Step by step
Getting Started
Follow these six steps to get your team fully set up. Most coaches complete this in under 10 minutes.
1
Set up your team
Go to Settings and fill in your Team Code, Team Name, and Sport. The team code is what members use to find and join your team — keep it short and memorable (e.g. HAWKS or DEMO).
2
Set your phone number
Your team's dedicated SMS number is shown in Settings → Team Phone Number. This is the number members will text to reach your team, and the number all broadcasts come from. Share it with your roster so they know to save it.
3
Invite your coaching staff
Go to Settings → Staff Accounts → Send Invite Email. Each staff member receives an email with a link to create their own dashboard login. They'll have access to the same tools you do, based on their assigned role.
4
Add your roster
Go to Roster and click the ↑ Import button to bulk-add members. Download the CSV template, fill in names, phone numbers, roles, and emails, then upload it back. You can also add members one at a time using the Add Member form.
Phone numbers can be entered as (608) 555-1234, 608-555-1234, 6085551234, or with a country code like +16085551234 — all of these work. The one thing every format needs is the area code; a number missing its area code (e.g. just 555-1234) will be rejected as invalid.
5
Send verification texts
After adding your roster, click Send Verification on each member's card. This sends them a confirmation text so their number is verified and they're ready to receive broadcasts. Members won't get team messages until they're verified.
6
Send your first broadcast
Go to the Compose tab, pick who should receive it (everyone, a group, coaches only), write your message, and hit send. That's it — no separate app, no scheduling required for a one-off message. Consider sending a short test message to yourself first so you know exactly what your roster will see.
Text commands
SMS Keywords
Coaches can text these keywords from any verified phone number to the team's number. No app required — just standard SMS.
ALL <message>
Broadcast a message to everyone on the roster — athletes, families, and coaching staff.
COACHES <message>
Send a message to coaching staff only. Useful for internal logistics or pre-practice notes.
FAMILY <lastname> <message>
Send a message to a specific athlete's family. The system matches by last name and delivers to their linked guardian(s).
ONE COACH <firstname> <message>
Message a specific coach by first name. Keeps the conversation out of the full broadcast channel.
SUMMARY <notes>
Submit your practice group summary. Your notes are collected and compiled into the team's report for directors.
PRACTICE SUMMARY
Prompt all coaches to submit their practice summaries. Sends a reminder text to the full coaching staff.
REPORT
Get the current practice summary report sent back to you by text — a compiled view of all submitted coach summaries.
FAMILY <lastname> URGENT <message>
Family emergency. Alerts the athlete and their guardian(s) with a 🚨. If no guardian replies within 10 minutes, RallyText automatically escalates to the athlete's emergency contacts. Call it off with CANCEL URGENT <lastname>. See the full guide below.
COACH <firstname> URGENT <message>
A coach needs help. Immediately notifies the team's leadership coaches and that coach's own emergency contact (if on file). Call it off with CANCEL COACH URGENT <firstname>.
EC: Name, Phone
Save your emergency contact. Example: EC: Jane Smith, 555-123-4567
Add or update your email address on file. Used for practice summaries and broadcast emails.
Heads-up for non-sports orgs: signup keywords swap to match your org type. A business team uses EMPLOYEE/MANAGER instead of PARENT/ATHLETE; a theatre troupe uses CAST/STAGE MANAGER; and so on. The behavior is the same — only the words change.
🚨 Urgent Messages — full guide (PDF)
A printable one-pager for coaches, team leaders, athletes, and families: exactly how FAMILY and COACH urgent messages work, the 10-minute escalation safety net, and what families should do when they get one. Share it with your staff and roster.
Download the PDF guide →
Onboarding
How Members Join
Members don't need to create an account or download an app. They're subscribing to receive texts and emails — three easy paths get them signed up.
🔗
Via invite link
Share the unique link from the Invite Codes tab. Members open the link, fill in their name, phone, and email, and they're in. No password or account needed.
💬
Via SMS
Members text your team code (e.g. DEMO) to your team phone number — just the code by itself, with nothing else in that line of the text. The system guides them through a short two-step sign-up flow entirely over SMS.
📱
Via team code in the app
Share your team code and direct members to rallytext.app/join/<code>. They fill in the form on that page to join.
Invite Codes — QR codes and role-specific links
The Invite Codes tab is a web-form join system, separate from texting a keyword — good for flyers, registration tables, or a link on your team's own website.
🔲
Generate a role-specific QR code
Pick a target role (Coach, Guardian, Athlete, or General) and click to generate a QR code and short link. Scanning it opens the join form with that role already selected — no guessing for the person signing up.
⏳
Codes expire — you choose how long
Pick an expiration (7, 30, 60, or 90 days) before generating a code. Each code can be used by multiple people until it expires or you revoke it.
🚫
Revoke anytime
Click Revoke on any active code to invalidate it immediately — useful once a registration event is over.
📊
Track scans and conversions
Each code shows scan count, joins, conversion rate, and days remaining, so you know which flyer or table actually worked.
Permissions
Roles Explained
Each member on your roster is assigned a role that controls what they can do and what messages they receive.
| Role |
Access level |
What they can do |
| Head Coach |
Full |
Full dashboard access — broadcast, manage roster, invite and manage staff. |
| Assistant Coach |
Full |
Same as head coach — full broadcast and roster management access. |
| Team Director / Board |
Full |
Full dashboard access; receives all practice summaries from coaching staff. |
| Coach / Volunteer |
Limited |
Can submit practice summaries via SMS; receives all team broadcasts. |
| Athlete |
Receive |
Receives all team broadcasts; can text ABSENT to submit an absence. |
| Guardian / Parent |
Receive |
Receives broadcasts for their athlete; can submit absences on their athlete's behalf. |
| Emergency Contact |
Receive |
Receives ALL broadcasts only. Linked to a specific athlete — not to the team generally. |
| Follower (a.k.a. Outside / Subscriber) |
Receive |
Cannot send or reply. By default, Followers only receive messages sent to a group they're a member of — not your team's general broadcasts, unless you turn on Settings → Signup Options → Followers receive general broadcasts. Joins by texting FOLLOW to your team code, via an invite link, a Join Keyword (see below), or automatically through a group's auto-join keyword (see Groups below). A coach can also move any existing roster member to Follower from Roster → Edit Member → Role. |
Board Members
Board Member isn't a separate role — it's a checkbox on top of a member's existing role. Turn on Settings → Board Members to surface a "Board Member" checkbox on the Roster's Add/Edit Member form, then check it for whoever's actually on your board. Texting BOARD <message> broadcasts to everyone marked as a board member, regardless of their underlying role — the same way ALL or COACHES works, just scoped to that group.
Households
Households group family members together on your roster — e.g. "Smith Family" — without changing who receives what. Create one from Roster → Households → + Household, name it, then add existing athletes and guardians to it. A household's message preference defaults (whether members receive broadcasts, and whether they receive direct-message copies) are used automatically the next time you link a guardian to an athlete in that same household — so you don't have to re-set the same preferences for every parent in a multi-kid family. It's an organizational tool, not a messaging audience on its own.
Organization
Groups & Auto-Join
Groups let you organize your roster into smaller conversations — a specific team, a cabin, a ministry, a committee — each with its own keyword and, optionally, a two-way thread.
🏷️
Give a group a keyword
In Groups → Edit, set a keyword (e.g. YOUTH). Members of that group can text the keyword to post into the group's own thread, separate from your main broadcasts.
➕
Turn on auto-join
First flip the master switch at Settings → Signup Options → Group auto-join, then enable Auto-join on the specific group you want it for. Once both are on, texting that group's keyword adds the sender straight into it — instead of the normal "you're not in this group" reply. Brand-new numbers are walked through a quick "what's your name?" signup and added to your roster and the group in one step; no role question needed, since the group already implies it.
🎯
Choose the role new joiners get
Set New joiners become on the group to whichever role fits (Member, Follower, etc.). If your team's join code doubles as a group's keyword — e.g. team code YOUTH matching a "Youth" group's keyword — people who text the team code land straight in that group too.
⚡
Skip approval for Follower groups
If New joiners become is set to Follower and you've turned on Settings → Signup Options → Auto-approve followers, people who join through that group's keyword (including your team code, if it doubles as the group's keyword) are added instantly — no approval step. Groups set to any other role still land pending your approval, same as always.
Groups also show up on the keyword cheat sheet your coaches can open from the compose screen, so everyone knows which keyword goes to which group.
Two-way Group Threads — members reply, everyone sees it
Set a group's Thread mode to Open and its keyword becomes a shared conversation: any member of that group can text the keyword followed by a message, and everyone else in the group receives it — not just staff. A thread only turns "active" (visible on the Group Threads dashboard page) once someone actually texts the keyword in; saving the keyword in Edit Group doesn't create it by itself.
💬
How members post
Text the group's keyword followed by the message, e.g. YOUTH practice moved to 6pm. Everyone else in the group gets it formatted as [YOUTH] Name: practice moved to 6pm so it's clear who sent it.
🔕
PAUSE, SUMMARY, and RESUME
Any member can text KEYWORD PAUSE to mute that group's messages for 24 hours, KEYWORD SUMMARY to switch to a once-a-day digest instead of individual texts, or KEYWORD RESUME to go back to normal. These are optional, member-controlled — nothing staff need to set up.
💡
The usage hint footer — and how to turn it off
A new group member's first message (and anyone re-appearing after 7+ quiet days) gets a short footer explaining PAUSE/SUMMARY, e.g. "[Reply YOUTH PAUSE to mute 24h | YOUTH SUMMARY for daily digest]". If that confuses new members more than it helps, turn it off entirely at Settings → Signup Options → Show group thread usage hints. This only removes that explainer line — the required Reply STOP to opt out disclosure is separate, sent once at a person's first-ever message from your team, and isn't affected by this setting either way.
Join Keywords — text-to-join without a group
Join Keywords (Settings → Signup Options → Join Keywords) are a separate, simpler way to let people join your roster by texting a word you choose — no admin-made group required. Put your keyword on a flyer, a sign-up sheet, or a link on your site: "Text YOUTH to (555) 123-4567 to follow along."
💬
Pick a keyword and a role
Each Join Keyword maps to one role — most commonly Follower, for people who should get updates but never send or reply. A new texter gets a quick "what's your name?" prompt, then by default lands on your roster pending your approval — unless you've turned on instant approval (see below).
⚡
Skip approval — instantly, if you want
For non-Follower keywords, each Join Keyword has its own Require staff approval checkbox — turn it off and that keyword adds people straight to your roster with no review step. Follower keywords work differently: they always follow one team-wide switch, Settings → Signup Options → Auto-approve followers (off by default). Turn it on and every Follower Join Keyword skips approval for everyone; it's a team decision, not a per-keyword one, and it still won't let anyone follow if you've turned off Allow follower signups entirely.
🔗
Optionally add them to a group too
Link a Join Keyword to an existing group and new joiners get added to both your roster and that group in one step — useful for a specific program, cohort, or event you want to message separately later.
🛡️
Minors with no guardian on file
Check Treat auto-joiners as minors on a Join Keyword and anyone who joins through it is restricted to group messages only — no 1:1 texting in either direction — since there's no guardian to CC for Safe Sport.
Photo Submissions — let members post photos to a group
A Photo Submission Keyword (Settings → Photo Submissions → + Add Photo Submission Keyword) lets an existing roster member text in a photo with a caption for staff to approve before it goes out — great for "share your race day pic" or "post your setlist photo" style group activity. Unlike Join Keywords, this always requires a linked group, since the point is for the submitter and the group to see the result together.
📸
Text a keyword, photo, and caption — any order
Send the keyword with a photo and caption all at once, or send them one at a time — RallyText asks for whatever's missing (photo, then caption, or vice versa) until it has both.
✅
Goes to Broadcast Approvals first
A completed submission lands in your Broadcast Approvals queue (see below) with the photo and caption attached. Approve it and it broadcasts to the linked group — the submitter is auto-added to that group if they weren't already in it.
🔢
Daily cap
Each keyword defaults to 5 approved submissions per day, to keep one enthusiastic member from flooding the group. Staff still get pinged to review every submission regardless of the cap.
Scheduling
Practice Calendar
RallyText includes a shared calendar that coaches manage from the dashboard and members can view from any device — no login required.
📅
Adding practices — Go to the Calendar section in your dashboard to add, edit, or remove practice events.
👀
Member access — Athletes, parents, and coaches can view the calendar at rallytext.app/calendar/TEAMCODE. They verify their identity with a one-time text code sent to their phone.
🔒
Outside subscribers — Members with the Outside / Subscriber role cannot view the calendar. Calendar access is limited to verified team members.
📥
Export — Download a .ics file from the calendar page to import the full schedule into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, or any calendar app.
