Parish Guide

Notifications & Preferences — How It Works

How the parish reaches you — by email and text — and how you decide what reaches you, on which channel, in your language.
A simple, step-by-step guide for parishioners and parish staff · Powered by Nave

At a glance

Nave keeps your parish connected to its people with reminders, announcements, and alerts — delivered by email and, where set up, text message (SMS). Two ideas make it work: every message is rendered in the member's own language, and every member is in control — they choose what they hear about and on which channel, from a simple preferences page. Emergency alerts and essential account messages always get through.

1 · Parish sends or schedules→ 2 · Each member's preferences checked→ 3 · Rendered in their language→ 4 · Email and/or text→ 5 · Delivered & logged
Opt-in by design. Email is on by default so a parish can reach its people; text (SMS) is always opt-in — a member must add a mobile number and turn texting on. Each message belongs to a category, and members can mute a category on one channel while keeping it on another. Emergency alerts can't be muted, and account messages (like an invitation) always send. Text messaging depends on a one-time parish setup and is marked Text · SMS below.

What the parish can send

Everything sorts into a few plain-language groups, so a member's choices stay simple.

⏰ Reminders

Day-before nudges for things you signed up for. Events you RSVP'd to, serving at Mass, appointments, certification renewals.

📨 My requests & confirmations

Updates about things you do. RSVP and Mass-intention confirmations, sacrament requests, registration.

📣 Parish news & messages

Announcements from the parish and your ministries. A message to everyone, to a ministry, or to an event's RSVPs.

🚨 Emergency alerts

Urgent safety, weather, and closure notices. Always delivered — can't be turned off.

📰 Weekly bulletin

The Sunday bulletin in your inbox. Off until you opt in.

Why text is opt-in. Sending text messages is regulated — people must explicitly agree first — so SMS stays off until a member adds a mobile number and turns it on, and every marketing/reminder text includes a "Reply STOP to opt out" line. That's the law working in the member's favor.

Part A · For parishioners

You're always in control of how the parish reaches you. Manage everything from your account, or from a one-tap link at the bottom of any parish email — no sign-in needed.

Use case 1 · Set your notification preferences

Who: Any member.   Goal: Choose what the parish sends you.

  1. Sign in and open My Account (the portal), then find the Communications section.
  2. Use the master switches — Email me and Text me (SMS) — to set your overall channels.
  3. Then fine-tune per topic: for Reminders, My requests, Parish news, and the Weekly bulletin, tick Email, Text, or both.

Result: The parish only reaches you the way you chose — and your choices take effect right away.

Use case 2 · Get text reminders Text · SMS

Who: A member who'd rather get a text.   Goal: Turn on SMS.   (Available once the parish has set up texting.)

  1. In My Account, add your mobile number.
  2. Turn on Text me (SMS), then tick Text for the topics you want (e.g. Reminders).
  3. Standard message & data rates may apply. You can reply STOP to any text to opt out at any time.

Result: A short text the day before you're serving or before an event you RSVP'd to — no app, no group chat.

Use case 3 · Unsubscribe from one thing — without losing alerts

Who: Anyone.   Goal: Hear less, without going silent on what matters.

  1. At the bottom of any parish email, tap Manage your notifications — it opens your preference page without signing in (the link is private to you).
  2. Untick a single topic (say, Parish news → Email), or use Unsubscribe from all email for a clean break.
  3. Either way, you'll still receive emergency alerts and essential account messages — those can't be switched off.

Result: You quiet the noise you don't want and keep the safety net you do — no all-or-nothing.

Use case 4 · Get notifications in your language

Who: Any member.   Goal: Read reminders and alerts in your own language.

  1. In My Account (or on the preference page), set your Preferred language — English, Español, or Tagalog.
  2. Parish-authored reminders and alerts are rendered in that language automatically — including the day and time.

Result: Notifications arrive in the language you actually read — not a default the parish guessed.

Use case 5 · See your activity in the notification bell

Who: Any signed-in member.   Goal: Catch what's happening for you, right on the parish site.

  1. When you're signed in, a 🔔 bell appears in the site header (and inside the menu on a phone), with a count of anything new.
  2. Open it to see your recent activity — a ministry join request approved or declined, a Mass you've been scheduled to serve, a serving or event reminder, or a personal note from the parish office.
  3. Tap any item to jump straight to it. Opening the bell clears the “new” count.

Result: The things that matter to you are waiting on the site itself — even if an email slips past you.

