Push Notifications

Push notifications reach the member when they have the Ministrium mobile app installed (iOS and Android). They’re free, instant, and user-silenceable.

Typical cases: event reminder (1 h before), new campus announcement, reply to a prayer request, bus arrival at event.

How the token is obtained

Member installs the app and signs in.
App requests notification permission (iOS asks explicitly; Android since 13 too).
If accepted, the device delivers a token (APNS/FCM) the app sends to the API:


POST /v1/devices
{
  "platform": "ios",
  "token": "abc123...",
  "app_version": "1.4.2",
  "locale": "en-US"
}

Ministrium stores up to 5 devices per member. Beyond that, the oldest expires. Invalid tokens (app uninstalled) are purged automatically on first APNS 410 or FCM equivalent.

Send a push

From the UI: Communications → Campaigns → New → Push. Same steps as email/SMS with fields:

Title (60 chars max)
Body (240 chars max; iOS clips to 178 visible on lockscreen)
Image optional (rich notification, 1 MB max)
Deep link optional: ministrium://events/evt_456
Sound and badge

Deep links

Deep links open a specific app screen:


ministrium://member/mem_123       → My profile
ministrium://donations/new        → Give screen
ministrium://events/evt_456       → Event detail
ministrium://kiosk/checkin        → Start check-in

If the app isn’t installed, iOS/Android fall back to the universal URL https://app.ministrium.com/go/... which offers to download the app or continue in web.

Categories and per-user silence

A member can silence individual categories in their app profile:

Announcements
Event reminders
Donations (receipts, recurring)
Prayer requests
Pastoral messages

All on by default. If a member silences a category, that category isn’t delivered even when the church sends it.

Don't abuse the channel

A church that pushes daily loses permissions in 2 weeks. We recommend ≤ 2 pushes per week per average member. The system warns if a campaign exceeds that rate.

Metrics

Each push reports:

Delivered to device (no display guarantee).
Opened (tap on notification).
Typical open rate: 8–18% on iOS, 4–10% on Android.
Errors: invalid token, device off >28 days, etc.

No app: what happens?

If the church doesn’t have its own white-label mobile app, pushes are sent via the generic Ministrium app any member can install. For churches on Business+, white-label mobile is available.