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 everyone something now ("Closed Friday for snow") | Announcement | All parents |
| Send a formatted monthly update with sections and photos | Newsletter | All parents (as an email) |
| Talk with one family privately | Message | Just that family |
| 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 that goes to every parent at once. 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.
Reach for an announcement when the message is short, one-directional, and for the whole center. See Post an announcement.
Newsletters
A newsletter is a longer, formatted update, the kind of thing you used to send as a monthly email. It supports sections, headings, and photos, and it goes out as a proper email as well as showing in the app. 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 private, two-way conversations 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.
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 (also called Daily Activities) 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.