In the last post we surveyed the history of business (A2P) texting. We learned that initially A2P texting was available either for thousands of dollars per month using short codes or free using email. That left a wide gap for the innovation that rolled out in 2021 called 10 digit long code (10DLC) texting.
Churchteams provides both free (through email) and paid (through 10DLC) texting that we branded Text-to-Church (T2C). But, when should you use free texting and when should you use T2C? Here are some things to consider.
If your church has a huge value for excellence and consistency in communication and the budget to carry it out, then you may want to use T2C all the time. The benefit is that all texts will come from your 10 digit number rather than an email. That consistency and familiarity of messaging may make it worth the extra cost.
We've gotten used to not paying for communication because of email and free texting, but many of us remember the days when everything was sent by snail mail. Budgeting for texts is nothing compared to that.
If your church just doesn't have the budget, then we still have you covered. Free texting using email is a great way to communicate, understanding the limitations listed below.
There is also a middle ground for churches that want the functionality of T2C for some things but also want to limit costs for other types of communication. This table can help you figure out the pros and cons of both types of texting based on how you want to use it.
Let's do some quick math to help think about budgeting. These numbers are all monthly.
- 500 = $10 (monthly fee). 5 texts to 100 people.
- 2500 = $50 (fee plus 2000 x $0.02=$40). 5 texts to 500 people.
- 12,615 = $252.30 (fee plus 12,115 x $0.02=$242.30). 5 texts to 2,523 people.
Compare that to 500 postcards at the first class rate of $0.40 = $200! And that doesn't count material and production costs.
All of these may be factors you want to consider when budget preparation time comes around. Next time we'll talk about some of the budget management features we built into Text-to-Church to help you make sure you are texting within your means.
