adding church members to sms list?

9 years ago

Originally Posted by rolltide

i am working on signing up some churches to do sms marketing. is there a way to just upload the members cell numbers without having to get them to opt in to the list?

I'm pretty sure that will depend on your platform! The platform I have allows for uploading csv files and, if I remember correctly, Trumpia offered that ability as well. What service are you using to send your messages?
b

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rolltide

9 years ago

I am just getting started. What platform do you use?

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BKH

9 years ago

I use txt180 but I wouldn't recommend going with any platform based solely on the ability to upload. From what I recall there is a good majority of platforms that will allow uploading of some sort, so I recommend as always to do your research and make sure the platform you select will allow you to flourish.
Goodluck,
b

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JToneyUK

9 years ago

Intrgued as to why target churches for SMS campaigns? Do churches have decent budgets that they'd want to have this service? Do they attract an audience who are likely to own mobiles/want texts (in the UK, religion is a lot less popular than the states, mainly elder people go to church)? Do you not feel some kind of ethical issues making money from the church?

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3 replies

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BKH

9 years ago

Originally Posted by JToneyUK

Intrgued as to why target churches for SMS campaigns? Do churches have decent budgets that they'd want to have this service? Do they attract an audience who are likely to own mobiles/want texts (in the UK, religion is a lot less popular than the states, mainly elder people go to church)? Do you not feel some kind of ethical issues making money from the church?

I don't know if it could be a market for mobile sites but who knows until you try. As far as why churches use them...I already have double digit churches using my service. They really don't use it as a marketing device but they give out information as to bible studies, church events, even volleyball games.

Do I feel bad about taking they're money? No...if not me it's the next guy/gal and if it increases their attendance and collections.

Either way goodluck to ya,
b

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limecellular

9 years ago

Originally Posted by JToneyUK

Intrgued as to why target churches for SMS campaigns? Do churches have decent budgets that they'd want to have this service? Do they attract an audience who are likely to own mobiles/want texts (in the UK, religion is a lot less popular than the states, mainly elder people go to church)? Do you not feel some kind of ethical issues making money from the church?

It is a way to target the youth groups involved in the Church and send prayers, updates on events and what's happening in the congregation, etc. The kids of today grew up sending texts. It is second nature to them. So then, it has become part of the ecumenical strategy.

I am sure some Churches have more than enough reason and finances to use an SMS marketing platform. We have Christian radio stations here in the US that dedicate themselves to the niche market that is Christian music. But this all depends where you live, and the cultural/religious make-up of the area, and the resources of a church ultimately depend on the number of parishioners, of course.

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Mobileico

9 years ago

Originally Posted by JToneyUK

Intrgued as to why target churches for SMS campaigns? Do churches have decent budgets that they'd want to have this service? Do they attract an audience who are likely to own mobiles/want texts (in the UK, religion is a lot less popular than the states, mainly elder people go to church)? Do you not feel some kind of ethical issues making money from the church?

Here in the states, there are tons of churches and you'll see if you turn on the tele that have more than enough money for a budget. All religious organizations can benefit from this service. Also, I never look at how much they have in their budget. I look at how much I can multiply that budget. As far as ethics goes, there is a difference between religion and business. Try not to get the two confused. Asking money from a religious institution to help them is not to be confused with an institution that asks money from people because of whom or what they believe in. Trust me. You have more of a right to ask anyone for money when you are helping them. Be great in everything you do

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Rose Anderson

9 years ago

I work at a church part-time and we pay for many services; I'm not sure why anyone would have an ethical issue selling services to a church or non-profit. Some companies do offer a discounted rate. That's assuming your services are honest, of course.

At least 90% of our member have cell phones if not more.

We also have a very active youth and children's ministry so it's not only the elderly who attend.

However, I will say we would never use their cell phone numbers to send them text messages unless they signed up saying they were willing to get them.

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JToneyUK

9 years ago

Yeah I guess if a church had faulty plumbing, or damaged roof tiles then labourers in those professions would not expect just to do it for free.

I don't think this would work quite as well over here in the UK though. It might not be the same EVERYWHERE, but I can safely say that in my town alone, 80% of people do not go to church. And I wouldn't be suprised if it was a higher. Of course people are always gonna be going to church and there will be a constant stream of young people attending. But it's certainly not enough to have dedicated religious radio stations and as such, churches over here would probably not really go for this.

