SendMessage StartSending has no receiver!

I am trying to call a method of a script attached to a different object. I have the following code, and I've attached the object to the localPlayerObject variable in the inspector, but I am still getting an error saying there is no receiver.

public Transform localPlayerObject;

private void SpawnLocalPlayer() {
    localPlayerObject.SendMessage("StartSending");
}

I tried Debug.Log(localPlayerObject.name); and it gave me the correct name, so I know I am referencing it correctly. And yes, StartSending is declared in the other script:

void StartSending() {
    sendMode = true;
}

The only way I can see that wouldn't work is if the object you dragged onto the `localPlayerObject` variable was a prefab instead of an instance of a prefab.