Connecting with families on a lead

When you find a lead that's a good fit, you can send the family a message directly from the lead. Connecting with families is a Premium feature.

How to connect

1. Open the lead from your leads board and click Connect.
2. Write your message in the window that opens, or tap one of your saved replies above the message box to fill it in with the family's first name already in the greeting. Mention something from their request — parents reply most when you do. You can also tick Offer interview times to send times with your message; the family picks one and it's confirmed (see "Messaging families on Bornbir").
3. Click Send message.

You'll see "Success! Connection request sent to [name]." Once you've messaged on a lead, it moves off your leads board — you'll find the conversation in your Inbox. If Bornbir already opened a matched conversation with that family for you, or you open the same lead again later (for example, from an email link), Connect takes you into the existing conversation instead of starting a new one.

Tips for getting a response

• Personalize your message. A message that speaks to the family's specific request can significantly increase your chances of getting a reply.
• Respond quickly. Providers who respond within an hour usually have the highest parent response rates.
• Save your introduction once. If you haven't saved a reply yet, the lead page and the Connect window both show + Save a reply to reuse. After you save it you're brought straight back to the Connect window with your new reply ready to tap. See "Messaging families on Bornbir" for how saved replies work.

What the family sees

The family is notified by email and, if they gave a phone number, by text that you've reached out. If several providers reply to the same family around the same time, the family may get one summary of the replies instead of a separate alert for each. In your Inbox, the conversation opens with a Care request card showing their request, followed by your message — so you have the full context in one place. If the family writes back, you can keep messaging even after their lead closes (see "When a lead closes"). See "Messaging families on Bornbir" for how conversations work.

Daily limit

You can send up to 50 connection requests in a 24-hour period on Premium, or 150 on Bornbir Business. If you reach the limit, you'll see a notice asking you to try again tomorrow; on Premium, the website also offers Upgrade to Business. Most providers never come close to this limit.

On a free account?

Free accounts can browse every lead in full, but connecting opens an upgrade prompt instead — on a lead's page the button reads Upgrade to connect. Upgrade to Premium to message families — first-time subscribers get a 7-day free trial (30 days if another provider referred you). In the iPhone app, the button opens the app's plan screen, where you can subscribe through Apple; you can also subscribe on bornbir.com. See "The Bornbir for Providers iPhone app".