Announcement, newsletter, message, or feed?
NestliCare gives you four ways to reach parents. Here's which one to use for what, so the right people see the right thing.
NestliCare has four ways to reach families under Communication, plus a direct email from the family card. Picking the right one is mostly about who should see it and how formal it is. Here's the quick answer, then the detail.
Quick answer
| You want to... | Use | Who sees it |
|---|---|---|
| Tell families something now ("Closed Friday for snow") | Announcement | All parents, one center, or chosen rooms |
| Send a longer monthly update | Newsletter | All parents, one center, or chosen rooms |
| Talk with one family | Message | That family (and your admins, if Admin Oversight is on) |
| Send one family a proper email, with a record kept | Email family | Just that family (as an email) |
| Share a child's day as it happens (photos, meals, naps) | Feed | That child's parents |
Announcements
An announcement is a short, timely notice. Send it to all parents, one center, or chosen rooms. Use it for closures, reminders, events, and anything that's "everyone needs to know this today". Parents see it in the app and get a notification. It can carry photos and up to two PDFs.
Reach for an announcement when the message is short and one-directional. Teachers can post announcements to chosen rooms, not the whole center. See Post an announcement.
Newsletters
A newsletter is a longer update with a title, the kind of thing you used to send as a monthly email. It's plain text (no photos), and only admins can send one. Parents see it in the app, and it is also emailed to them once your organization is approved to send email. Use it for your monthly or weekly roundup, curriculum themes, or a welcome letter.
Rule of thumb: if it has a subject line and more than one topic, it's a newsletter, not an announcement. See Send a newsletter.
Messages
Messages are two-way conversations, usually with a single family. Use them for anything specific to one child: "Mia forgot her water bottle", billing questions, a note about a rough morning. Teachers and admins can both message families, and families can message back. From New message you can also start a room chat or a group chat.
Messages aren't private from the office: while Admin Oversight of Parent Messages is on (the default), owners and center admins can read and reply to parent conversations.
Never use an announcement for something meant for one family, and never use a message when the whole center needs to know. See Message a parent.
Email a family
The envelope on a family's card sends a real email to that family's parents, from NestliCare under your daycare's name. Use it when a parent needs something in their inbox rather than in the app: an enrollment status note, a supplies request, anything they might forward or print. Every email you send, and every reply the parent sends back, is kept on the family card's History tab and on the Families page's Sent emails list, so you always have a record. See Email a family and keep a record.
The feed
The feed (Communication → Feed) is the live stream of a child's day: photos, meals, naps, diaper changes, and notes that teachers post from the app. Each parent sees only their own child's feed. You don't "send" the feed; it fills up as teachers log the day.
The feed is the heart of what parents love about NestliCare. It answers "how was my child's day?" without anyone having to ask. Teachers drive it from the mobile app.