Comments on: Ideas for using txt messaging in youth ministry

By: Infectious_4_JC

Infectious_4_JC — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:53:08 +0000

I have had really good success with Broadtexter.com it is free the only thing that is not super convenient is the fact I cannot set up groups. It does separate by state but that is the limitation of it's groupings. You simply add "ALL:" to the beginning of each "broadtext" and it goes to everyone. I don't know but this has worked for my particular group. I have set up 3 different Broadtext's my largest right now is near the 100 mark. This may work for some of the smaller groups. They have a free code generator to give you a widget for your facebook/myspace site or for your group's website.

Just a suggestion….

You all may have discussed them on here before and I just missed it! Just thought I would pass it on.

By: Tyree

Tyree — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:21:28 +0000

Anyone know of a more affordable one if you have over 300 contacts?

By: Josh Brown

Josh Brown — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 20:49:23 +0000

Hey guy,

I have checked out all these programs before. Lat year I got a Blackberry Curve. Blackberry allows you to set up groups in your address book. I set upa group for our ministry. I have over 100 students. I can add and delete memebers quickly. I send out text messgaes every single night. Devotionals and announcements, prayer request, etc,. It has been amazing. Send it once and it goes to everyone. I send over 11,000 text a month, but when about 4,000 of those come all at one time it is not bad. If we go to an event I can send a mass text out of where we are going to meet or what not and every kid gets it. My unlimited package is $25 a month but is priceless in comparison to the connecting I can do with my kids. Our visitor card has a place for studnets to check if they want to be added or not. I have check and there is not limit to the number you can add to a group. I have just talked to our National Youth Pastor about doing this for our entire denomination. Let me know if you would like to know more.

By: Txting… | Youth Ministry Blog

Txting… | Youth Ministry Blog — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:01:16 +0000

[...] Tim’s just put out a list of services that will bulk-text people from computer (as apart from texting bulk texts from one’s mobile [...]

By: ~JOSh-X

~JOSh-X — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:43:08 +0000

TextMarks sent me an email today saying that they’re offering a “Pro” version to get rid of the ads!

If you’re interested in that, check it out :)

By: like a fire » New Way to Communicate With Teens

like a fire » New Way to Communicate With Teens — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:04:22 +0000

[...] to many people all at once (and can’t do it from your Facebook account) then head over the Tim Schmoyer’s blog and get the lowdown on how to do it for free with [...]

By: Tim Schmoyer

Tim Schmoyer — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:20:20 +0000

@ Dan Browne: It depends on what the size of your ministry is. If you're only talking about a couple kids, sending messages to their phones via their phone's email address is free. That gets to be a big hassle and pretty unmanageable for larger groups, though.

By: Dan Browne

Dan Browne — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:14:30 +0000

I love free. How would you handle/justify txtsignal on a budget of oh $500 a year?

By: Tim Schmoyer

Tim Schmoyer — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:33:55 +0000

@ Michael: I’ve never used Jott, but if you have to manually enter in info and don’t give people an easy way to remove themselves from the list, I agree that would make it difficult for large groups.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:41:17 +0000

Just curious why Jott is not as great for really large groups. Is it because you have to manually enter all the info??

By: rodney

rodney — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:07:55 +0000

You could also try using tuggle.it. It is a youth social networking site that also allows you to group text (FOR FREE!!!)

By: Chris S.

Chris S. — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:28:40 +0000

Mike is right! Jott is GREAT as a text messaging tool (not so much for really large groups) but also as a personal productivity tool.

Don’t forget about Simply Youth Ministry’s new text service! It is actually supported by TxtSignal so if you are considering paying for that service why not support fellow youth workers?

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:19:24 +0000

Tim, thanks for the great post. I have tried out txt signal and poll everywhere, but I hadn’t heard of wiffiti yet. It will fit in great for some interactive services I want to try.

Another txt service that I use is Jott. Jott transcribes your voice messages and converts them to text that is sent out as text messages and emails to your entire group. If you don’t trust the voice recognition, you can type out your messages. I use it all the time to send out quick updates to the youth group. The only drawback is sometimes the messages get split up into multiple txts. It does add some extra text to the bottom of the message so you can listen to the original recording.

And the best thing is that it is completely free.

By: Tim Schmoyer

Tim Schmoyer — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:05:37 +0000

@ Lane Gilbert! Thanks for that tip. I had no idea. I’m going to update the post about that.

By: Lane Gilbert

Lane Gilbert — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:04:00 +0000

FYI- i was using txtmarks and it was working great until….. they use ads at the end of the texts you send, usually not a problem since they were mostly for the shirts and other things they offer, but the other day it was an ad for a psychic hotline…..i have quit using them and switched to txtsignal.

By: ShepherdTools.org

ShepherdTools.org — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

LINK

By: Shore Youth Ministry: Life in Ministry from the ‘real’ OC

Shore Youth Ministry: Life in Ministry from the ‘real’ OC — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

workers that have been influential in my ministry this year. Be sure to check out these posts, and subscribe to their blogs. Here are my Top 5 Youth Ministry Tips from 2008: 52 Links and 52 More Links Youth Workers Should Check Out by Josh GriffinIdeas for Using Text Messaging in Ministryby Tim Schmoyer 3 Reasons Youth Pastors Should Have Office Hours by Josh Griffin Youth Ministry and 12seconds.tv by Mike Kupferer Youth Ministry and a Business Degree by Josh Griffin Related posts: