How to Send Newsletters and Announcements to Your Co-op

Overview

CooplyHQ's Bulk Email tool lets you send newsletters and announcements to every family in your co-op (or a specific group) in just a few steps. You can write a custom message or use a saved template, add an optional SMS notification, preview the email before it goes out, and send immediately or schedule for a future date and time.

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Step 1: Open the Bulk Email Tool

1. Sign in to your co-op admin panel.
2. In the left sidebar, click Communications.
3. On the Email Templates page, click Send Bulk Email in the upper-right corner.

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Step 2: Choose Your Recipients

Under Recipients, select who should receive the email:

Option	Who receives it
All families (all guardians)	Every guardian in your co-op
Active members only	Families with an active membership period
Users with specific role	Admins, staff, guardians, or members only
Individual families	Specific households you pick from a list

The Summary panel on the right updates instantly to show how many recipients match your selection.

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Step 3: Write Your Message

Under Email Content, choose how to compose your email:

Option A — Use a saved template

1. Select Use template.
2. Choose a template from the drop-down. A subject and body preview appear automatically.

Option B — Write a custom message

1. Select Custom message.
2. Enter a Subject.
3. Write the email body using Markdown.

You can personalize any message with these placeholders — CooplyHQ replaces them with real values for each recipient:

• {{name}} — recipient's name
• {{email}} — recipient's email address
• {{tenant_name}} — your co-op's name

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Step 4: Preview and Test

Before sending, verify the email looks right:

• Click Preview Email to see a rendered preview of the message, with placeholders filled in as an example.
• Click Send Test to Me to receive the email at your own address and check formatting in a real inbox.

Both buttons are in the sidebar on the right side of the page.

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Step 5: Choose When to Send (and Add SMS)

Under Schedule, pick a delivery time:

• Send immediately — the email goes out as soon as you confirm.
• Schedule for later — choose a future date and time. CooplyHQ queues the email and sends it automatically at the scheduled time.

Below the timing options, you can also check Also send SMS to opted-in members. When checked, recipients with a verified phone number and SMS notifications enabled will receive an SMS containing the email subject in addition to the email itself. SMS messages are limited to 320 characters — if your subject line is longer, CooplyHQ automatically truncates it to fit.

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Step 6: Confirm and Send

1. Review the Summary panel — confirm the recipient count, content, and timing.
2. Click Send to [N] recipients (or Schedule Email if you picked a future time).
3. A confirmation dialog appears, warning that the action can't be undone. If you checked the SMS option, the dialog also notes that an SMS will be dispatched to opted-in recipients. Review the details and click Send Email (or Schedule Email) to confirm.

Once sent (or scheduled), a green success message confirms the action. You can click View History to see delivery status.

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Step 7: View Send History and Status

To review past campaigns:

1. Click View History from the Bulk Email page, or navigate to Communications → View History.
2. Use the status tabs to filter campaigns: Completed, Scheduled, Sending, or Failed.
3. Each row shows the subject, number of recipients, delivery rate, open rate, status, and sent time. Open and delivery percentages are still stabilizing — treat them as directional, not exact, for now.
4. To cancel a scheduled email before it sends, find it on the Scheduled tab and click Cancel Send in the Actions column.

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Deliverability Tips

• Some inboxes — especially corporate or school-district email — apply spam filters that can delay or block newsletters. If a family reports they never received an email, ask them to check spam/junk before assuming it wasn't sent.
• For anything time-critical (an event starting today, a last-minute cancellation), follow up in another channel — text, phone, or your co-op's group chat — rather than relying on email delivery timing alone.
• Bulk Email is built for one-to-many announcements, not one-on-one conversations. For a reply from a single family, use direct email or a phone call instead.

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Common Questions

Can I export my recipient list to send from Gmail or another email client instead? Bulk Email doesn't export a mailing list for use elsewhere. Sending through the tool keeps your placeholders, delivery status, and campaign history all in one place, so we recommend using it directly rather than working around it.

Can I set up a recurring send, like a weekly newsletter? Not yet — each campaign is a one-time send, either immediate or scheduled for a specific date and time. For a recurring newsletter, save a template and schedule (or send) it manually each time. Recurring sends may come in a future update.

Why isn't a member receiving my emails? Check that the family's email address on file is correct, that they haven't opted out of communications, and that their membership status matches the audience you selected (for example, "Active members only" excludes lapsed memberships). Also ask them to check spam/junk.

Can I attach files to a bulk email? Not currently — Bulk Email supports formatted text (Markdown) in the body, but not file attachments. Link to a hosted document (such as a Google Drive or Dropbox link) in your message instead.

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Next Steps

You're ready to keep your families informed. Send your first newsletter today — share an upcoming event, a co-op update, or a welcome message for new members.

Want to save time on future emails? Set up a reusable template under Communications → Create Template so you can send consistent, on-brand messages with one click.