Who this is for: administrators and coaches who vet messages, and members whose messages need approval. Permission required: Approve Communications or Manage Communications to see Pending Review. Any member can request a message.
Message review lets your club control what is sent to members in the organization's name. Anyone can write a message on Communications → Send Message, but if the author is not allowed to send it directly, it is held in a review queue until someone with the right permission approves it.
This means you can let every member suggest a message — a carpool reminder, a social event, a fundraiser plea — without giving everyone the ability to email the whole club.
Which messages need review
A message skips review if its author has any of:
| Permission | Skips review when… |
|---|---|
| Manage Communications | Always. |
| Approve Communications | Always. |
| Send Communications to Allowed Groups | Every group selected on the message is one the author belongs to. |
Every other message is held for review. For how to give someone these permissions, see Roles & permissions.
What the requester sees
- After clicking Schedule / Send Message, the requester sees Insufficient Permissions: "Not to worry, we will ask for approval from an authorized user to send this message for you."
- On Communications → My Messages → Scheduled Messages, the Approval column shows Pending.
- Once approved, it shows Approved, and the message sends at its scheduled time (or straight away if that time has passed).
Until it is approved, the requester can still Edit the message or delete it with X. See Sending email & text.
Review a pending message
When a message needs review, reviewers receive a Boathouse Connect notification — New Message Requires Approval — with a View Pending Messages link.
- Go to Communications → Pending Review.
- The Pending Review table lists every message waiting for approval, with its Send Date (Now if the scheduled time has already passed) and Sender.
- Click View in the Message column to read it. The Modify Message window lets you correct the send time, subject or body; click Save & Close to keep your changes.
- Click Recipients to see the groups, the stakeholders and every individual the message will go to. You can change the selected groups here.
- Click Approve to let the message send, or Decline to stop it.
Warning: Changing which groups receive a message can change whether it needs approval. Make recipient changes last, so that you still have authority to approve it.
Setting up reviewers
- Decide who should vet messages — often coaches or a communications officer.
- In Groups → Permissions, give their group Approve Communications.
- Check the result on the Authorized Users tab of Communications → Settings, which lists the groups and people holding each communications permission.
The description of Approve Communications is "Only allowed in groups you are a member of", so put reviewers in the groups whose messages they should look after.
FAQ
Why didn't my message go out? Open My Messages → Scheduled Messages. If Approval says Pending, it is waiting for a reviewer. Ask someone with Approve Communications to look at Pending Review.
Can a reviewer edit my message? Yes. Reviewers can change the text, subject, send time and recipient groups before approving.
I have "Send Communications to Allowed Groups" but my message still needed approval. At least one selected group is not one you belong to. Remove that group, or ask a reviewer to approve it.
Is the sender told when a message is declined? A declined message is not sent. Check My Messages for its status, or ask the reviewer.
Who should have Approve Communications? Keep it to a small, trusted group. Anyone with it can also send to any group without review.