Communications

MySummitKeep does not have a single “compose” box. Instead it gives you a few purpose-built tools so the right message reaches the right people. This page walks through each one and helps you pick the best fit.

Which tool should I use?

• Announcement — a posted notice everyone in the unit can see (e.g. “Bring rain gear Tuesday”). No reply thread, but you can set a priority and pin it.
• Channel — a live, group chat room (like a team chat). Best for ongoing back-and-forth: a patrol, an event crew, or the leaders.
• Group message — a one-time broadcast to a defined group (all scouts, a single patrol, committee members) that lands in each person’s Inbox, with read receipts.
• Direct message — a private one-to-one note to a specific person.

Note

Parents and Scouts can read announcements and use channels and direct messages. Sending a group message is a leader/admin action. Where a feature is leader-only, it is noted below.

Announcements

Open Announcements from the sidebar (/announcements). The page lists every notice for your unit. Each card shows the title, body, author, when it was posted, a colored priority badge (Low, Normal, High, Urgent), a pin marker if it is pinned to the top of the dashboard, and an Expires date if one was set. Use the Active / Expired / All filter pills to narrow the list.

Leaders and admins see a New Announcement button. The form is short and deliberate:

1. Title and Body (both required).
2. Priority — Low, Normal, High, or Urgent. High and Urgent get a warning icon so they stand out.
3. Pin to top of dashboard — keeps an important notice front and center.
4. Expiration Date (optional) — after this date the announcement drops out of the Active list automatically.

From the list, leaders can also pin/unpin, edit, or delete any announcement using the icons on each card.

Caution

Announcements are a unit-wide broadcast. There is no audience picker to limit a notice to one patrol, den, or adults-only — everyone in the unit sees every announcement. To reach a specific group, use Group messaging or a Channel instead. Announcements also do not support scheduled send, saved templates, or open/click tracking.

Channels

Channels (/channels) are real-time chat rooms. The left sidebar lists your channels grouped by type — General, Announcement, Patrol, Event, and Leaders — and selecting one opens its message thread on the right. Messages arrive live (no refresh needed), unread channels show a red count, and you can create a new channel with the + button. If your unit has no channels yet, a default set is created for you the first time you open the page.

Each message has a report action (hover a message) so anyone can flag content for a leader to review. Archived channels drop off this list without losing their message history, so an old event channel stays out of the way after the trip while its conversation is preserved.

Youth Protection is enforced here

This is where MySummitKeep actively enforces BSA Two-Deep Leadership and Safeguarding Youth Training (SYT). If a channel contains youth but has fewer than two SYT-current adults as members, the channel shows an amber violation warning — both as an icon next to the channel name and as a banner in the channel header.

When the requirement is not met, messaging in that channel is disabled until a second SYT-current adult is added — the message box is locked and explains exactly why. (Parents and guardians can still message their own children directly.)

Tip

The fix is usually quick: add a second leader who has current Safeguarding Youth Training to the channel, and messaging unlocks automatically. See Youth Protection & Training for how training currency is tracked.

Group messaging

Send Group Message lives at /communications/group and is available to adult leaders, committee members, and unit admins. It is the right tool when you need a one-time broadcast to a defined audience that you can track.

Pick a Send To group. The built-in groups are:

• All Members
• All Leaders / Adults
• All Scouts / Youth
• Specific Den / Patrol (you then choose which one)
• Parents of Den / Patrol
• Committee Members

You can also switch the Recipient Type to Contact Group to message a saved list that mixes linked members and external contacts — the page shows a delivery preview (how many go in-app vs. email, and any that cannot be reached). Add a subject and message, then Send. The page confirms how many recipients received it.

After sending, the Sent Group Messages section lists each batch with a read receipt summary — “Read by 8 of 12” — and expanding a batch shows a per-recipient list with the time each person read it.

Note

Read receipts apply to group messages, not to announcements. (Group messaging itself has no template picker — saved message templates appear in the one-to-one composer on a member’s profile, not here.)

Direct messages

Messages (/messages) is your private, one-to-one mailbox. Click Compose, search the unit directory by name or email, pick a recipient, add a subject and body, and send. You can reply to, mark as read, or delete any message, and the list paginates as it grows.

Your Inbox and Notifications

The Inbox (/inbox) is one hub with three tabs — Messages, Announcements, and Notifications — with unread badges on the Messages and Notifications tabs. It is the fastest way to catch up on everything in one place.

The Notifications tab (also at /notifications) collects system alerts: rank advanced, merit badge earned, service hours verified, position assigned, and event reminders. Filter by Unread Only or by type, mark all as read, or clear them.

Tip

Choose how you are contacted — in-app, email, or push — under your communication preferences. See Account & Notification Settings to fine-tune what reaches you and how.

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Need help? Contact support — we usually respond within 1 business day.