To register for 10DLC, you'll fill out a form in your account. The form lives on the Spoke "Compliance" page and the Scale to Win Text "Phone Numbers" page.
QUICK LINKS: 10DLC OVERVIEW [Article] 10DLC REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS [Article] 10DLC REGISTRATION OVERVIEW AND REQUIREMENTS [Slide deck] |
What is 10DLC?
10DLC (10-digit-long-code) is a fancy name for a phone number with a local area code, like 916-215-3333, that has been approved for sending texts at scale from platforms like Scale to Win.
Image above: 10DLC phone numbers are local phone numbers used to contact your lists. You can choose which area codes the numbers are from.
To access 10DLC phone numbers, you’ll register your organization following the instructions in this article.
- Registrations have to be vetted by a third-party organization and can take 3-5 business days to complete once submitted to Scale to Win, or even longer if issues arise.
- Registration requirements include a nine-digit EIN number and a functioning website. Political committees (527s) will also need identity verification from Campaign Verify.
What you need to register
Registration is about establishing "who" is going to be sending texts and "what" those texts will be about.
You register the organization that will appear as the sender of your text messages and the kinds of texts they'll send. For example, if I plan to send texts that say, "Hi, I'm with Scale to Win. Is anything holding you back from voting?", then I would register "Scale to Win" and describe my purpose in texting to be "political".
General Registration Requirements
Here's a handy list of every field you will need to fill out in the registration form. The short version of what you need is:
- Legal organization name and address of the sender being registered. The legal name and address should match what appears on government documents such as IRS tax forms.
- US IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN). This is a nine-digit number. If you don't have an EIN, you can quickly apply for one here.
- Campaign Verify token. Political campaigns, parties, and PACs will also need a vetting token from Campaign Verify. Not applicable if your organization is a 501(c) nonprofit, a government office, or a private entity. Check out our full guide to Campaign Verify here.
- Working website. This can be a social media page or ActBlue page. Your website cannot be blank, private, or under construction. Read more about best practices for websites here.
- Organization contact (name, email, phone). Ideally the email address of the contact will match the domain of your website.
- Description of your texts. Short description of the work you'll be doing, i.e. political, charity, fundraising.
- Opt-in method. Short description of how people sign up to receive texts from you.
- Two sample scripts. Two examples of the kinds of messages you plan to send.
- 501(c) nonprofits may be subject to additional vetting. 501(c)3s may be asked to submit a copy of a letter of determination from the IRS. 501(c)4s may be asked to submit either a letter of determination or a Form 8976, Notice of Intent to Operate Under Section 501(c)4. If this ends up being the case, Scale to Win will reach out with a request for this documentation.
Registration Requirements: Breakdown by Organization
All organizations register using the same form. That said, the steps you'll need to take to register depend on your organization type.
Political campaigns, parties, and PACs
Start by getting a token from Campaign Verify. Then fill out the registration form, which can be accessed in the "Compliance" section of Spoke, as described below. Please read more about Campaign Verify instructions here.
501(c) nonprofits
501(c)3s, 501(c)4s, and 501(c)5 nonprofits can simply register for 10DLC by going to the "Compliance" section of Spoke and filling out the registration form. Note: nonprofits are subject to rate limits on 10DLC.
Note that your organization will either need to have received a letter of determination from the IRS or be able to submit evidence of Form 8976 or other tax identification in order to register successfully. Don't have either? Reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com.
Government
Government agencies can simply register for 10DLC by going to the "Compliance" section of Spoke and filling out the registration form following the instructions below.
Sitting members of government, take note: you'll want to register the government body, i.e. "Alaska State Legislature", rather than your own office, i.e. "Senator Example". Enter the government body's legal organization name, EIN, address -- usually what's on a W-9 form -- and general website instead of your own information. Your campaign use case and scripts should reflect your own texting plans, however.
Consultants, resellers, private entities
If you’re a:
non-profit with multiple legal entities & Tax IDs,
non-profit with one Tax ID but many different sub groups,
non-profit strictly performing polling,
private business (like a consulting firm) sending texts for political customers,
private business performing polling for political customers,
political party stumping for many different candidates,
or otherwise foresee a nuanced registration process,
please schedule a time to talk with us here so we can make sure we get you registered appropriately, then review the steps outlined in this article.
Scale to Win Text: Register on "Phone Numbers" page
To register a team for 10DLC from a Scale to Win Text account, navigate to the "Phone Numbers" page.
