In the Messenger tool, Followers are those that can receive messages sent using Messenger.

Messenger is designed to take advantage of other areas on the Bound platform where contact info is already being entered and organized. When entered in these different areas, they are automatically organized into one of 5 Follower categories for use in Messenger. Additionally, you are able to add/import contact info directly to a team if you're not using certain features like Bound's Activity Registration tool.

Followers Categories

Quick Links
​Students

Parents / Guardians

Coaches

Staff

Team Followers

In Bound, contact info can be tied to a student themselves. That means every time they are registered for an activity, or are added to a roster, their contact info is automatically added to that team's Messenger list and organized as a Student. Contact info can be tied to a student a couple ways.

Added by Activity Registration

If your school is using Bound's Activity Registration tool, student contact info is entered by the student or parent / guardian during the Activity Registration process. This contact info lives on the Followers page within their Family account, and can be managed by both the family and school staff (with the appropriate permissions). Contact info can also be manually entered on this page.

Now anytime that student is registered for an activity, and/or added to a roster, their contact info is automatically added to Messenger and ready for use by that coach without the coach needing to do anything.

Added by Coaches

Coaches have the ability to tie contact info to a Student from within their Program in Bound.

1. Once a student is added to the Program or Roster, go to the Messenger page at either the Program level or Team level.

2. Click "Followers", and then click "Add Follower" next to that students name

3. Enter their First and Last Name, Email, and Phone (optional), choose Student, and then click Save.

In Bound, Parent / Guardian contact info can be tied to a student themselves. That means every time a student is registered for an activity, or are added to a roster, their parent / guardian contact info is automatically added to that team's Messenger list and organized as a Parent / Guardian. Parent / Guardian contact info can be tied to a student a couple ways.

Added by Activity Registration

If your school is using Bound's Activity Registration tool, parent / guardian contact info is entered by a parent / guardian during the Activity Registration process. This contact info lives on the Followers page within their Family account, and can be managed by both the family and school staff (with the appropriate permissions). Contact info can also be manually entered on this page.

Now anytime that student is registered for an activity, and/or added to a roster, their Parent / Guardian contact info is automatically added to Messenger and ready for use by that coach without the coach needing to do anything.

Added by Coaches

Coaches have the ability to tie Parent / Guardian contact info to a Student from within their Program in Bound.

1. Once a student is added to the Program or Roster, go to the Messenger page at either the Program level or Team level.

2. Click "Followers", and then click "Add Follower" next to that students name

3. Enter their First and Last Name, Email, and Phone (optional), choose Parent, and then click Save.

In Bound, there is a specific process for entering Head / Assistant Coaches and assigning them to the team they coach. When a coach is assigned to a team, they are automatically added to the Coaches list in Messenger for that team.

These pages walk through how to add coaches and enter them:

Adding a Coach to Your Coach List

Assigning Coaches to Their Sports

For each team in Bound, there is a page for entering team staff members. This allows team staff to show on the team's public pages as well as printable programs. This process is now also allows you to enter contact info for staff members that automatically adds them to the Staff list in Messenger.

How to Add Team Staff

1. Within a specific team, click the "Staff" tab

2. Click "Manage Staff" in the top right corner, and then click "Add Staff"

3. Select the staff Position, enter First Name, Last Name, Email, and Phone (optional), and then click Save. If your staff member happens to also be a student, use the "Search for Student" option at the top of that page to tie that student to that position (this helps with things like end of season student awards).

4. You can also add contact info to existing staff by clicking the edit button next to their name on the main Staff page.

Unlike Students, Parents / Guardians, Coaches, and Staff, Team Followers allows you to add recipients manually to that team for that season. This is great for people that don't fall into these other categories, or if you're not using the Bound Activity Registration tool but still want to use Messenger. Below walks through entering a Team Follower, and Importing Team Followers.

Adding a Team Follower

1. Within a specific team, click the "Messenger" tab

2. Click "Followers"

3. Click "Manage Followers" in the top right corner, and then click "Add Team Follower"

4. Enter First Name, Last Name, Email, and Phone (optional), then click "Save"

Importing Team Followers from Spreadsheet

1. Within a specific team, click the "Messenger" tab

2. Click "Followers"

3. Click "Manage Followers" in the top right corner, and then click "Import Team Followers"

4. On your spreadsheet, organize your columns to be First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, and don't include those as headers. Once ready, export as a .csv or .txt file.

5. Back in Bound, click the "Choose Import File" button, and select your .csv or .txt file.

6. The imported Team Followers should now show under "Team Followers" on the "Followers" page. If you're have having trouble importing, reach out to our support team using the chat in the bottom right corner of the page in Bound.