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SMS Messaging

Fund Flow's SMS feature lets you reach investors directly on their mobile phones using a dedicated business phone number. All messaging runs through Twilio and requires A2P 10DLC registration to comply with US carrier regulations.

Pricing

PlanSMS AvailabilityCost
StarterNot available
StandardAvailable$15/mo for phone number + $10/mo messaging fee
ProfessionalIncludedOne free dedicated number; messaging fee included

Note

Message-per-segment costs (carrier fees) are passed through at Twilio's standard rates, typically $0.0075 per SMS segment in the US.


A2P 10DLC Registration

Before sending any SMS, your business must register under the A2P 10DLC (Application-to-Person, 10-Digit Long Code) framework mandated by US carriers. Unregistered messages are filtered or blocked.

What Is A2P 10DLC?

A2P 10DLC is a system that ties business SMS traffic to a verified brand and declared use case, reducing spam and giving carriers confidence that messages come from legitimate organizations.

Registration Steps

  1. Go to Settings > Integrations > Twilio.
  2. Click Start SMS Setup.

Brand Registration

Provide your business identity to The Campaign Registry (TCR):

  • Legal business name (as registered with IRS)
  • Employer Identification Number (EIN)
  • Business website URL
  • Business type (LLC, Corporation, Sole Proprietor, etc.)
  • Business address

Brand registration is typically approved within minutes for established businesses with a valid EIN.

Campaign Registration

Describe how you will use SMS:

  • Use Case: Select "Marketing" or "Mixed" for investor communications.
  • Message Description: Write a plain-language summary (e.g., "We send deal announcements, investor update notifications, and follow-up messages to accredited investors who have opted in to receive communications from our fund.").
  • Sample Messages: Provide 2–3 example messages.
  • Opt-In/Opt-Out Language: Confirm your messages include opt-out instructions (Fund Flow adds Reply STOP to unsubscribe automatically).

Campaign review by TCR takes 1–5 business days. Do not attempt to send SMS before your campaign is approved — unregistered messages will be filtered by carriers and your number may be flagged.

Phone Number Provisioning

Once your campaign is approved:

  1. Return to Settings > Integrations > Twilio.
  2. Click Provision Phone Number.
  3. Fund Flow claims a local long-code number from the available pool. The number is displayed in your integration settings.

Your dedicated number is now active and ready to send and receive messages.


Sending an Individual SMS

  1. Open a Contact record.
  2. Click the SMS tab in the contact navigation.
  3. Click + New Message.
  4. Type your message (up to 160 characters per segment).
  5. Click Send.

Replies from the contact appear in the same thread under the SMS tab. You receive an in-app notification when a reply arrives.


SMS Templates

Save frequently used messages as templates to send consistently formatted texts quickly.

Creating a Template

  1. Go to Settings > SMS Templates.
  2. Click + New Template.
  3. Enter a Template Name (internal label) and the Message Body.
  4. Insert personalization tokens as needed.
  5. Click Save Template.

Using a Template

In the SMS composer, click the Templates icon and select a saved template. The body populates automatically and can be edited before sending.


Personalization Tokens

Use the same token syntax as email to personalize SMS messages.

TokenResolves To
\{\{first_name\}\}Contact's first name
\{\{last_name\}\}Contact's last name
\{\{deal_name\}\}Name of the associated deal
\{\{deal_close_date\}\}Deal closing date
\{\{organization_name\}\}Your organization's name

Tip

Keep SMS messages short and human. Tokens plus deal name often push messages over 160 characters. Preview character count in the composer — the counter turns yellow at 140 and red at 160.


Character Limits and Segments

A single SMS segment is 160 characters using GSM-7 encoding (standard English characters). If your message exceeds 160 characters or contains Unicode/emoji, it splits into multiple segments:

Message LengthSegments SentApprox. Cost
1–160 chars1$0.0075
161–306 chars2$0.015
307–459 chars3$0.0225

Emoji consume 2 characters each under Unicode encoding and reduce the single-segment limit to 70 characters. Avoid emoji in SMS templates for cost efficiency.


Bulk SMS to Contacts

Send a message to multiple contacts at once (available on Standard and Professional plans).

From a Segment

  1. Navigate to CRM > Segments and open your target segment.
  2. Click Send SMS to Segment.
  3. Compose or select a template.
  4. Click Send to [N] Contacts.

From the Contacts List

  1. Go to CRM > Contacts and filter to your desired group.
  2. Select all filtered contacts using the header checkbox.
  3. Click Bulk Actions > Send SMS.
  4. Compose your message and send.

Bulk SMS should only be sent to contacts who have explicitly opted in to receive text messages from your organization. Sending to non-consenting contacts violates TCPA regulations and can result in carrier filtering or legal liability.


SMS in Automations

Add SMS steps to any automation workflow to deliver time-sensitive notifications without manual effort.

  1. In the workflow builder, click + to add a step.
  2. Select Send SMS.
  3. Write your message and insert personalization tokens.
  4. Connect the step to a Wait or Condition as needed.

Example: After a "Deal Stage Changed to Soft Commit" trigger, wait 1 day, then send: "Hi {{first_name}}, we sent over the subscription docs — let us know if you have any questions!"

See Automations for a full walkthrough of the workflow builder.


Opt-Out Handling

Fund Flow automatically appends Reply STOP to unsubscribe to the first message sent to each contact. If a contact replies STOP:

  • They are immediately suppressed from all future bulk SMS sends and automations.
  • Their contact record is flagged with SMS Opt-Out status.
  • You can still send individual messages manually, but doing so is strongly discouraged and may violate carrier policies.

Contacts can re-opt-in by texting START to your number. Their opt-out flag is cleared automatically.


Frequently Asked Questions

Can investors reply to my SMS messages? Yes. Replies from contacts are delivered to the SMS tab of their contact record in real time. You receive an in-app notification for each incoming reply.

What if my A2P 10DLC campaign gets rejected? TCR will provide a rejection reason. Common causes include vague use-case descriptions, missing opt-in language, or business information mismatches. Update the submission with the requested information and resubmit.

Can I use a toll-free number instead? Not at this time. Fund Flow provisions standard 10-digit long codes only.

Is there a daily sending limit for bulk SMS? Carrier throughput limits apply to long-code numbers. Fund Flow queues bulk sends and delivers at a rate that stays within carrier thresholds automatically. Large batches may take up to 30 minutes to complete delivery.

How do I know which contacts have a mobile number on file? In CRM > Contacts, use the filter Has Mobile Number: Yes to see only contacts eligible to receive SMS.