How to Send a Ballot Announcement

Follow these simple steps to send out a ballot announcement via Ballot Bliss.

Note:
Ensure you've already created your ballot before proceeding.

1. Navigate to Communications:

From your Ballot Bliss Dashboard, click on “Communications” in the top-left menu bar and select “Send Announcement” from the dropdown.

2. Choose Message Type:

On the Send Announcement page, under Message Type, select “Ballot Invite.

3. Select a Ballot

Click “Select a Ballot” to view and choose from your previously created ballots.

If you do not see the ballot in the drop down it is most likely due to the ballot not being active. To learn how to activate your ballot click here.

4. Define Your Audience

In the Send To section, choose your recipients:

1. All of Community: Sends the ballot to everyone in your community.

2. Specific Location: Limits the announcement to a designated location within your community. When you select this option, a dropdown is revealed to enable you select the specific location you want in your community.

3. Distribution Groups: You can choose which locations the ballot notification should be sent to. You can select multiple groups here.

4. Eligible Voters That Have Not Voted Yet: Sends reminders to those who haven’t participated yet; ideal for boosting voter turnout.

The Include section

Lets you specify occupant types (e.g., Board Member, Owner, Tenant, Manager) who are eligible to vote based on the user permissions in your Ballot Settings.

5. Compose Your Message:

In the Message Content section, you can:

Select a Template: Choose a pre-designed announcement template.
Send Using: Pick a delivery method: email, or physical mail. (Recipients must have opted in to receive communication via your selected method.)
Subject: Enter a custom subject line for the email.
Email Message: Write your message body. Personalized link and access codes will automatically be added bellow the email message. Use “Send Yourself a Test Mail” to preview.

6. Sending Preferences:

Decide when and how to send:

Now: Send the announcement immediately.
Scheduled Time: this option is disabled for Ballot Announcements, but can work with regular announcements if you have that feature enabled.
Show a Preview of Recipients: Preview recipients before sending. The final button will say “Preview and Send.” When you click on Preview and Send as an admin, you’ll see more options such as who will and will not receive an announcement, the occupant type of the recipients, etc.

3. Send Without a Preview: Sends the announcement directly. Click “Send.”

4. Save Draft: Not ready yet? Save your announcement to finish later. Note that Drafts are saved in the your browser and will automatically populate the page when next you visit the send announcement page. If you try it in a different browser later it would not be there.

7. Save Your Message as a Template

Click “Save as a New Template” to reuse your subject and message in the future.

Example of a Ballot Announcement