It ' s just so quick because everybody has their phones in their hands . And like I said , they ’ re quicker to answer a text message than they are an email . Plus , we can provide registration links in a text message .
CE : What ’ s the difference between free and 10-digit number texting ? Kluender : When we were in the beta program for Churchteams , all the texting was free . When that program ended and they began charging , it concerned us at first because of all the texting we were doing . For a while , we used the free texting option — until it was explained to me that phone companies really don ' t want you doing that . We needed to have five or seven different types of no-reply numbers , and it quickly became clear that people weren ' t getting the text messages . I said , ‘ Listen , we ’ re paying for it .’ It ’ s not an astronomical cost ; if it adds $ 100 a month to our Churchteams invoice , that ’ s on the high side . And it ’ s worth every penny because people are getting the communication that they ' re asking for .
CE : How does your church decide when and what to text ? Kluender : Anything that needs to go out churchwide gets a text message — all of our service times , anything with required attendance , and so on . Those go out three or four times per week . Aside from that , group leaders can text on their own ; we ' ve given a lot of direct access to Churchteams so that they don ’ t have to rely on the admin staff . They ’ ve been trained by Shari on what they can do and how to do it . They take the initiative to manage their own groups . I don ' t know that we really have a limit on what we text , because it ' s such an easy tool to use . Right now , we ' re very lenient with it . I haven ' t seen a reason to pull back and say , ‘ OK , we ' re texting too much .’
( Left to right ) Josette Kluender ; Bookkeeper Linda Pannasch ; Administrative Assistants Kami Kaiser and Kim Van Nortwick
For example , we have a workflow to reassure parents that their children are being taken care of by screened , background-checked workers . All of that is done through a text message that happens less than 10 minutes after their children are taken to class . Another good feature , for us , was registration through texting . People can just text a word , and that registers them into a certain meeting or event . Another feature we use a lot is our membership application . Congregants receive a link to an application , which we used to provide on paper , and those applications are immediately funneled so pastors can approve them right away . This is much better than the old way of waiting for a paper application to be scanned in by an admin and then waiting for each pastor to approve or reject those by email . Now , everything happens within a day of a person hitting ‘ complete ’ on an online application . But really , we didn ’ t even know we needed a lot of the functions in Churchteams until we started using them .
CE : What are some of the most effective ways your church uses the texting functionalities inherent to Churchteams ? Kluender : Right now , we send reminders every Sunday and Wednesday about our church services . Every Sunday , we send out a mass text announcing a one-hour prayer call . The phone number and any other essential information is included , so nobody has to search for it . We send ‘ team huddle ’ meeting reminders to all of our ministry leaders every week .
CE : Talk to me about the keywords functionality . How do you use it ? Kluender : We have some of our funds set up with keywords . If a congregant texts the word ‘ Give ,’ it leads him or her to where they can give to our tithe or general fund . If they text ‘ Building ,’ it goes to a building fund . Texting ‘ Youth ’ designates that money for the youth ministry . If they type the word ‘ Food ,’ it goes to our food pantry . If they send ‘ Pastors ,’ it goes to our pastor ’ s love offering . If they text ‘ Toys ,’ it goes right to our holiday toy drive for the underprivileged . We also have 38 registration links that we can text , which people can use to register for certain events .
CE : What about workflow functions ? Kluender : We do workflows with our first-time guests , for example . Every time someone texts the word ‘ First ’ to us , they automatically go into a workflow that follows up . First , they get a text . Then they get an email from our pastor , talking about the message . Then they get a link to a survey that we ask them to fill out . Then they get another text message three days later . Then they get another email reminding them about the following week ’ s service . We also use a workflow for anyone who ' s accepted Christ : our Ministry of Helps application , which we talked about earlier . This turns into a workflow . Rededication has its own workflow . So does outreach .
CE : And chat ? Many people associate that function with a PC , not a phone . Kluender : That ' s a new feature . When you log into Churchteams , there ’ s a little bubble right next to your name , and it has a number in it . Whenever we text somebody , they can reply to our text messages via chat . I have one here , actually : Sorry that I missed service . I got in late last night . I ' m still needing the Word and hoping that God will help me make it there on Sunday . Now we can reply ; we have a few people in the office who respond to those types of messages . It ' s an open line of communication .
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