Click the "Register for 10DLC" button
Click the blue "Register for 10DLC" button to access the registration form.
Above: GIF demonstrating how to start 10DLC registration in Scale to Win Text. Click on the blue “Register for 10DLC button to begin registration.
Here’s a list outlining the 10DLC form requirements.
View the status of your registration
After you click submit on the form and return to the page, you will see the status of your registration. You can expect your registration to remain in "pending" status for 3-5 business days while the downstream vendors read through your submission for approval.
Image above: Scale to Win Text's "Phone Numbers" page will show the status of your registration.
Once the registration has completed successfully, the pending banner will disappear and Owners will receive an automated email confirming success. The "Phone Numbers" page will update to show you your 10DLC number(s) and give you the option to add up to 49 numbers total to the registration.
Spoke: Register on "Compliance" page
To register a team for 10DLC from a Spoke account, navigate to the "Compliance" page. Only Account Owners have access to this page.
Political campaigns will need to take this step after generating a Campaign Verify token. Tokens are not automatically shared with Scale to Win; submitting the token in the form is the only way for us to register you.
Above: Image demonstrating how to access the “Compliance” page on the admin side of Spoke. You’ll click “Start 10DLC Registration” to access the registration form.
If you don't see the "Compliance" page, make sure you have Owner permissions (you can check your permissions level on the "People" page).
Click the "Start 10DLC Button"
Click the green “Start 10DLC Registration” button to access the form. You can also share the 10DLC registration form with people who aren't in your Spoke by clicking on the form, then clicking the "Share Form" button.
Above: GIF demonstrating how to start 10DLC registration. Click on the green “Start 10DLC Registration” button to begin registration from the Compliance page in Spoke.
Here’s a list outlining the 10DLC form requirements.
Once you’ve submitted the form on the “Compliance” page, registrations go through a vetting process that can take up to five business days, sometimes longer. Once the registration has been approved, you'll receive an email notification letting you know you're all set to begin texting.
View status updates
For status updates, check the “Compliance” page. (Give the page a few hours to update after you’ve clicked submit on the form.)
Example of a 10DLC registration status update on the “Compliance” page.
You’ll be able to see whether your application is still being processed, whether problems arise, and whether your application is complete. Should any issues arise, we’ll be in touch directly as well with next steps.
Registering multiple teams
Set up subaccounts
Accounts with multiple teams or subaccounts can easily register individual teams for 10DLC by following the same steps above. For each team you wish to register as a separate entity, simply fill out the form on that team's "Compliance" page in Spoke or "Phone Numbers" page in Scale to Win Text.
If you wish to apply the same 10DLC registration to more than one team, reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com so we can make sure we’re getting your teams correctly registered.
Example: Consulting Firm with Multiple Clients
Let's say you are a consultant managing texting for several clients. Each client has their own EIN, so you'd need separate 10DLC registrations for each.
If this is your situation, and you are using Spoke, we can create a separate Spoke subaccount for each client - just let us know which teams you'll need by emailing support@scaletowin.com. If you are using Scale to Win Text, you can create your own subaccounts under Organization Settings > Subaccounts.
To set up the 10DLC registration for each client, you'd simply submit the 10DLC form on that team's page.
Example: Group with Multiple Chapters
Let's say your organization contains multiple chapters, i.e. one for every state. Your organization uses a single EIN but you'd like to have different subaccounts for each chapter to separate their users and text campaigns.
For groups in this situation, we would create subaccounts for each chapter (email support@scaletowin.com to set this up for Spoke). You could then let us know in your 10DLC registration, or at our support address, that you wanted the registration applied to all or just specific teams.
Spoke Global Settings: Register Multiple Teams Under One EIN
If your Spoke organization has subaccounts, and you have Super Admin permissions, you can access a Global Settings page. The "Compliance" page of Global Settings includes a version of the 10DLC registration form where you can indicate that you want a single 10DLC registration applied to more than one of your subaccounts.
Access the Global Settings "Compliance" page
To access this version of the registration form, click "Global Settings".
Image of the Global Settings menu accessible to Super Admins.
From "Global Settings", go to the “Compliance” page.
Image showing how to access the Compliance page in Global Settings.
After selecting "Compliance", select “Start 10DLC Registration” to access the registration form.
Image showing the button to access the 10DLC Registration form.
