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Are text messaging services right for your church?
Do you want to reach first-time guests?
Would you like more consistent church communication with your members?
Are you hoping to increase the amount of donations given to your church?
If you answered "yes" to any of the questions above, then church text messaging is right for you! Churches of all sizes–from small church plants to multi-campus churches to the largest churches–can benefit from sending mass texts to the mobile phones of members and visitors.
In this article, we'll look at the best mass text messaging services for churches.
<a href="#list-1" class="toc-link">1. Tithely</a>
<a href="#list-2" class="toc-link">2. Clearstream</a>
<a href="#list-3" class="toc-link">3. EZ Texting</a>
<a href="#list-4" class="toc-link">4. PastorsLine</a>
<a href="#list-5" class="toc-link">5. Text in Church</a>
<a href="#list-6" class="toc-link">6. ProTexting</a>
<a href="#list-7" class="toc-link">7. ChurchCast</a>
Text messaging services allow church leaders to engage their members throughout the week, send event reminders and invites, and even ask for donations. Ideally, this functions as a form of two-way communication to which church members can respond.
Mass text messaging is an extremely effective way of reaching people...and getting a response!
In fact, text messages get a 98% open rate and a 45% response rate. That's incredible, especially when you compare it with email, which only gets a 20% open rate and 6% response rate.
Text messaging is also fast and convenient for ministry leaders. With only a few words, you can instantly communicate about important information such as changes in service times or locations.
To choose the best mass text messaging service for you, you'll want to consider ease of use, price, and flexibility. The best text messaging services will be a part of a church management software that can seamlessly sync your SMS text messages with advanced features such as a contact database and unlimited emails.
Tithely Text Messaging is a cost-effective and easy-to-use solution for churches that want to better connect with their church members. With robust features for text and email, Tithely Messaging can help you build a form of communication that's fast, convenient, and effective.
With Tithely Text Messaging you can:
Tithely Messaging syncs seamlessly with Tithely Giving, Tithely People, and more. Plus, Tithely Messaging includes a full email marketing software for helping you to design and send custom email campaigns, for a communication strategy that's doable for church administrators–and effective for church congregations.
Tithely Messaging only costs $19 a month. You get 500 free messages per month, and pay only $10 per additional 500 messages.
Pros: Low cost, seamless integration with your other church software tools, two-way messaging
Cons: None!
Clearstream offers free mass texting for churches and nonprofits for up to 50 messages per month, which is enough for most small organizations and churches. Beyond that, there’s a monthly fee depending on the number of extra messages you need (e.g., $29/month for 1,250 messages, $49/month for 2,500 messages, or $99 for 6,000 messages a month).
New church plants to many of the largest and most influential churches in the U.S. rely on Clearstream for their text communications. In fact, new church plants can get their first year of Clearstream for free.
POPULAR FEATURES
Pros: Low cost, integrates with many church software tools, automated workflows, mass and two-way messaging
Cons: None!
EZ Texting is a mass text message service that's not specifically tailored to churches, but can be used by ministry leaders.
EZ Texting offers:
For 500 text messages per month, EZ Texting's most basic plan costs $30.
Pros: EZ Texting includes advanced features, such as the ability to send different types of campaigns.
Cons: EZ Texting isn't designed for churches; therefore, it's not an ideal solution for churches wanting to manage everything from the same online platform.
PastorsLine is a subscription-based text messaging platform that's designed specifically for churches and ministries.
PastorsLine provides:
PastorsLine offers a free 30-day trial with 500 text messages. Their paid plans range from $15-$750 per month for 500 - 57,5000 messages.
Pros: With lots of features, PastorsLine is a robust solution for sending text messages to your church members.
Cons: PastorsLine can be a bit complicated to navigate. To sync with your existing platform, you'll need to rely on their API's and integrations.
Text in Church is a text and email software just for churches.
Text in Church offers:
Text in Church's most basic plan costs $31 for 500 text messages.
Pros: Text in Church has special tools that are great for churches.
Cons: Text in Church is on the pricier side, going up to $81 per month.
ProTexting is a text messaging solution that's targeted at businesses that want to reach their customers. In theory, ProTexting can also be used by churches to engage with their members.
ProTexting provides tools for:
ProTexting costs $49 a month to send 1,000 text messages.
Pros: ProTexting may be a great option for churches that are very large, or need an enterprise-level service.
Cons: ProTexting isn't designed for ministry leaders. It's also expensive, costing nearly $50 for 1,000 text messages (vs. $29 for 1,000 texts with Tithely, for example).
ChurchCast is an SMS messaging service for churches that want to use text, email, and even voice calls to connect with their communities.
Here's what ChurchCast includes:
ChurchCast's pricing is unclear, but you can contact them to learn more.
Pros: ChurchCast is designed for churches, meaning that it offers features that are designed specifically for the needs of a ministry.
Cons: ChurchCast doesn't appear to offer a very comprehensive set of tools; its website says nothing about two-way text messaging or pricing.
Send church-wide texts during the week to connect with your members about small groups, Bible studies, volunteer opportunities, and more.
Use bulk text messaging to update your congregation on information about service times, location, parking, special event details, and more.
Send personalized messaging to the mobile devices of visitors to help them connect more deeply with your church. Or, create personal connections with occasional guests using two-way messaging.
Use text messaging to share encouraging Scripture passages throughout the week. Or, send daily devotionals to encourage your church members in their time with Jesus.
Collect prayer requests and send prayer alerts to your congregation (with permission, of course).
Follow up church-wide announcements with SMS messages that explain details and give an opportunity to respond (such as giving to a pledge campaign).
Send messages to individuals or families who have lost loved ones or experienced hardship.
Use SMS texting to coordinate events such as volunteer trainings, ministry events, prayer meetings, and more.
Need to cancel a service? Send a quick message to your entire congregation.
Send urgent text alerts to let church members know about last-minute changes to upcoming events, or a church-wide response to breaking news.
Encourage online giving with text messages that give information on how to give quickly and conveniently (or ask for a donation directly via text, if your church offers text-to-give!)
Ask for feedback from church members and visitors on a specific event or meeting.
Group texting for churches can work in a number of different ways. Ideally, a text messaging solution will sync with your contact database–which should offer a Groups feature. Most texting solutions will allow you to send texts to entire groups, or single text messages.
Send church-wide texts during the week to connect with your members about small groups, Bible studies, volunteer opportunities, and more.
Text messaging goes directly to a person's mobile phone, which can be a more instant way to connect. But a church mobile app can offer the ability for small groups to use messaging features to connect with each other. Ideally, both should be used.
Social media is great for displaying content and information, and itcan be used to connect with people. But as a communication solution, it's not comparable to texting.
The best mass texting service for churches is Tithely Messaging. Tithely is cost-efficient, easy to use, and designed specifically for the needs of churches.
Church mass texting costs anywhere from $19 a month to hundreds of dollars a month. It depends on how many text messages you want to use, and what kind of solution you choose.
Many texting services offer free trials, and some apps offer a free plan with very limited text messaging.