Event RSVP — ask before the event, not just after
RSVP is different from Attendance: Attendance is a post-event PRESENT/ABSENT self-report, while RSVP is a pre-event, staff-initiated head count. Open an event card in the Calendar tab and click RSVP → Open RSVP for eligible recipients to text everyone a prompt asking them to reply YES, NO, or LATE. The tally updates live as replies come in, and anyone who hasn't answered shows as "missing" — click Remind to nudge only the people still missing, without re-texting everyone who already replied.
Add-on
File Attachments
Send PDFs, schedules, permission slips, menus, scripts, or images alongside a broadcast. Rally Text hosts the file and adds a short branded link to your message — recipients tap to open it in their phone's browser. No MMS required, so it works on every US carrier.
📄
Accepted file types — PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF, and WebP. Max size 25 MB per file. SVG is not accepted.
⬆️
How to upload — Go to Settings → Files to manage your uploads, or click the attach button in the Compose panel or the Messages tab to upload and attach in one step.
💾
Storage — Each team gets 1 GB of active storage. Archive or delete old files from the Files panel to free space.
📈
Analytics — Every time a recipient opens a hosted link, it's logged. You can see how many people actually opened the file you sent.
💲
How to enable — Nothing to enable. File Attachments is included on every RallyText plan, along with Absence Tracker, Calendar & Reminders, and Practice Summaries.
Safety & oversight
Broadcast Approvals
By default, any authorized staff member's broadcast goes out immediately. If you want a second set of eyes first, Settings → Broadcast Approvals lets you require review — for everyone, or only above a certain size or message type.
🎚️
Choose what needs approval — require it for every broadcast, or only once a message would reach more than a recipient count you set. You can also scope it to specific message types (e.g. urgent alerts, event reminders, cancellations) or audiences (everyone, families, staff, a specific group).
📥
Where approvals show up — the Pending Approvals tab lists everything waiting on review, including Photo Submissions (see Groups above). Each shows who sent it and gives you Approve & send or Reject — there's no edit, just approve as-is or turn it down. The person who submitted a broadcast can't approve their own. Pending items expire after 24 hours.
🚨
Emergency two-person rule — Urgent Alert broadcasts always require a second person's approval before sending, on top of whatever policy you've set. This one can't be turned off by team staff — only a RallyText platform admin can, for accounts that need a different setup.
Your account
Account Security & Referrals
These settings are per-user, not team-wide — each staff member manages their own security setup from Settings → Security.
🔐
Authenticator app (TOTP) — set up a QR code in your authenticator app of choice, confirm with a 6-digit code, and you're protected by two-factor login. Disabling it requires your password.
🔑
Passkeys — sign in with Face ID, Touch ID, or a hardware security key instead of typing a password. You can register more than one, and you can have both a passkey and TOTP enabled at the same time.
🎁
Refer a team, earn $10 — every team has its own referral link (rallytext.app/?ref=YOURCODE, using your own team code) shown on Settings → Subscription. When a team you referred makes their first paid payment, you both get a $10 account credit — automatically, no code to redeem.
For team managers
Fundraising & Donations
Fundraising campaigns collect gifts through your organization's connected Stripe account. This is separate from Scheduled Campaigns, which are multi-message communication sequences and do not collect payments.
You need manager access to the team dashboard and the organization information Stripe requests for identity, payment, and payout verification. RallyText does not independently verify nonprofit status or issue charitable tax acknowledgments.
1
Connect your Stripe account
Open Dashboard → Fundraising and select Connect or manage Stripe. Complete the Stripe Express onboarding flow. Return to RallyText when Stripe finishes; campaign creation remains unavailable until Stripe reports that charges are enabled.
2
Create the campaign
Enter a campaign name and, optionally, a dollar goal. Choose an uploaded team image as the cover if you want one. Turn on recurring gifts only when the campaign should offer weekly, every-two-weeks, monthly, every-other-month, or yearly giving. Select Create campaign.
3
Activate and review the donation page
A new campaign begins as a draft. Select Activate, open its donation link, and check the campaign name, goal, cover image, gift options, and disclosures before sharing it. Use Close when you need to stop new gifts; Reopen makes the same link active again.
4
Copy the link or send the ask
Select Copy link to use the stable RallyText URL in email, social posts, printed materials, or your website. To text it from RallyText, select Send ask, keep {{campaign_link}} in the message, and choose roster, donors, or both. Fundraising broadcasts follow normal consent and suppression rules but do not reduce monthly plan credits.
