sends now, schedules for later, or repeats a message weekly.
- Delivers the same message as a Blast and as email, each supporter's own choice, from your own sending address.
- Runs a Content Series from the start; Journeys and Event Campaigns arrive with Hub Pro at $500.
- Imports a CSV, accepts new people through an inbound webhook, and posts signed events to your systems.
- Replace your CRM or donor database, your giving platform or your volunteer scheduler.
- Process donations or send payment links. Link to your own giving page instead.
- Send Blasts-app sender features from the Hub composer: campaign badges, countdowns, calendar attachments, voice messages, polls or the self-destruct timer. Emergency in the Hub is an audience with a step-up confirmation, not a badge.
- Record a confirmation on a supporter's behalf. A YES or NO is the supporter's own reply; a read count is not a confirmation.
- Send SMS, or message anyone who has not connected. Supporters approve the connection first and can mute or disconnect at any time.
- Include a connector for any named donor database or CRM.
- Depend on nonprofit verification. Verification adds bonus credits and nothing else.
Everything in the first list exists in the Hub today. Anything not listed is absent.
The Hub is open today
If your organization already has a Hub, sign in. If not, sign in and set it up through onboarding, or use the setup link in your verification email; the Hub activates with your first credit purchase on BlastCredits. The Hub documentation for nonprofits covers every screen this playbook mentions.
See it in action at Handswell Action Network (a fictional example organization created to show the product, not a customer)
Product facts on this page reflect published Blasts.app information as of September 24, 2026.