For Ministry Leaders & Volunteers
This information is for ministry leaders, or volunteers appointed by their ministry leader, who want to use Flocknote to communicate with everyone in the ministry.
Not a ministry admin or volunteer? Go back to the main Flocknote resource page
WHY USE FLOCKNOTE?
Using Flocknote to communicate with your ministry is no different than using your own personal email client when sending an email. For example: just as you would login at gmail.com in order to send or check your personal emails, using Flocknote simply means logging in to flocknote.com and sending emails from there.
So if it’s just the same, what’s the difference?
It’s a matter of security and practicality. Here are a few scenarios that could be avoided if you use Flocknote:
- Email limitations: most email clients cap the number of email recipients at 100. If you have a large ministry, you would have to send multiple emails to two groups or more.
- Comments vs. replies: Have you ever sent an email to a large group and received too many replies? How about people not replying to the latest email in the thread, missing attachments, etc.? With Flocknote, you are sending one email to your whole group, and they are able to leave comments on that *one* email, making things simpler.
- Spam emails and malware: if one of your members has an email account infected by malware, you could be putting all of your recipients at risk. This is more common than many people think.
- BONUS – design beautiful emails: with Flocknote, you can design beautiful newsletter-type emails with images, videos, polls, events with RSVP function, and more.
The Everyone group is made up of all members of the church who use Flocknote. Inside the Everyone Group, our church has groups and subgroups. Groups have members who are subscribed to them and those groups have Group Admins and Note Senders. Notes (information) are posted to Groups and sent out to members in the Group according to their notification settings (texts or email).
What does it mean to be a Group Admin(istrator)?
- Leader of the Group
- Manage Members
- Change Settings
- Send Notes
TO START USING FLOCKNOTE AS A GROUP ADMIN, YOU FIRST HAVE TO DO THE FOLLOWING (IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO):
If you are already receiving Flocknotes, you have an account that was set up by a staff member when we transferred your registered Constant Contact email to Flocknote. However, you are only signed up with your email (you will not receive texts until you opt in for this feature, if you want to). You can modify your account to "join" other parish groups and change how you receive information (either by email, text, or both).
In order to update your preferences, follow the steps below.
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- Go to login.flocknote.com
- Enter your Email or *Phone and click the Send button
- Check your email for a message from Flocknote, "Your Magic Login Link"
- Click "Log In Securely" link inside the email
If your ministry already has a group on Flocknote, we have already designated a group admin for the group. If you are listed as a group admin and want to be removed, you may unsubsribe at anytime but would appreciate you letting us know so we can designate a new group admin.
If you are a group admin and have a list of emails for your group and want us to add them to the Flocknote group for you, please send your list to bulletin@stpatsch.org. We can also show you how to add/remove people yourself.
If you’ve already completed all these steps prior, proceed to the next section, "How to Access Flocknote".
*List your cell phone number in order to receive the texts
Group Admin Training Video
https://vimeo.com/569006628
TO START USING FLOCKNOTE AS A VOLUNTEER, YOU FIRST HAVE TO DO THE FOLLOWING (IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO):
- Sign up by going to www.flocknote.com/smcyyc.
- Create a login: if all you want is to receive email updates from your group, you do not have to do this step. However, if you want to be able to send emails to your group*, you need to create a login — this will allow you to access Flocknote’s back-end. Click here to learn how to create a login.
*Generally, only group admins can send emails. However, group admins can designate users as a “note sender” — this enables a user to send an email to the whole group without being a group admin. Please consult with your ministry leader or group admin about being a note sender.
If you are a note sender and would like to know how to send emails, follow the guide below.
HOW TO ACCESS FLOCKNOTE
1. Open your web browser, go to www.flocknote.com, and click “login”
2. After logging in, you will be redirected to the Flocknote dashboard. On the left sidebar, you will see all of the groups that you are a member of.
SENDING EMAILS
1. To send an email (i.e. a “note”), click on your group/ministry on the left sidebar, then click the blue, envelope icon on the top-left portion of the screen. This will bring up the email composer.
2. The email composer is quite straightforward: on top you’ll see the “to” field (UNITE Youth Flocknote group), “subject” field, as well as the main body of the email where you can add different elements (e.g. images, file attachments, video, etc.)
3. To send the email, click on the green “preview” button. This is a two-step feature that prevents emails from being sent accidentally while still editing. It also gives you a preview of how your email will look like. If everything looks good to go, click “send”!
YOU'RE DONE!