5
Track progress and follow up
The Fundraising panel shows the amount raised, goal progress, campaign status, and donation link. People who separately opt in to campaign texts are added to the system-managed Donors group. A donation by itself never opts someone into SMS updates.
What the donor experiences
The donor opens the campaign link, chooses a preset or custom amount, and selects one-time or recurring giving when recurring gifts are enabled. Covering fees is optional. SMS updates are a separate optional checkbox that starts unchecked. Stripe then collects payment details securely and returns the donor to a confirmation page.
RallyText charges a 1% platform fee in addition to Stripe processing. If the donor chooses fee cover, the charged amount is adjusted so the organization receives the intended gift amount after the assumed fees. Payout timing follows the connected Stripe account's settings.
Recurring donors can open the connected account's Stripe Customer Portal from their verified confirmation page to manage or cancel their gift. Refund requests should go to the organization receiving the donation; managers should handle approved refunds in the connected Stripe account rather than changing RallyText totals manually.
Fundraising troubleshooting
Connect button returns an error
Confirm fundraising is available for your team and retry Connect or manage Stripe. If Stripe onboarding was interrupted, return through the Fundraising panel so RallyText can create a fresh onboarding link.
Cannot create a campaign
Stripe onboarding must be complete and charges must be enabled. Open the Stripe management link and resolve any requested identity, business, or payout information.
Donation link is unavailable
Confirm the campaign is active rather than draft or closed, and that the connected Stripe account can still accept charges.
Send ask is blocked
The campaign must be active, the message must contain {{campaign_link}}, the audience must be roster, donors, or both, and the message must pass normal A2P content checks.
Donor wants to stop texts
They can reply STOP. A new donation or checkout consent does not override a prior STOP or block.
Donor wants a refund
The organization reviews the request and, if approved, processes it in its connected Stripe account. Do not direct the donor to RallyText subscription billing.
Settings
Notification Preferences
Staff members can choose how they want to receive absence alerts and practice summaries — by SMS, email, or both.
To view or change a staff member's preferences, open the Roster section in the dashboard and click on their card. Their notification settings are shown there and can be updated at any time. Each person controls their own preferred channel — some coaches prefer a summary email at the end of practice while others want an immediate SMS.
Carrier compliance
Messaging Guidelines
RallyText is registered with US mobile carriers on behalf of all teams on the platform. You don't need to register anything yourself or do any technical setup. We handle all of that so you can focus on coaching.
US carriers require apps to register before sending group SMS messages at scale — a process called A2P 10DLC. RallyText maintains this registration centrally for all teams, so your messages are delivered reliably without being flagged as spam.
Your team's messages go out under our registration. You don't need to do anything — just send your messages and they'll get through.
What our registration covers
Our carrier registration is specifically for team communication. These are the kinds of messages that are expected and covered:
✓
Practice reminders, schedule updates, and location changes
✓
Cancellations, weather delays, and emergency notices
✓
Race day logistics — meet times, staging areas, volunteer info
✓
Attendance confirmations and absence tracking
✓
Coach coordination and internal staff messages
✓
General team announcements — gear, volunteer sign-ups, event info
What to avoid
Our registration is for team information only. Sending the wrong kinds of messages can get messages filtered by carriers and affect deliverability for the whole platform. Please don't use Rally Text for:
✗
Promotions or marketing — selling products, merchandise, fundraisers framed as sales pitches
✗
Political or religious content — any content unrelated to team activity
✗
Urgent/alarming language — phrases like "Act now", "Limited time offer", "You've been selected"
✗
Links to unfamiliar domains — only link to your team's known sites or mapping apps
A good rule of thumb: if it's something you'd say at a team meeting or post on your team's board, it belongs here. If it's something you'd see in a marketing email, it doesn't.
Content moderation & safety
Every message — inbound and outbound, including scheduled/drip broadcasts and staff direct messages — is automatically screened for threats, harassment, discrimination, self-harm risk, scams/phishing, impersonation, and (for youth programs) Safe Sport boundary violations. If something's flagged, your team's staff and platform admins are alerted immediately, and the sender may be automatically blocked on the first flagged message pending review — there's no three-strike grace period, though a few narrow cases (self-harm flags, a per-team contact-sharing exemption, and outbound staff/broadcast scans) never auto-block, see below. Staff can review a flagged message and clear a wrongly-blocked sender from the Safety Incidents tab, or by replying UNBLOCK to the SMS alert. Message logs from flagged incidents are retained for security and compliance purposes, including to protect RallyText, your organization, and other teams on the platform.
A message that indicates the sender may be in crisis (self-harm or suicidal language) is never auto-blocked — cutting off their ability to text would remove their channel to you during a crisis, so that category always alerts staff but never suspends the sender. Repeat flags from the same sender on the same issue don't generate a fresh alert every time — once someone's blocked, or once staff has been alerted about a given issue within the last hour, further occurrences are still logged for the record but won't re-notify.
Teams that intentionally share member contact information (e.g. a shared team roster) can ask support to enable an exemption so that specific flag doesn't auto-block senders — and doesn't alert staff/admins either, since it's expected behavior for that team. It's still logged for the record, just silently. Everything else still gets full protection.
What happens when you send an Urgent Alert
Sending a broadcast as an Urgent Alert message type automatically creates a compliance record behind the scenes — a snapshot of who it went to and what it said, for legal/audit purposes. There's nothing to configure; it just happens, and it's separate from the emergency two-person approval requirement described under Broadcast Approvals above.
Questions about deliverability or your team's messages? Email us at [email protected].
What to expect
Example Messages
These are the actual messages Rally Text sends automatically. All messages start with your team code so recipients know exactly who they're from.
Joining the team
MTBWI: Hi Sarah! You've been added to Madison MTB on RallyText. You'll receive team updates for Emma. Reply YES to confirm your number and start receiving messages. Msg & data rates may apply. Msg frequency varies. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help. -RallyText
Reply YES to confirm. That's all it takes — one text and you're verified.
MTBWI: Hi Coach Rivera! You've been added to Madison MTB on RallyText. You'll receive practice reminders, schedule updates, and announcements. Reply YES to confirm your number and start receiving messages. Msg & data rates may apply. Msg frequency varies. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help. -RallyText
MTBWI: You're confirmed! You'll now receive messages from Madison MTB. Welcome to the team. Reply STOP at any time to opt out. -RallyText
MTBWI: Hi! You're signing up for Madison MTB updates. What's your name? Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. -RallyText
Followed by: "Thanks! Are you a parent/guardian, athlete, or just want to follow along? Reply PARENT, ATHLETE, or FOLLOW."
Practice reminders
MTBWI: Reminder that team practice is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7 at 4:00 PM at Greenbush Trail. Questions? Reply HELP. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. -RallyText
You can reply YES to confirm attendance or ABSENT if you can't make it.
MTBWI: Got it — you're marked absent for practice on May 7. Reply PRESENT 5/7 to undo. -RallyText
MTBWI: Practice on May 7 has been cancelled. Trail conditions after the rain — we'll reschedule. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. -RallyText
MTBWI: Weather delay for practice on May 7. New start time: 5:00 PM at Greenbush Trail. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. -RallyText
Race day
MTBWI: Race day — Northwoods Cup on May 17. Meet at the parking lot by 7:00 AM. Bring your race plate, helmet, and water. Reply STOP to opt out. -RallyText
Team broadcasts (sent by coaches from the dashboard)
MTBWI: Reminder to pick up your jerseys at practice Wednesday — we'll have all sizes. See you there! Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. -RallyText
MTBWI: Coach call — can everyone arrive 30 min early Wednesday? Need to walk the new technical section before riders arrive. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. -RallyText
Only sent to coaches, not athletes or parents.
Texts you can send to your team number
ALL Practice moved to north trailhead today due to muddy conditions
This sends immediately to every verified member. Other keywords: COACHES (staff only), FAMILY Smith (one family by last name).
SUMMARY Group A — 12 riders, worked on cornering technique on the lower loop. Great energy. 2 athletes need extra support on switchbacks.
Logs the note to the dashboard. Coaches are prompted automatically after each scheduled practice.
Required carrier keywords (always available)
You have successfully been unsubscribed. You will not receive any more messages from this number. Reply START to resubscribe.
This is a carrier-level requirement. Rally Text cannot override it. The person can rejoin by texting START.
Reply STOP to unsubscribe. Msg&Data Rates May Apply.
Common Questions
FAQ
Is Rally Text only for sports teams?
