When you have big news for your members, you want to shout it from the rooftops. Take it from us, Meetup messages, group communication, and contact tools are going to be much more effective (and safer).
As an organizer, you have several options for getting in touch with your members. You can message members individually, in small groups, or all at once.
Watch our Community Support specialists walk you through your communication tools:
For more details about each communication tool, see the written instructions below.
Contact Members
The Contact Members tool allows you to send a message to all members who have chosen to receive organizer announcements. You can also use this to send messages to specific subsets of members (based on recent activity or RSVP status, for example).
You can access this tool by following these steps on a desktop or laptop computer:
- From your group’s homepage, select Manage group.
- Select Contact members from the dropdown menu.
The Contact Members tool will not display your email address when contacting members, unless your group mailing list is enabled.
Contact Attendees
Need to contact attendees of an upcoming or past event? Follow these steps to send a message to only the attendees of a specific event.
- Select the event from your group homepage.
- Select the Organizer tools drop down menu.
- Click on Contact attendees.
Group Mailing List
Every group has its own unique mailing list, to which members can subscribe or unsubscribe. When you send a message to the mailing list, Meetup will notify all members subscribed to the mailing list.
You can send these emails from the Meetup platform or directly from your email client. Just make sure to use the email address associated with your Meetup account, so our system knows it’s you. Also keep in mind that when you send something to the mailing list, your email address will be displayed to the recipients. The same goes for any members who reply to the message.
When a new member joins your group, they’ll receive mailing list updates by default. They can always choose to unsubscribe.
Learn more about mailing lists and how to use them to keep your members up to date.
Meetup Messages
You can reach out to members privately or in small groups using Meetup Messages. These messages are sent directly to the recipients’ Meetup inbox, and only the members included in the conversation are able to view them.
Welcome Message
When a new member joins your group, we’ll send them a welcome message, which you can set up to say whatever you like. This is often the first piece of communication they’ll see from you, so make it count.
This article explains why it’s so important to customize your welcome message and how to do it.
- From your group’s homepage, select Manage group.
- Choose Edit group settings.
- From the group settings page, choose Your Members.
- Scroll down to "Welcome message to new members" and enter your message.
- Click Save to confirm your changes.
Discussions
Group discussions are a quick and easy way to get conversations going that all your members can access. The 140-character limit on posts and comments keep things from getting too crazy, while still allowing everyone a place to speak their mind.
Learn all the details you need to manage your group’s discussions.
Send Attachments to Members
If you need to share an attachment with your members - an informative welcome pamphlet or a map of the venue for an upcoming event - use your organizer announcement address or your mailing list address to send the attachment directly from your email client.
To find these addresses:
- From your group’s homepage, select Manage group.
- Select Edit group settings from the drop-down menu.
- Scroll down to Optional features.
- Copy the appropriate address.
- Paste it into your email client, compose your message, and send it.
Message format
To ensure a consistent experience for members, messages sent by email include a subtle gray border and a Meetup logo at the top.
While organizers do have the option of using HTML in their communications to members, for the best results on all devices, we recommend keeping it simple, and ideally text only. Images should be a maximum of 360 pixels wide.
Tips for a successful communications strategy
Maintaining a regular and robust plan for contacting your members is crucial to securing RSVPs and new members. Our Community Matters blog can walk you through some principles for devising a communications plan. You can also connect with top organizers who've used Meetup to build thriving communities! Join the Meetup Organizer Community on Discord and learn more about keeping in touch with your members.