Knowledge Base

What Supporter Messages Are

A supporter message is a short note, up to 1,000 characters, that a supporter can add when they donate or pledge, for example "Go Mia! So proud of you." If your school allows it, the message appears on the student's public page next to the supporter's name, or next to "Anonymous" if they chose to give anonymously.

Because these pages are public, your school decides whether messages are allowed at all, and whether you check each one first.

Messages Are Off by Default

Every new Practiceathon starts with supporter messages turned off. While they're off:

• the message box doesn't appear on the donate and pledge forms
• no supporter messages are shown anywhere, in the Family Hub or on the public pages
• donations and pledges work exactly as normal

If anyone does manage to send a message while the setting is off, the donation or pledge still goes through but the message is discarded.

The Two Settings

Allow public supporter messages — turns the message box on for supporters. Off by default.

Require approval before a message is shown — when on, every new message stays hidden until you approve it. On by default whenever messages are allowed. This setting only matters while messages are allowed.

You can set these in three places:

• The setup wizard — in the Fundraising step, below the donations date. These settings only appear when fundraising is on.
• Edit details — in the Fundraising card. On a Practiceathon that is already live you're asked to confirm any change when you save.
• The Supporter messages tab — each switch asks you to confirm before it changes.

What happens when you change a setting

• Turning messages off hides every supporter message from the public pages and removes the message box from the forms. Nothing is deleted. Messages you had already approved appear again if you turn messages back on. Messages that were waiting for approval, and messages you rejected, stay exactly as they are. Turning messages back on does not approve them.
• Turning approval off means new messages appear on the public page straight away. Messages that are already waiting stay hidden until you approve them.
• Turning approval back on means any message that appeared without being reviewed is hidden again until you approve it. If you make the change on the Supporter messages tab, Octavia tells you how many went back to waiting.

Reviewing Messages

Open the Practiceathon and choose the Supporter messages tab. It appears when fundraising is on, and only for the person who created the Practiceathon and school admins. When messages are waiting, the tab shows how many, for example Supporter messages (3).

Under Messages you can filter by Waiting for approval, Approved, Rejected, Removed, or All. Each message shows who it's from, which student it's for, the donation amount or pledge, when it was sent, and the message itself. Next to it are the actions:

• Approve — the message is shown on the public page.
• Reject — the message is never shown. You can change your mind later with Approve instead.
• Remove — takes an approved message back off the public page. You can bring it back later with Reinstate.

Approve all appears above the waiting list when messages are waiting. It approves every waiting message, including ones further down the list that you haven't scrolled to. Messages that arrive after you open the confirmation are not included.

A few things to know about what appears for review:

• A message sent with a pledge appears for review straight away.
• A message sent with Donate now appears for review once the payment has gone through. Messages from abandoned or cancelled checkouts never appear.
• A message marked Shown without review was published while approval was switched off.
• Octavia doesn't send an email when a message arrives. The number on the tab is your prompt, so check it regularly while your campaign is running.
• Supporters aren't told whether their message was approved or rejected.

Hiding a Supporter's Name

Supporters enter their own name when they give, and names aren't approved in advance. They're limited to a plain name of up to 60 characters, with no web links, email addresses, or phone numbers. If a name still isn't appropriate, you can hide it.

Open Supporters (next to Messages on the same tab) to see everyone who appears on the public pages. Choose Hide name and confirm. The supporter then shows as Anonymous on the public pages and in the Family Hub. Restore name brings it back.

• Hiding a name doesn't change the amount or the campaign totals.
• You still see the supporter's real name in your own fundraising reports, marked name hidden publicly.
• It works whether or not supporter messages are turned on.
• It applies to one entry. If the supporter has pledged and later pays, their payment stays hidden too.
• A supporter who chose Anonymous is already shown that way, so there's nothing to hide.

What Supporters See

When messages are on, the donate and pledge forms include an optional message box with a note underneath. It tells the supporter that their message is public with their name (or "Anonymous"), asks them not to include phone numbers, addresses, or other personal details, and, when approval is required, that the school reviews messages before they appear. After sending a pledge with a message, they see that it will appear once the school has approved it.

The same message box appears on the page a donor uses to settle a pledge after the campaign ends (see Pledge Collection).

What Students and Parents See

In the Family Hub, a student's or parent's list of supporters shows only approved messages, and only while messages are turned on. It never shows supporters' email addresses.

Who Can Manage Messages

Only the teacher who created the Practiceathon and school admins can change these settings, review messages, and hide names. Other teachers, parents, students, and supporters can't. This is the case even in a school-wide Practiceathon.

Common Questions

Can I change a supporter's message? No. You can approve it, reject it, or remove it, but you can't edit what the supporter wrote.

What if I turn messages on after supporters have already given? Messages sent while the setting was off were discarded, so nothing from before appears. Only messages sent from then on are collected, and with approval on, none is shown until you approve it.

Does turning messages off lose anything? No. Messages stay stored and come back, if approved, when you turn messages on again.

Do messages count towards my fundraising total? No. Totals only ever count paid donations, whatever happens to a message.

---

Previous: Pledge Collection