Reminding parents of school fees is a delicate but necessary part of your school's operations. Here's how you can use SMS to reach parents more effectively.
To ease the financial hit of private education, most schools offer a variety of payment options to space out paying school fees throughout the year.
With so much to think about already, it’s normal for parents to lose track of what has and hasn’t been paid, and when payments are due.
One of the easiest ways to minimize the number of missed payments is by setting up fee reminders to go out to parents ahead of time.
That’s where your text messaging service can step in.
Effectively managing cash flow is a critical part of your school’s operations. However, late and delayed payments can happen.
Most of the time an overdue payment is accidental, but in the event that things escalate it’s always best as a school to have everything in writing from the get-go.
Sending out fee reminders a couple of days ahead of payment day is proof that there has been no miscommunication on behalf of the school.
In the majority of situations, it simply takes communication to remedy any late payments, and a fee reminder SMS is a great way to give parents a polite notice ahead of time.
Parents expect communication from their child’s school. Whether it’s newsletters, performance updates, or information, schools should be keeping parents informed through the academic year.
Cell phones are the primary communication device across the U.S. With a contact list of parents’ numbers, your school has direct access to the people it needs to be sending fee reminders to.
Phone calls are a more intrusive form of communication, and calls may be screened if a parent doesn’t recognize the number, or if they’re too busy to pick up the phone.
With a 98% open rate, SMS payment reminders are a reliable way of making sure parents don’t forget to pay the due school fees.
An SMS platform like SimpleTexting allows you to manage your inbox from one dashboard. You can set up automated reminders, engage in two-way conversations and send bulk messages.
Money is a delicate subject, so finding the right tone of voice for your fee reminder email is important.
Obviously, we don’t recommend a ‘give me your money’ approach, but you do need to be clear and firm. Especially when following up with late or missed payments.
Here are some templates you can use if you’re struggling to craft your fee reminder text.
You can customize your fee reminders with the time and date to ensure payments aren’t missed.
Add in a reference to the most recent vacation to make your reminder more friendly.
If you’re looking to save time with a recurring payment reminder for parents, you don’t need to be specific about dates.
Instead, include a link to your school’s payment portal or send them to the payment information page on your website.
If you’re looking to save time with a recurring payment reminder for parents, you don’t need to be specific about dates.
Instead, include a link to your school’s payment portal or send them to the payment information page on your website.
Missed payments happen, especially over the holiday period. A short follow-up text is usually all it takes for parents to spring into action and pay any missed school fees.
Occasionally, extra payments may be necessary throughout the school year.
Most parents will pay upfront, however, there may be miscommunication between parents and students on when these payments are due. Send a reminder to let the parents know of any upcoming deadlines.
Hopefully, you can see the benefits of using SMS to send fee reminders.
Here’s how you can manage them all from one platform.
There are two different types of campaigns you can use to send out your fee reminder. A recurring campaign, or a one-off scheduled campaign.
If you want to send a scheduled text message, select the ‘scheduled’ campaign type and input the time and date you want your message to be sent out.
When you’re happy with your message and when to send it out, preview the message by clicking ‘Next’ and hit ‘Schedule’ to get your campaign running.
Congratulations, you’ve successfully scheduled a school fee reminder!
If you’ve decided to send a recurring fee reminder, select the ‘recurring’ campaign type.
Scroll down to see the variety of options for scheduling a recurring campaign. Choose the date of the month and how often you want the campaign to be sent out.
You can also select the time and start date for your campaign to start rolling.
When you’re happy, you can schedule your campaign by selecting ‘Next’ and confirming the preview of your SMS.
A recurring campaign is a great way to save time, however, it’s important that you refrain from using dates or anything that may expire in your message.
Remember, you can share the URLs and encourage parents to check payment portals or website pages for more information on the upcoming payment.
Fee reminders are a must-have for all schools, especially for institutions that rely on payments from monthly arrangements. Payment reminders must contain all the basics, such as the student’s name, payment due date, and the name of your school or institution. Finding the amount each student owes may be too time-consuming to include, as every individual’s situation is different.
When sending fee reminder text messages, it’s vital to strike the right balance. Send reminders sparingly, ideally one or two times before the due date, to avoid being too intrusive. Aim to send the initial reminder a few days in advance to give parents and guardians ample time to make the payment. Keep the messages concise and clear, including essential information such as the due date, amount, and payment methods, while avoiding unnecessary details.
Maintain a polite and friendly tone throughout the messages, expressing gratitude for their cooperation and support. Personalize the text by addressing parents/guardians by name and mentioning the student’s name, grade, or class. Provide clear instructions on how and where to pay and include contact information for any questions they might have.
Always be sure to respect recipients’ preferences by offering an opt-out option if they have already made the payment or no longer require reminders. Finally, ensure compliance with data privacy regulations and obtain proper consent before sending text messages.
Template 1:
Hi [Parent/Guardian’s Name], just a friendly reminder that the deadline for school fee payment is [date]. Please make sure to submit the payment by then to avoid any late charges. If you’ve already made the payment, kindly disregard this message. Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you! [School Name]
Template 2:
Hey [Parent/Guardian’s Name], this is a reminder about the pending school fee for [Student’s Name] in [Grade/Class]. The payment for the [semester/term/year] is due by [date]. You can pay online at [payment portal] or visit the school office. Let us know if you need any assistance. Thanks! [School Name]
For every school fee that’s missed, a member of the administration team will have to spend time following up with the payment.
Sending an SMS fee reminder is a preventative measure for ensuring your students’ parents have school fees in mind at the beginning of the semester. For more information on this consider checking out our Guide to Mass Text Messaging for Schools!
If you’re not already using an SMS platform, you can start today risk-free by signing up for our 14-day free trial.
Alice is a copywriter at SimpleTexting. When not teaching the world about the benefits of business texting, you can find her feeding family, friends and strangers with her latest baking experiment.
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