Organization Texting: STOP, HELP, Quiet Hours and 10DLC

A sign-up sheet from the spring fair has 300 names, phone numbers and a checked box that says "Text me about volunteer days." The first reminder is ready to go. Before it leaves, 4 things decide whether it reaches those 300 phones and keeps reaching them: the permission behind each number, a sender the carriers have reviewed, replies that stop or explain the texts, and an hour when a text is welcome.

None of the 4 takes long once you know what each one asks of you. This guide walks through them in the order you will meet them, with the official text each one comes from.

Permission belongs to your organization, and you keep the record

Every useful text program starts with people who asked to hear from you. CTIA, the wireless industry association, publishes Messaging Principles and Best Practices for anyone sending texts. It says messages should be sent only after the person has opted in, and that an opt-in "should apply only to the campaign(s) and specific Message Sender for which it was intended or obtained." A checked box on your own sign-up sheet covers your volunteer reminders. A list another group collected does not carry over, and CTIA's guidance says senders should not use opt-in lists that have been rented, sold or shared.

Keep the evidence of each yes while it is easy to collect. CTIA lists what to retain where it applies:

• the date and time the person agreed;
• how they agreed, such as a paper form, a web form or a text keyword;
• the wording they saw when they agreed;
• the program the agreement was for;
• the phone number and who agreed.

Twilio's Messaging Policy puts it plainly for its customers: "You are required to retain proof of all consents obtained from recipients." A photo of the paper sheet filed with the date of the event is a perfectly good start, and if anyone ever asks how a person came to be on your list, that record is the answer.

Carriers review your sender before the first text goes out

Texts sent from software to ordinary 10-digit US numbers travel over what the industry calls A2P 10DLC (application-to-person messaging on 10-digit long codes). Twilio's documentation is direct about who registers: "Anyone sending SMS/MMS messages over a 10DLC number from an application to the US must register for A2P 10DLC."

Registration has 2 parts. The brand tells carriers who is sending. The campaign describes what the messages are for and how people opt in, opt out and get help. Twilio notes that campaigns can be rejected at manual vetting "unless a clear and valid business reason is presented," so describe your program the way a stranger at the carrier would need to read it: your organization's name, what you send, and how people signed up.

Plan for review time ahead of your first deadline. A volunteer day on Saturday is a poor moment to discover the sender is still in review.

STOP has to work every time, in whatever words people use

CTIA's guidance asks senders to say in the message how to opt out, to use standard "STOP" wording, and to act on ordinary phrasing too: "stop, end, unsubscribe, cancel, quit, 'please opt me out'" should all be read and acted upon. Capitalization and punctuation should not change the result. After an opt-out, the sender sends one confirmation and nothing more.

Providers enforce the keyword side automatically. Twilio's documentation lists the English replies it handles by default on long code numbers as "STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, END, QUIT, STOPALL, REVOKE, OPTOUT, and CANCEL," and once one arrives, later messages from that account to that number fail until the person opts back in with a keyword such as START.

Some requests to stop never arrive as a text. A volunteer mentions it at the door, or someone emails the office. CTIA's guidance asks senders to support opt-out by phone call, email or text, so give those requests a home: one person who removes the number and notes the date, the same day it comes in.

HELP tells people who is texting them

HELP is the other reply every program should expect. Twilio reserves it as a keyword that cannot be removed. CTIA's guidance on confirmation messages for recurring programs names what a person should be able to learn: the program name, a way to reach you, how to opt out, how often messages arrive and whether any charges apply.

Write your HELP answer before the first send, in one text

Riverside Tool Library volunteer reminders. Questions? Call 555-0142. Up to 4 msgs/month. Reply STOP to opt out.

The example uses a fictional organization and number. The point is that a stranger who receives your text can learn who you are and how to leave in a single reply.

Quiet hours keep each text welcome when it lands

Federal rules set calling hours for one kind of message. Under 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1), no one may initiate a telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber "before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party's location)." The same regulation defines a telephone solicitation as a call or message encouraging a purchase, rental or investment, and excludes messages sent with the person's prior express invitation or permission, to someone with an established business relationship, or by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.

Whether or not that rule reaches your messages, the reasoning behind it is sound practice. Work out the send time in the recipient's time zone, keep reminders to daytime hours, and send early enough that the message still helps. If you send promotional texts, check your state's rules as well as the federal one.

The order that keeps a texting program healthy

Each step depends on the one before it

graph LR
    A[People who said yes] --> B[Consent record kept]
    B --> C[Sender registered and reviewed]
    C --> D[Message names you and says how to stop]
    D --> E[Sent in daytime hours]
    E --> F{Reply}
    F -->|STOP| G[Number stays out of every later send]
    F -->|HELP| H[Who you are and how to reach you]
    F -->|Anything else| I[A person reads and answers]

How an organization texts with Activate

We built texting into Activate around the same sequence. Civic and community programs and business campaigns text from the organization's own registered number. Create your campaign, open Texting and ask us to review it. Texting for your program opens after a short review by us, and until then nothing can send and nothing is charged.

After the review, a manager accepts one plain-language texting agreement for the campaign. It says what this guide says: your organization texts only people who gave it permission, you keep the record of how and when each person agreed, and you provide it if we or our messaging provider ask. Then Texting walks you through the rest. You enter your organization's official details for carrier registration, which is paid from a reserve in purchased Credits shown before anything is charged. Organization texting runs as a reviewed Automated plan: write the message, choose your rounds and sending days, and see the cost in Credits before you schedule.

Opt-out and quiet-hours handling are built in, and your organization texts only people who gave it permission. Scheduled rounds go out only on weekdays during business hours where the recipient is. You see campaign status and sending counts, and can pause or cancel from the app.

If your organization also runs door-to-door visits, the same campaign can hold your community field program, and the guide to choosing between a visit, a call and a text helps decide which message belongs on which channel. For the full planning checklist, from segments and budget to delivery windows, start with planning a text campaign.

Texting works best as a promise kept: people said yes to hearing from you, and every message shows them who you are and how to stop. Get the permission record, the review, the replies and the hours right before the first send, and texting with Activate keeps each of those promises built into the program from then on.

Sources

• CTIA, Messaging Principles and Best Practices (May 2023), sections 5.1.2 to 5.1.5: opt-in, consent records, one opt-in per campaign, opt-out and shared lists.
• Twilio, Programmable Messaging and A2P 10DLC: who registers, brand and campaign, manual vetting.
• Twilio, Customize users' opt-in and opt-out experience with Advanced Opt-Out: default opt-out keywords, reserved HELP, START and UNSTOP, blocked sends after opt-out.
• Twilio, Messaging Policy: prior express consent, retained proof of consent and the right to opt out at any time.
• Code of Federal Regulations (2024 edition, GovInfo), 47 CFR 64.1200, paragraphs (c)(1) and (f)(15): calling hours for telephone solicitations and the definition with its exclusions.

All sources checked October 10, 2026.