Messaging one person – or many - on Be Collective

This article shows how to tell whether a Be Collective message was sent to only you or to a group, and how to open Messenger.

Messaging lets volunteers and managers contact each other without leaving Be Collective. It does not replace phone or text for urgent coordination, but it is useful for questions and shift planning.

For how to send messages to different audiences, see How do I send messages in Be Collective?

Open Messenger

1. Click the conversation bubbles (Messages) in the top right of the screen
2. Review conversations in the list on the left, or start a New conversation

When you receive a new message, you also get an email notification that opens the inbox. You can manage email notifications in Settings — see How do I manage my email notifications as a group manager? or the volunteer notifications article if you are not a manager.

One person vs many

• Group message: the word Group appears at the top of the message window (with multiple avatar icons). Multiple avatars also appear in the conversation list.
• Direct message (only you): there is no Group label, and you see only one avatar.

Before you send, check you are messaging one person or many — messaging on Be Collective does not reveal email addresses, but a mistaken group send can still reach the wrong audience.

Stop others from finding your profile

1. Open My dashboard, then Settings

2. Open the Privacy tab

3. Turn Profile is searchable off