Who can use it

Switchboard is a broadcast texting and email platform for progressive campaigns, and Electbase follows that: the connection is not offered to campaigns in nonpartisan races, and the card says so.

The connection itself costs nothing. Texts and emails you send from Switchboard are billed by Switchboard.

If you would rather hand Switchboard a file than connect an account, that works too and is explained in Handing your list to a texting vendor. The two use the same consent rules.

What gets sent

Electbase adds a person to your Switchboard organization when someone:

fills in your sign-up form, your contact form, a yard-sign request, or an endorsement form;
signs up to volunteer.

RSVPs are not sent; Switchboard has no notion of an event.

For each person, up to two records are created, depending on your What to send setting:

A phone record, only if the supporter checked the texting-consent box on your form and that consent still stands at the moment of delivery. It carries their number, first and last name, email, zip, the address of the page where they opted in (so you can see where each number came from), and your label.
An email record, with their email, name and zip, and your label. Email has no consent checkbox in Electbase; your What to send setting decides whether it goes.

The consent check happens when the record is sent, not when the form was filled in. If someone withdraws consent, lands on your do-not-call list, or shares a number with someone who opted out in the meantime, their phone is not sent. A supporter you have erased is never sent at all. Read Collecting phone numbers the right way if any of that is new to you.

Every record carries the label you choose (Electbase by default), which is how you find your website signups in Switchboard. Someone who signs up twice updates one record rather than creating two.

Getting your credentials

In Switchboard, open Organization Settings → API and create a key with texting and emailing read-and-write permissions. You get two values: an Account ID and a Secret Key. If you create an account-level key that spans several organizations instead, you will also need the Organization ID of the one these signups should go to; it looks like org_….

Connecting it in Electbase

From your dashboard, open Connections in the top navigation and find the Switchboard card.
Enter your Switchboard Account ID, choose What to send (texting and email, texting only, or email only), set the Switchboard label for these signups if you want something other than Electbase, and fill in Organization ID only if your key is an account-level one.
Paste the Switchboard Secret Key and click Connect. Electbase checks the pair against Switchboard before it reports Connected; a key Switchboard rejects is refused on the spot and never stored.

The key is stored encrypted and never shown again.

Opt-outs come back

When a supporter texts STOP, that happens inside Switchboard. Once a day, Electbase requests your organization's opt-out export from Switchboard and applies it: each opted-out number loses texting consent in Electbase and joins your campaign's do-not-call list, so it won't be sent to Switchboard again, won't appear in a text-ready export, and won't be called from your phone bank. The pull only ever withdraws consent. It never adds it back, and it never creates a contact.

When the card turns yellow

A Degraded chip means deliveries are held, not lost, and the text says why:

Authentication failed. The key was revoked or its permissions changed. Create a new key in Switchboard, paste it with Reconnect, and the held queue drains.
The organization can't be found. The Organization ID points somewhere Switchboard doesn't recognize. Check it in Switchboard and reconnect.
A feature isn't enabled for your organization. Switchboard said so; contact Switchboard support, then reconnect.

Disconnecting

Disconnect Switchboard destroys our stored copy of the key and stops queued deliveries; the daily opt-out pull stops with it. Your organization and everything already in it are untouched. Switchboard has no way for us to revoke a key from our side, so delete it in Switchboard under Organization Settings → API (or Account Settings → API for an account-level key).

Has this been tested against the real Switchboard?

Yes, in a sandbox organization Switchboard provided. On 2026-09-28: connecting with a real key reported Connected; two test signups, one with texting consent and one without, produced two email records and exactly one phone record, and that one number appeared in Switchboard carrying the label; and when the key was deactivated in Switchboard mid-run, the next delivery was held and the card turned yellow, with nothing lost. The opt-out pull also ran end to end against the real export.

One thing could not be measured there: whether a number added this way is actually textable. The sandbox organization is not registered to send texts, so that check needs a real sending organization. Switchboard does its own line-type lookup and skips landlines regardless of what we send, so expect that from your own first sends.

Quick checklist

In Switchboard, create an API key under Organization Settings → API with texting and emailing read-and-write permissions.
On your Connections page, fill in the Switchboard card (Account ID, what to send, label, and Organization ID if needed), paste the Secret Key, and click Connect.
Submit a test signup on your live site with the texting box checked and one without, and look for them in Switchboard under your label.
Keep the daily opt-out pull in mind: a STOP in Switchboard withdraws consent in Electbase the next day.

Not legal advice. Electbase publishes the Help Center as general information for campaigns. Switchboard's features, fees, and terms change — confirm current details directly with Switchboard.

Connecting Switchboard to your Electbase site