Submit the form for multiple teams
To register multiple teams for 10DLC, you'll submit the form with the information applying to all of those teams. Submit the form as many times as needed, i.e. for each EIN / Tax ID that will be applied to your teams.
If you are registering multiple Spoke teams correlating to one EIN, you must specify the names of each team that will be registered under that EIN / submission.Checking the registration status of your teams
After you’ve completed your form submission(s), the Global Settings Compliance page will update to show the registration status of your teams.
Example of the Compliance page under Global Settings, showing updates to team registration status(es).
FAQ
What does registration do?
Registration has been required since March 1st, 2022 by the mobile carriers (like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon). The stated aim is to allow the carriers to verify the identities of groups sending texts and mitigate spam.
What does 10DLC cost?
Political organizations must pay a $95 vetting fee to Campaign Verify in order to generate a verification token that unlocks high-volume texting. Scale to Win is covering all other 10DLC fees, backdated to April 1st, 2022.
Does toll-free follow the same rules?
Toll-free texting (i.e. texts sent from a toll-free number) will not be impacted by 10DLC. Toll-free is available to all of our customers at no extra cost. You will need to go through a separate registration process to utilize toll-free.
Can I text if I'm not registered for 10DLC?
You can register for toll-free phone numbers instead, which requires going through a separate registration process. Here's how to text with toll-free numbers in Scale to Win.
If you have an urgent election or texting need, or a special use case that makes it difficult to register for either 10DLC or toll-free, reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com to discuss your options with us.
I don't have an EIN - can I register?
10DLC requires an EIN - you can quickly apply for one here. Alternatively, you can register for a toll-free number instead, which does not require providing an EIN.
I haven’t registered for 10DLC yet - what do I do?
Learn how to register for 10DLC here, or book a time to chat with us about 10DLC here. The benefits of 10DLC include getting to send texts from phone numbers with local area codes, plus better deliverability than previously seen while texting with local phone numbers.
What if my 10DLC registration is still in pending status?
If your 10DLC registration is still in a pending status after more than 3-5 days, or you have an urgent need to expedite your registration, please reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com.
What if I can’t register for 10DLC?
If you’re a group unable to get an EIN, a non-profit without a letter of determination or 8976 form from the IRS, are a political organization experiencing blockers with Campaign Verify, or otherwise cannot register for 10DLC, Scale to Win will work with you on a case-by-case basis. Reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com or book a call with us here.
What are the throughput limits for non-political registrations?
10DLC comes with throughput limits, or caps on how many texts you can send per day to subscribers of a particular mobile carrier like AT&T or T-Mobile. Each cap depends on your organization type (non-profit, political campaign or PAC, labor union, etc).
The limits determine how many text segments you can send per second to AT&T customers and how many you can send per day to T-Mobile customers. Most customers will not come close to approaching the AT&T limit. Political customers with a Campaign Verify token and government clients are exempt from T-Mobile throughput limits.
501(c) non-profit organizations and private entities are subject to a daily cap on how many text segments can be sent to T-Mobile subscribers in a day. You can view your throughput limits on the Compliance page, and will receive a warning from Spoke if you are approaching your daily T-Mobile quota. Read more about this here.
If you are approaching these limits, or need to surpass the daily T-Mobile limits for your organization, we recommend registering for a toll-free number. Toll-free registration is free and there are no daily caps from any carrier. Alternatively, large organizations can apply for a "Special Business Review" at the cost of $500 to have a third-party review the registration and lift the T-Mobile cap. If this is something of interest to you, please reach out to us at support@scaletowin.com.
How should I define my use case(s) and what do I need in my scripts?
To complete your registration for 10DLC, you’ll need to provide information about your use case(s) and at least two sample scripts.
A use case describes the reason you’re sending texts, e.g. voter outreach, volunteer recruitment, vaccine outreach, polling, etc. Ideally, you'll also briefly describe your audience and why you’re texting them.
Image above: Example of a use case description.
For each use case, you’ll need to submit two sample scripts for approval. You don’t have to send these exact scripts, just give an idea. Scripts must include sender identification and opt-out instructions.
Click here to learn more about how to write an initial script.
If you anticipate having many use cases and would like to discuss the best registration options for your organization, schedule a time to talk with us here.
What links are allowed on 10DLC?
10DLC offers better deliverability of links in scripts than unregistered numbers. Please note, however, that public URL shorteners like bit.ly and tinyurl are not allowed on 10DLC. Read more about best practices for sending links here.