---
title: Ways to Communicate with Your Volunteers
description: "You have three ways to communicate with volunteers who are in your participant database or who are confirmed in a signup slot: by email, by text (Premium), and in the new Message Center within My Commitments. ## Sending and Scheduling…"
url: "https://ivolunteer.com/support-docs/ways-to-communicate-with-your-volunteers/"
updated: "2026-10-28"
category: ivolunteer.com Administration Guide / Communicating with Your Volunteers
---

# Ways to Communicate with Your Volunteers

You have three ways to communicate with volunteers who are in your participant database or who are confirmed in a signup slot: by email, by text (Premium), and in the new Message Center within My Commitments.

## Sending and Scheduling Emails

Email is the main method of communicating with your volunteers. See the following articles for instructions on how to compose and schedule emails and how to modify the default email templates for confirmations, reminders, and more.

**Email volunteers and individual, signed-up volunteers in an Event:**
[Send Emails and Texts to Your Volunteers](https://ivolunteer.com/support-docs/send-email-reminders-thank-yous-and-invitations/)

**Email your entire database or a database group (Premium):**
[Send Email Tab](https://ivolunteer.com/support-docs/send-email-tab/)

**Customize an Event's email templates:**
[Event Email Templates](https://ivolunteer.com/support-docs/event-email-templates/)

## Text Notifications (Premium)

If you have a Premium account, your volunteers can also opt into text notifications. You will still send and schedule your communications from the Send Email or Manage tab, but the volunteer will get a short text linking to your message in the Message Center of their My Commitments portal (see below). They can also continue to receive email notifications if they wish.

Currently, only participants with U.S. and Canadian phone numbers (country code +1) can receive notifications and communications by SMS text messages. When a participant opts in, texts are enabled from any organization that has a Premium account.

![ivolunteer settings to opt into text SMS messages in My Commitments portal](https://ivolunteer.com/wp-content/uploads/texts_optin.png)

Here are the instructions for participants to opt in.

1. Log into your My Commitments portal from a confirmation link, or go to [https://participant.ivolunteer.com](https://participant.ivolunteer.com) and log in with your email address.
2. Click **Settings**to open your volunteer settings. Enter your mobile phone number in the Phone Number to Receive Texts field.
3. Toggle the opt-in. Options then will appear for the types of notifications, the time window, and the frequency of texts you wish to receive.
4. Click **Save**. You will be prompted to verify a code sent to your phone.

### Organization Settings for Text Messages

Under Organization > Organization Settings > Text, enter the Organization Name as It Will Appear in Texts (40 characters maximum). This value defaults to your main organization name.

## Message Center

All participants now have a Message Center in their My Commitments portal. When participants are logged into My Commitments, they can click **Messages** to see signup confirmations, reminders, and other notifications from your organization. A participant who volunteers with more than one organization will see all of their messages in one place, based on the email address with which they have logged into My Commitments.

![screenshot of ivolunteer.com message center with messages for volunteer](https://ivolunteer.com/wp-content/uploads/messagecenter.png)