What emails does our organisation receive around applications?

This article covers every email your organisation might receive around an application, from the moment someone applies through to what happens if nobody responds in time.

NOTE: You'll need to be the designated contact person on the activity in question, or an admin or moderator of your organisation's page.

When someone applies or joins

• New application / RSVP notice. Sent to the contact person the moment someone applies or joins.

How to view applications and change their status is covered in How do I view applications for an opportunity and change its status?

If an application sits unanswered

An unanswered application climbs a set of reminder emails over time. Each one only sends once per application.

After the "New" status:

• Day 3. Contact person gets a first nudge.
• Day 7. Admins get pulled in too, if nobody's replied yet.
• Day 14. Contact person gets a second nudge.
• Day 28. Admins get a second escalation.

After the "Pending" status:

• Week 5. If a real conversation has started but stalled without a decision, the contact person gets a reminder.
• Week 10. Same situation, admins get a reminder.

A few things worth knowing about how this works:

• Once a real conversation starts (the organisation or the applicant sends a message), the first four reminders above stop firing.
• An automatic greeting message doesn't count as starting a conversation. A template welcome message alone won't stop the reminders.
• Every reminder email includes two buttons: one to update the application's status directly, one to jump straight into messaging the applicant.
• On some platforms, the applicant also gets their own heads up email at the 7 day mark.
• Feel you are receiving too many notifications? You can update your own settings, see How do I change my e-mail notification settings as an organisation admin?

If nobody ever responds (platform dependant)

• Some platforms have an optional safety net turned on that automatically declines an application left unanswered for a long stretch (six weeks by default).
• The volunteer gets the same standard decline email as a manual decline, nothing that reads as automated.

Your monthly digest

• Contact persons get a summary email once a month listing activities that still have pending applications open.
• It's a backstop for anything the reminder emails haven't already caught your attention on.

Emails triggered by editing the activity

• Activity changed. Sent automatically to everyone already accepted, the moment you change the date, time, or location.
• Activity cancelled or deleted. Sent to everyone still signed up or waiting on a decision. Always sends, regardless of anyone's email settings.

Curious what this looks like from the volunteer's side?

Volunteers get their own sequence of emails while they wait on your decision, plus a few triggered by things like activity changes. If you're curious how it reads from their end, see What emails will I get when I apply to or join an activity?