VIP Notifications are one of the biggest drivers of growth, but only if every event actually sends them at the right times. In Growth Reports, Admins can set the rules once, and every event in the community follows them.
Who can do this: users with the Admin role.
Who Controls What
| Role | Where | What they control |
|---|---|---|
| Admin | Growth Reports > Plan > VIP Notifications | How many sends each event must keep (Required Sends Per Event) |
| Admin | Growth Reports > Execution > VIP Notifications | The email template, the default send days, and which of those days are required |
Step 1: Open the VIP Notification Settings
- Go to Growth Reports in the left menu and select your community if you have multiple.
- Click Execution. The Grow Your Events window opens.
- The VIP Notifications row shows a quick status.
- Click the VIP Notifications row to expand it.
Step 2: Set the Required Sends Per Event
- At the bottom of the expanded VIP Notifications section, find X required per event per your activation plan and click Edit. Your Activation Plan opens.
- Click the arrow next to VIP Notifications to expand it. If VIP Notifications isn’t in your plan yet, click + Add next to it first.
- Use the Required Sends Per Event slider to choose how many sends every event must keep, from Off to 8. Your team can adjust each event’s schedule, but can’t go below this number.
- Click Save Plan, then choose Save for New Events or Save for New & Existing Events (see Step 5). Back in Execution, the status changes to match, for example 4 required · 8 scheduled.
If you set fewer than 4 required sends, you’ll see a warning:
- Off: “No sends are required. We strongly recommend requiring at least 4 sends per event for best performance.” This also shows in Execution.
- 1 to 3: “We recommend requiring at least 4 sends per event for best performance.”
Step 3: Set the Default Email Schedule
Under Default Email Schedule, set when emails go out and which sends are required. New events get this schedule automatically.
| Send is... | At the event level |
|---|---|
| Required | Must stay in the schedule for All Groups, or for groups covering more than 50% of participants. Otherwise the schedule won't save |
| Not required | Event Owners can move or delete it without any error |
- For each send, enter the number of days before the event. The default is 90, 75, 60, 45, 30, 15, 7, and 1.
- Check Required for the sends every event must keep. The number of required sends matches the Required Sends Per Event set in your Plan (Step 2). For example, with Required Sends Per Event at 4, you might mark 30, 15, 7, and 1 day before as required.
- Click + Add another send to add a date, or X to remove one.
PRO TIP: Mark sends close to the event as required, for example 15, 7, and 1 day before. This stops events from sending only early in the campaign and nothing in the final weeks, when sharing tends to perform best.
Step 4: Choose the Email Template
Under Email Template, choose the format for your events' VIP Notifications. This setting overrides the template chosen in each event's Manage Emails:
- HTML: branded design with the full post preview.
- Plain-text: looks like a personal email and gives the best deliverability.
Step 5: Save and Apply
- Click Save at the bottom of the window.
- In the Save Changes window, choose how to apply your changes:
- Save for New Events: only events created from now on use the new settings.
- Save for New & Existing Events: events that already exist are updated too.
This window appears every time you save a change to your VIP Notification settings.
IMPORTANT: With Save for New Events, existing events keep their current schedule, requirements, and template. Choose Save for New & Existing Events to update already created events too.
How Requirements Work at the Event Level
- Each unique calendar date counts as one send, no matter how many groups receive an email that day.
- Event Owners can add as many extra sends as they like. Requirements are a minimum.
- If an Event Owner removes a required date, the schedule won't save. They'll see: "These required dates aren't scheduled for the majority of your participants: [dates]. Add them to All Groups, or to groups that make up more than 50% of participants." (see Troubleshooting VIP Notifications).
- Sends that aren't marked Required can be removed at the event level without an error.
- Reset to Default in an event's schedule restores the default schedule set here.
- Use Events Needing Execution in the same window to find active events that aren't fully executing your plan.
Turning VIP Notification Requirements Off
To remove requirements only, set Required Sends Per Event to Off and save. Event Owners can then delete any send date without an error. Existing send dates stay in place and will still send.
To turn VIP Notifications off completely:
- In Growth Reports > Execution > VIP Notifications, set Required Sends Per Event to Off.
- Under Default Email Schedule, click X next to every send to remove it.
- Click Save, then choose Save for New Events or Save for New & Existing Events.
- For events that already have send dates, open each event's Manage Emails > Schedule and delete the upcoming dates, or turn off the VIPShare Emails toggle for its groups.
IMPORTANT: Turning VIP Notifications off doesn't stop emails that are already scheduled in an event. Check each live event's schedule (step 4).
VIP Notifications stay listed in your Activation Plan. If you'd like to discuss removing them from your plan, contact your InGo Account Manager.
Parent and Child Communities
Each community has its own VIP Notification settings: email template, Default Email Schedule and required sends. Settings saved on a parent community apply to events in the parent community only. They aren’t copied to its child communities or their events, including when you choose Save for New & Existing Events.
- To set up VIP Notifications for a child community, select that community in Growth Reports and follow Steps 1 to 5.
- A child community’s settings can be changed by that community’s Admin at any time.
- In the parent’s Activation Plan, click + Add everywhere next to VIP Notifications to add it to every community’s plan. Once all communities have it, the button shows Planned everywhere. This adds VIP Notifications to the plan only; it doesn’t set each community’s required sends or schedule.
- The parent community shows combined results from all its communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
We planned VIP Notifications, but some events aren't sending any. Why?
Planning alone doesn't enforce sends. Set Required Sends Per Event above Off so every event has to keep a minimum schedule.
An event sent all its emails early and nothing near the event. How do we prevent this?
Mark later sends, such as 15, 7, and 1 day before, as Required in the Default Email Schedule.
Can we turn VIP Notifications off completely?
Yes. Set Required Sends Per Event to Off, remove all sends from the Default Email Schedule, and save. Then delete upcoming dates in any events that already have a schedule. See Turning VIP Notifications Off.
We turned off required sends, but emails are still going out. Why?
Turning requirements off doesn't remove dates that are already scheduled. Delete the upcoming dates in each event's Manage Emails > Schedule, or turn off the VIPShare Emails toggle for the groups.
Can an event send more than the required number?
Yes. The requirement is a minimum.
I changed the default days, but an existing event didn't update.
Your change was probably saved with Save for New Events. Save again and choose Save for New & Existing Events.
Our Event Owner can't save their schedule. What do we do?
They removed a required date. Either they add it back, or you uncheck Required for that send here and choose Save for New & Existing Events.
We set VIP Notifications on our parent community. Why aren’t our child communities following it?
Settings on a parent community apply only to events in the parent itself. Select each child community in Growth Reports and set its VIP Notifications there. See Parent and Child Communities.