Part B · For parish staff

Staff reach parishioners from a few back-office areas — and the system quietly respects every member's choices, so you can't accidentally email someone who opted out. Reminders that should be automatic send themselves.

Use case 6 · Message a group of parishioners

Who: Staff (Manage messages).   Goal: Send an announcement to the right people.

  1. In Admin → Messages, write a subject and message, then pick an audience: everyone, a ministry, an event's RSVPs, or a language.
  2. A live preview shows how many people it will reach. Send now or save a draft.
  3. Each person receives it on the channel(s) they allow for Parish news — one private message each, in their language where it's a system template.

Result: The message reaches the segment you chose, honoring every opt-out automatically — no manual list-scrubbing.

Use case 7 · Send a personal note to one person

Who: Staff (Manage messages).   Goal: Reach one parishioner directly.

  1. In Admin → Messages, use “Send a note to one person”: pick the parishioner, add an optional subject, and write your message.
  2. It arrives two ways — in their notification bell on the site and as a warm email signed from your parish — so it's hard to miss.
  3. Like every message, it honors their preferences: someone who's muted parish-message email still gets the bell note, just not the email.

Result: A quick, personal touch — a thank-you, a follow-up, a gentle nudge — without starting an email thread.

Use case 8 · Send an emergency alert

Who: Staff draft; the pastor approves & sends.   Goal: Reach everyone, now.

  1. In Admin → Alerts, a staffer drafts the alert (it's auto-translated to the parish's languages).
  2. The pastor reviews and sends — a deliberate, gated step so nothing goes out by accident.
  3. It reaches every member by email (alerts can't be muted) and by text for those who opted into SMS — each in their own language — and bypasses the usual sending caps so it goes out immediately.

Result: A real emergency reaches the whole parish at once; routine messages never trigger this path.

Use case 9 · Automatic reminders (no one to remember to send)

Who: Nobody — they're automatic.   Goal: Day-before nudges that just happen.

  1. The day before, Nave reminds people serving at Mass, those who RSVP'd to an event, and anyone whose Safe Environment certification is about to expire.
  2. Each reminder respects the member's Reminders preferences and language, and never double-sends.

Result: The "did you remember you're lectoring?" texts take care of themselves — no Saturday-night phone tree.

Use case 10 · See what was sent (the delivery log)

Who: Staff (Manage messages).   Goal: Confirm a message went out.

  1. Open Admin → Notifications for the parish's delivery log: who it went to, the kind of message, status (sent / queued / failed), when, and who triggered it.

Result: A clear who/when/what record — so "did the alert send?" is a one-glance answer.

Use case 11 · Turn on text messaging (one-time setup) Text · SMS

Who: Nave / parish admin.   Goal: Enable SMS for the parish.

  1. Email works out of the box. Text messaging requires a one-time setup with the SMS carrier — a phone number and a brief registration of the parish's use-case (a regulatory requirement called 10DLC).
  2. Until that's complete, SMS simply stays off: members see the option but no texts send, and nothing else is affected.
  3. Once it's live, members who opted into texts begin receiving them — no further work for staff.

Result: SMS switches on cleanly when the parish is ready, with email working the whole time.

Quick reference

How does the parish reach me?By email always, and by text (SMS) if your parish has set it up and you've opted in. You choose, per topic, in My Account → Communications.
Why am I not getting texts?Texting is opt-in: add a mobile number and turn on Text me (SMS). Your parish also has to have completed its one-time SMS setup.
Can I stop emails but keep emergency alerts?Yes. Mute any topic, or unsubscribe from all email — you'll still receive emergency alerts and essential account messages, which can't be turned off.
How do I change my preferences without signing in?Tap Manage your notifications at the bottom of any parish email — it opens your private preference page, no login needed.
What language will messages be in?Your preferred language (English / Spanish / Tagalog). Parish-authored reminders and alerts are rendered in it automatically, dates included.
Will I get spammed?No. Sends are rate-limited per parish and per person, texting is tightly capped, and you control every category. A reminder never double-sends.
Can staff email people who opted out?No — the system checks each member's choices before every send, so an opt-out is honored automatically. Only emergency alerts and account messages bypass it.
Who can send messages and alerts?Staff with the messaging role compose parish messages; emergency alerts require the pastor to approve and send.
The big idea: communication is the heartbeat of an engaged parish — but only if people trust it. Nave reaches parishioners on the channel they chose, in the language they read, about the topics they care about — and always gets an emergency through.

Notifications & Preferences — How It Works · A guide for parishioners and parish staff · Powered by Nave