Text Messaging for Booster Clubs: Consent, TCPA, and Templates

When Text Is the Right Channel

Text is for messages a parent needs to see today and can read in ten seconds. Everything else belongs in email or on the website.

TCPA Basics for a Nonprofit Booster Club

The TCPA (United States Code, Title 47, section 227) and the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) rules in the Code of Federal Regulations at 47 CFR section 64.1200 regulate calls and text messages. The FCC applies the rules on autodialed calls to text messages, which its orders call “robotexts.”

The consent rule

The core rule prohibits calls and texts to a mobile number made with an automatic telephone dialing system (an “autodialer”) or an artificial or prerecorded voice, unless the message is for an emergency purpose or the recipient gave prior express consent.

• Informational texts (reminders, schedule changes, volunteer shifts) sent with an autodialer require the recipient’s prior express consent.
• Telemarketing or advertising texts sent with an autodialer generally require prior express written consent, a signed agreement (an electronic signature counts) that clearly authorizes such messages. The FCC’s rule makes an exception for calls made by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, which need only prior express consent.

What counts as an autodialer

In Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid (2021), the U.S. Supreme Court held that equipment is an autodialer under the TCPA only if it uses a random or sequential number generator to store or produce the numbers it calls. Many texting services that send to a stored list of parents may fall outside that definition. That does not make consent optional for a booster club, for three reasons:

1. Whether a particular service qualifies depends on how it works, and that question is litigated.
2. Some states have their own texting laws with broader coverage. Florida’s telephone solicitation statute, for example, expressly covers text messages that solicit the sale of goods or services and requires prior express written consent for automated messages; its exemptions for charitable organizations are partial. Rules vary by state.
3. Wireless carriers expect consent for all application-to-person texting regardless of the legal definition (see Carrier Rules below).

The practical rule for a booster club: text only families who have opted in to texts from the club.

Do-not-call rules

The national Do Not Call Registry rules apply to “telephone solicitations.” The FCC’s definition of telephone solicitation excludes calls and messages by or on behalf of a tax-exempt nonprofit organization. A 501(c)(3) booster club (a charitable nonprofit exempt from federal income tax) texting about its own programs and fundraisers is generally outside the registry rules. A club that texts on behalf of a for-profit business (a sponsor’s sale, a restaurant’s promotion) is in different territory and should not do it.

Consent given to the school does not transfer to the club

Parents give their mobile numbers to the school for school purposes. In a 2016 declaratory ruling on school calls (FCC 16-88), the FCC explained that a parent who gives a number to a school has consented to autodialed calls and texts closely related to the school’s educational mission, and repeated that consent extends only to messages closely related to the purpose for which the number was originally provided. The ruling addressed schools, not independent parent organizations. Wireless industry best practices also state that an opt-in should not be transferable and that senders should not use lists that were rented, sold, or shared.

The booster club collects its own consent. A school directory or a coach’s roster is not a texting list.

Revoking consent

FCC rules that took effect April 11, 2025 govern how recipients opt out:

• A recipient may revoke consent by any reasonable method. Replying “stop,” “quit,” “end,” “revoke,” “opt out,” “cancel,” or “unsubscribe” is automatically a valid revocation. A voicemail or email to the club asking to stop is presumed to be a revocation too.
• The sender may not require one exclusive method of opting out.
• The sender must honor the request within a reasonable time, not to exceed 10 business days from receipt. A request received Tuesday, March 2, 2027 must be honored no later than Tuesday, March 16, 2027.
• The sender may send one confirmation text that confirms the opt-out and contains no marketing. If sent within five minutes, it is presumed to be within the recipient’s consent. If the recipient had consented to several kinds of messages, the confirmation may ask which ones the opt-out covers, but all texts that need consent stop until the recipient answers.

A further rule would require a sender to treat an opt-out from one type of message as an opt-out from all unrelated messages from that sender. The FCC has delayed that requirement twice; its January 2026 order (DA 26-12) set the effective date at January 31, 2027 while the agency reconsiders it. For a booster club the simplest practice is to treat any “stop” as stop for everything, which satisfies both the current rule and the delayed one.

What violations cost

The TCPA lets a recipient sue for actual damages or $500 per violation, whichever is greater, and a court may triple the award for willful or knowing violations. Each text is a separate violation, and these cases are often brought as class actions. A 300-family list texted ten times without consent is 3,000 potential violations.

Time of day

The FCC’s 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. calling window (recipient’s local time) applies to telephone solicitations, which by definition exclude a nonprofit’s own messages. Following it anyway is good practice. A booster club text at 10:30 p.m. is never received well unless it is about a bus that is late returning.

Carrier Rules

Separate from the law, wireless carriers set rules for organizations that send texts through a texting service (application-to-person messaging). The wireless industry’s Messaging Principles and Best Practices, published by its trade association, CTIA, describe what carriers expect:

1. A clear call to action at sign-up that tells the person what the program is, who is sending, how often messages come, that message and data rates may apply, and how to opt out and get help.
2. Opt-in before any message, with records of when and how consent was given (time, method, the exact language shown, the phone number, and the person’s name).
3. A confirmation text after opt-in that names the program, says how often messages come, and explains how to opt out and get help.
4. Honoring “STOP” and other plain-language opt-outs, with one final confirmation message.
5. No shared, purchased, or rented lists.

Carriers vet senders and may filter or block traffic that does not follow these practices. Texting services typically require the club to register its legal name, EIN (Employer Identification NumberEINEmployer Identification Number: the nine-digit federal tax identification number the IRS assigns to the club. The club needs it to open a bank account, apply for 501(c)(3) status, and file its annual return.All terms), and the purpose of its messages before sending. Unregistered or non-compliant messages may never arrive.

Texting services built for schools and nonprofits manage opt-ins, STOP handling, consent records, and carrier registration. Whichever service a club uses, the account should belong to the club, not an officer.

Group Texts From Personal Phones

Many clubs start with a group text from an officer’s personal phone. It works for a five-person board. It does not work for families.

• Every recipient sees every other parent’s number.
• Reply-all floods 80 phones with “thanks” and thumbs-up reactions.
• There is no reliable opt-out, and the officer must remove people by hand.
• The list leaves with the officer.

Board members texting each other, or a team parent sending an individual text to a family they know, is ordinary personal communication. Messages from the club to families belong on a club-owned service with opt-in and opt-out built in.

Collecting Consent

Sign-up form language

The texting checkbox is separate from the email checkbox, unchecked by default, and never required to join the club or volunteer.

[ ] Yes, send me text messages from [Club Name] about events, volunteer
    shifts, schedule changes, and fundraisers at the mobile number above.
    Messages may be sent using automated technology. About [2 to 4] messages
    per month. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out at any
    time, or HELP for help. Consent is not required to join or donate.
    Privacy: [link]

Keyword opt-in (for signs, slides, and flyers)

Text [KEYWORD] to [number] for [Club Name] event reminders.
About [2 to 4] msgs/month. Msg & data rates may apply.
Reply STOP to cancel, HELP for help. Terms & privacy: [link]

Records to keep

For each opted-in number: name, number, date and time of consent, how consent was given (paper form, web form, keyword), the exact consent language shown, and the date of any opt-out. Paper forms are scanned and kept with the club’s records for as long as the club texts that number and for several years after.

Cadence

A ceiling of two to four texts a month to the full list keeps opt-outs low. Segmenting (only the varsity families, only Saturday’s volunteers) keeps messages relevant.

Message Templates

Every message identifies the club at the start, stays under about 160 characters where possible, and includes a short link instead of details.

Opt-in confirmation

[Club Name]: You're signed up for event and volunteer texts, about [2-4]/month.
Msg & data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to opt out.

Event reminder

[Club Name]: [Event] is tomorrow, [time] at [place]. Details: [link]
Reply STOP to opt out.

Volunteer shift reminder

[Club Name]: Thanks for volunteering at [Event]. Your [Role] shift is
[Day] [time]. Check in at [location]. Questions: [phone/email]

Schedule change or cancellation

[Club Name]: Tonight's [event] is CANCELED due to [weather]. New date: [Date].
Updates: [link]

Membership or order deadline

[Club Name]: Last day to join the boosters and be listed in the fall program.
From $25: [link] Reply STOP to opt out.

Fundraiser last call

[Club Name]: [Fundraiser] orders close tonight at 9 p.m. We're at $[raised]
of $[goal] for [purpose]. [link]

Opt-out confirmation (one time, no marketing)

[Club Name]: You've been unsubscribed and will receive no further texts.
Reply START to resubscribe.

HELP response

[Club Name] event and volunteer texts. About [2-4] msgs/month.
Questions: [club email] or [phone]. Reply STOP to opt out.

What Not to Text

• Student names attached to anything sensitive (grades, eligibility, discipline, injuries).
• Requests for payment information or passwords. Texts with payment links go only to the club’s own donation or membership page.
• Promotions for sponsors’ products or sales.
• Long messages or multiple messages in a row.
• Anything to a number that has not opted in, including numbers copied from the school directory, a roster, or a group text.