After sending, it will appear as one of the notes in your group. Click on the note to check any comments, as well as open rates, clicks, etc.
WHAT CAN A GROUP ADMIN DO?
Manage Members
They can add a member to the Group. They have the ability to make other members in their group a ‘Group Admin’ or a ‘Note Sender’.
To make a member a ‘Group Admin’ or a ’Note Sender’ simply find their name on the 'People' page within the desired Group and click the appropriate box to the right of or below their name. You can also remove a ‘Group Admin’ or a ‘Note Sender’ by unclicking the box.
Click here for a step-by-step guide on how to add more members to your group.
Change Settings of Group
They can change the settings for that group, such as Group Name, Type of Group, and the Welcome Message.
From the Dashboard, click on the Group. Then click the from the upper right corner of the screen.
Send Notes
A Note is what you send out to your people from Flocknote. Notes are text messages or emails, and can be sent to an entire group, multiple groups, or just a few individuals.
To send a note to a group, simply select the Send an Email or Send a Text Message button from the top left-hand corner. If you don’t see these options, it means you don’t have permission to send out Notes to the group.
Public verses Private Notes and Comments
If you DO NOT allow public comments on your Note, a blue reply button will not appear at the bottom. If you DO allow public comments on your note, a blue reply button will appear at the bottom. Click here to learn more.
Who can see what?
Group Admin: They can see all replies—even private for the entire Group. Note Senders & Members: They can see only replies sent directly to them or public replies.
Does anyone receive a text if I send an Email Note?
If a group member has an email address AND cell phone number on file and you choose to send an ‘Email’ note, they will only receive the email note. However, if a group member only has a phone number on file (not an email), you can select the Delivery Option and click the box to send these members a text instead.
I WANT ALL OF MY MEMBERS TO BE ABLE TO SEND EMAILS TO EACH OTHER. HOW DO I DO THAT?
As group admin, you can designate one or all of your members as a note sender. To do this, log in to Flocknote > click on your group/ministry > click on the “people” tab on top of the screen. Here you’ll see all of your members, and a button on each name that says note sender. Enable this to allow that user to send emails.
SOME MEMBERS SAID THEY DIDN'T RECEIVE ANY OF MY EMAILS
There could be two possible reasons:
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Although uncommon, the email may have ended up in their junk/spam folder. To avoid this, ask all of your members to add mail@flocknote.com to their address book/contacts.
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Unverified email address: when people sign up on Flocknote, they automatically receive a verification email to make sure they own the email address they signed up with. If the individual didn’t verify their email, they may not receive messages. As group admin, you can manually verify their emails by logging in to Flocknote > click your group/ministry > click on the “People” tab on the top portion of the screen, then click “verify” below the person’s name/email.
HOW CAN I BE NOTIFIED WHEN THERE ARE NEW COMMENTS ON MY NOTE?
Anytime someone replies directly to an email or text you sent, their reply will be captured as a private comment on the original note you sent out. Private comments are only visible to you, as a group admin. But if people comment using the blue “reply” button in your email, that will be captured as a public comment.
As a group admin, you’ll receive email notifications of both public and private comments.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OPEN, CLOSED, AND HIDDEN GROUPS?
Open Groups - By default, all new groups are open. Anyone who uses text-to-join or visits your church's unique URL will see these groups during sign up and can join them on their own without approval.
Closed Groups - A closed group requires an admin's approval for a member to join. Anyone who uses text-to-join or visits your church's unique URL will see closed groups during signup but must request approval before being added to the group. A Notification Will Be Sent To An Admin To Approve Or Decline Their Request. Notes in a closed group are only visible to members who have been approved to the group by an admin.
Hidden Groups - Only a Super Admin or the Group Admin for that particular group can add a member to a hidden group. Members will not be able to request to join this group (neither via text-to-join nor via your church's unique URL).
CAN I SET UP A NEW GROUP OR SUB GROUP?
If you would like to be a group admin for one of our groups, or if you have an idea for a new group, please contact us. Some ideas for groups are Prayer Corner, The Chosen (tv program), Adoration, Respect Life, Marriage Encounter, study programs, parish events, etc.
Group Admins can't set up groups. Only Super Admins can create a Group or a Sub Group.
Super Admin Contacts:
Holly Sanders, 636-332-9225 ext. 427, bulletin@stpatsch.org
Cyndi Barclay, 636-332-9225 ext. 234, cyndi@stpatsch.org
Flocknote, help@flocknote.com