Draft reminders are your gentle nudge. They help bring creators and applicants back to finish what they started — without you manually chasing anyone.
If you run opportunities with longer forms (awards, competitions, open calls), this feature can quietly recover submissions you’d otherwise lose. This can be particularly important if your opportunity has submission or entry fees, as anything that isn't completed is money left on the table.
Why Use Draft Reminders?
People get distracted. Tabs get closed. Life happens.
Draft reminders help you:
Recover incomplete submissions
Increase overall submission numbers
Reduce last-minute deadline panic
Keep your project top of mind
Improve applicant experience with helpful nudges
It’s proactive without being pushy.
How to Set Up Draft Reminders
Navigate to the Project you want to send reminders for and select Settings.
Select the Messages and Reminders tab.
See a list of any previously sent reminders
Select Add Reminder
Send an Immediate Reminder
You can instantly email everyone with a draft submission in that project by
Select Send immediately and choose between a Template or a Custom message
If writing a custom message, make sure to add a Subject line and then add the message.
Use merge tags for more personalisation.
Message Templates need to be created in the Organisation Settings.
Schedule Messages for the Future
You can schedule reminders for a specific date and time.
This lets you create a cadence like:
Day 1 after draft started
7 days later
48 hours before deadline
Select Send immediately and choose between a Template or a Custom message
If writing a custom message, make sure to add a Subject line and then add the message.
Use merge tags for more personalisation.
Message Templates need to be created in the Organisation Settings.
You’re not limited to a single reminder. Depending on your plan, you can create a sequence of nudges at different time intervals to gently bring people back to their Dapple submission form.
Please note: Scheduled messages cannot be edited. If you need to change something, cancel the message and create a new one.
Send a Test Email
Before sending (or scheduling), you can preview exactly how your message will look.
Just click:
Actions → Send me a test email
Always worth doing to double-check how the formatting looks in an actual email.
Cancel a Scheduled Message
Need to stop a reminder from going out?
Go to the message queue and use:
Actions → Cancel
Simple.
Just remember — you can’t edit scheduled reminders. Cancel and recreate if needed.
Best Practices for Draft Reminders
A few smart habits go a long way:
Keep messages short and friendly
Include the deadline clearly
A link will appear in the message allowing them to get back to their Dapple account in one click.
Space reminders out — don’t overwhelm
Send a final reminder 24–48 hours before closing
The goal is encouragement, not pressure.