No — Rally Text now supports any group that needs to reach its people by SMS: sports teams, businesses (shift teams, restaurants, salons), clubs, theatre troupes and casts, non-profits, school classes, and churches. When you sign up you pick your org type — the dashboard, signup keywords, and broadcast templates adapt to match (e.g. "practice" becomes "shift" for a business or "rehearsal" for a troupe).
Can I attach a PDF or image to a broadcast?
Yes — File Attachments is included on every RallyText plan, no add-on needed. Upload PDFs (menus, permission slips, schedules, flyers, scripts) or images (JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP) up to 25 MB, and the dashboard hosts them and adds a short branded link to your broadcast. Recipients tap to open in their phone's browser — works on every US carrier without MMS. Upload from Dashboard → Settings → Files, or attach directly from the Compose panel or the Messages tab.
What's included in each plan?
Every RallyText plan — Team ($29/mo or $290/yr), Team Plus ($59/mo or $590/yr), and Organization ($119/mo or $1,190/yr) — includes the full feature set: Absence Tracker, Calendar & Reminders, Practice Summaries, File Attachments, and Group Thread. There are no separate add-ons to buy. Plans differ by monthly message credits and, for Organization, multi-team controls and priority support.
Is there a limit on how many messages I can send, or is it unlimited?
There's no hard cap — a truly unlimited, uncapped-cost plan isn't something any SMS provider can offer, since every message has a real cost behind it. But nothing in RallyText ever blocks a message from sending because you've hit a number. Your plan's monthly credits are used first, then any credit packs you've bought, then overage bills automatically at $0.04/credit at month end (with a heads-up email once you cross 80% usage). Whether you're at 50% or 150% of your plan, your messages keep sending exactly the same — you'd only notice a difference on the invoice.
Do athletes/parents need to download an app?
No app required. Rally Text works entirely through standard SMS. Contacts receive messages on any phone that can receive texts — no smartphone, no app, no account needed.
What's the difference between a shared and a dedicated number?
A shared number is one of our pooled local 10DLC numbers used across multiple teams (Wisconsin area codes today: 608, 414, 715, 920, 262 — expanding). Every outbound text starts with your team code so families know it's you, and we route incoming messages to the right team automatically. A dedicated number is a unique local number that belongs only to your team — included on all paid plans. Dedicated numbers improve recognizability so your contacts always see the same local number.
What if a parent or athlete replies STOP?
STOP is a carrier-required opt-out keyword and is handled automatically. The contact is immediately unsubscribed and won't receive any more messages. To re-subscribe, they text START to your team number. You can see opt-out status on each contact's card in your dashboard.
How do I get my athletes / parents onto the roster?
Two ways: (1) Add them one by one — click "Add Contact" in the Roster section, enter their name, phone, and role, and hit Invite. They get a one-tap verification text. (2) CSV import — prepare a spreadsheet with columns for Name, Phone, and optionally Email and Role, then use the "Import CSV" button. Either way, contacts must verify their number before they start receiving broadcasts.
An athlete didn't get the verification text. What do I do?
First, check that the phone number is correct in their contact record. Then open their card in the Roster section and click "Resend Invite" — verification links expire after 48 hours. If they still don't receive it, the number may be a landline or have carrier-level SMS blocking. Try an alternate number or email invite.
I sent a broadcast, but not everyone on the roster got it. Why?
The most common reason: a member hasn't been verified yet (see the previous question) — unverified members are silently skipped on every broadcast until they confirm their number, so they won't get messages even though they're on the roster. The second most common reason: they've replied STOP at some point and been opted out — that's honored automatically and permanently until they text START again. Check a member's card in the Roster section for their verification and opt-out status before assuming something's broken.
Can I message just part of my team?
Yes. Use Groups to organize your roster (e.g. "Varsity", "JV", "Guardians") and send targeted broadcasts to any group. Create groups in the Groups section of your dashboard — see
Groups & Auto-Join for setting up a keyword and auto-join so people can join a group by texting it directly.
Can multiple coaches send messages?
Yes. You can invite additional staff members with Head Coach, Assistant Coach, or Team Director roles. Each staff member accepts a staff invite, creates their own account, and can send broadcasts, view the roster, and log practice summaries.
What's the difference between "Head Coach", "Assistant Coach", "Team Director", and a generic "Coach" on the roster?
Head Coach, Assistant Coach, Team Director are the Safe Sport CC roles. They can send any broadcast keyword (ALL, COACHES, FAMILY, ONE COACH), receive athlete safe-reporting inbounds when an athlete texts the team number, and can be granted dashboard accounts via the staff-invite email flow.
Generic "Coach" is for volunteer assistants, parent helpers, secondary cat-coaches, etc. They receive ALL and COACHES broadcasts (so they stay informed) and get "[Staff copy]" CCs when a head coach messages an athlete — but they cannot initiate broadcasts to athletes, see athlete safe-reporting threads, or DM athletes directly. If a head coach sends a CC'd 1:1 to an athlete and the athlete replies, the reply routes to the head coach / assistant coach / team director only — never back to the generic coach. This preserves the team number as a confidential reporting channel for athletes.
Will my messages actually get delivered? What about spam filtering?
Rally Text is fully registered under the A2P 10DLC program with the carriers — every shared and dedicated number we use is on our registered campaign. This means carriers treat your messages as legitimate business-to-person traffic rather than spam. Delivery is reliable as long as messages follow our
messaging guidelines — keep content relevant to team activities and avoid marketing-style language.
How does the dashboard show me who replied to a message?
Every inbound message in the dashboard inbox carries a colored role badge (Athlete, Guardian, Coach, etc.) right next to the sender's name. The label adapts to your team's org type — a business sees "Employee", a theatre troupe sees "Cast", etc. When a coach replies, the outgoing SMS reads "DEMO: Head Coach Kyle Button: <message>…" so the family knows who responded.
Can my athletes text "I won't be there" instead of "ABSENT"?
Yes. Rally Text detects natural-language absences — "I'll be gone Thursday", "won't be there", "running late", "I'm out for the week", "missing tonight", and similar phrasings are all recognized. The athlete gets an automatic confirmation back ("Got it — you marked absent for Thursday's practice"), and the coach sees the absence on the dashboard. Included on every RallyText plan.
Can I see how many people clicked the links in my texts?
Yes — the Link Clicks tab in the dashboard shows every tracked outbound (map links from practice reminders, file attachments, and any other short link sent through Rally Text) with click counts, last-click time, and what type of content it was. Map link tracking and file analytics are included on every plan.
Can I bulk-set up groups for my team?
Yes. The Groups tab has an ↑ Import CSV button — download the template, fill in member_name and group_name columns (plus optional is_primary and color), and upload. Groups are created on the fly the first time a new name appears. Members are matched against your roster by full name or unique first name. Safe to re-run — duplicate (member, group) pairs are skipped.
How do practice reminders work?
Add your practice schedule in the Calendar section of your dashboard. Rally Text automatically sends a reminder text to your whole team 24 hours before each session. Contacts can reply YES or NO, and you'll see attendance responses in the dashboard. You set it up once — Rally Text handles it from there.
Can I import my league's race schedule?
Yes. In the Calendar section, use "Import CSV" to upload a season schedule. The file needs Event Name, Date, and optionally Location columns. Race events can trigger a pre-event reminder text to your team automatically.
How does billing work?
Rally Text uses Stripe for all payments. You can pay monthly, by 6-month season, or annually (season saves ~30%, annual saves ~40%). Your subscription renews automatically. To view invoices, update your payment method, or cancel, go to Dashboard → Settings → Subscription → Manage Subscription. That opens the Stripe Customer Portal where you control everything.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Rally Text includes a 3-day free trial — a card is collected at signup through Stripe, but you won't be charged until day 4. Cancel anytime from your dashboard before then. Questions? Email
[email protected].
Do you offer discounts for nonprofits or leagues?
Yes. Rally Text sponsors NICA leagues — league teams receive 10% off any plan, and league directors get a free Pro account. We're also happy to discuss pricing for other youth sports nonprofits. Reach out to
[email protected].
Is Rally Text COPPA / Safe Sport compliant?
Rally Text is designed with youth sports safety in mind. All communications go through the team's verified roster — only contacts who have opted in by verifying their phone number can receive messages. When a coach messages an individual minor, the system automatically copies a parent, guardian, or another adult participant (such as an assistant coach or team director) per
US Center for SafeSport guidelines. All broadcasts are logged. See our
Children's Privacy and
SMS Disclosures for details.
Can I request a feature?
Yes — we're a small team and we read every submission.
Submit a feature request and it goes straight onto our backlog for weekly review. We can't promise a timeline, but if it makes sense for the platform, we build it.
What if I have a question not covered here?
Email us at
[email protected] — we typically respond within a few hours on business days.
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