I may however throw it out there to some, just to see.

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oogyboogawa

9 years ago

If 80% of people in your town don't go to church, that leaves 20% that do. If 80% of people ate at home every night would that mean working with restaurants isn't a viable business plan?

Not saying you should go sell your churches on SMS marketing, just pointing out that simply because EVERYONE doesn't do something doesn't mean there isn't a niche market there that you can work with.

Side note: I'd be surprised if 20% of people in the US went to church regularly either(Christmas and Easter doesn't count as "regularly").

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JToneyUK

9 years ago

Lol very true!! I aint saying its not viable, just think that church leaders around here would have difficulty seeing this as something beneficial to their cause. And quite honestly, I'd say the figures were more 98% and 2%

Originally Posted by oogyboogawa

If 80% of people in your town don't go to church, that leaves 20% that do. If 80% of people ate at home every night would that mean working with restaurants isn't a viable business plan?

Not saying you should go sell your churches on SMS marketing, just pointing out that simply because EVERYONE doesn't do something doesn't mean there isn't a niche market there that you can work with.

Side note: I'd be surprised if 20% of people in the US went to church regularly either(Christmas and Easter doesn't count as "regularly").

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ccstudio

9 years ago

Good food for thought. I agree with BKH, it isn't exploiting the church if you honestly offer a genuine service that will benefit the churches member awareness and turnout then more power to you.

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Simeon Tuitt

9 years ago

Originally Posted by rolltide

i am working on signing up some churches to do sms marketing. is there a way to just upload the members cell numbers without having to get them to opt in to the list?

I wouldn't recommend uploading peoples cell numbers without getting their permission, they need to optin or its considered spam and I am sure there would be some data protection issues if the churches past on peoples personal information to a third party (you) for marketing purposes. The best businesses and places to target are those with products or services they sell, many churches these days have a facebook page to connect with the people that attend, there isn't really anything churches sell that could really pay for what you would charge to manage their sms campaigns and over here in the UK they are only open Sundays. You would also need sufficient numbers of people attending a church to be able to monetize it for a church or they could use a mobile if they have less than 50 people in attendence at anytime. Go after places already spending money advertising, it will save you a lot of time in the long run. If you do get a church on board, let us know though, be interesting.

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BKH

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Information Publishing

I wouldn't recommend uploading peoples cell numbers without getting their permission, they need to optin or its considered spam and I am sure there would be some data protection issues if the churches past on peoples personal information to a third party (you) for marketing purposes. The best businesses and places to target are those with products or services they sell, many churches these days have a facebook page to connect with the people that attend, there isn't really anything churches sell that could really pay for what you would charge to manage their sms campaigns and over here in the UK they are only open Sundays. You would also need sufficient numbers of people attending a church to be able to monetize it for a church or they could use a mobile if they have less than 50 people in attendence at anytime. Go after places already spending money advertising, it will save you a lot of time in the long run. If you do get a church on board, let us know though, be interesting.

Churches may not "sell" anything but you are very off base as to whether or not they could use it. I signed up one church just to get out alerts as to events that they had going on for youth groups and such, and stemming from that I had 5 other ministries contact me to use my service.

And let's face it churches make money off of the offerings and the more people in the pews, the more money.

But it doesn't end there...Schools don't "sell" anything and I have a handfull of those signed up to send out alerts to parents...this service may be referred to as SMS marketing but it is really just a communication tool that anybody can benifit from whether they are making money or not.

Goodluck,
b

Thanks
1 reply

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Simeon Tuitt

9 years ago

Originally Posted by BKH

Churches may not "sell" anything but you are very off base as to whether or not they could use it. I signed up one church just to get out alerts as to events that they had going on for youth groups and such, and stemming from that I had 5 other ministries contact me to use my service.

And let's face it churches make money off of the offerings and the more people in the pews, the more money.

But it doesn't end there...Schools don't "sell" anything and I have a handfull of those signed up to send out alerts to parents...this service may be referred to as SMS marketing but it is really just a communication tool that anybody can benifit from whether they are making money or not.

Goodluck,
b

Hi B, glad to hear its going well for you and congrats on the church close, over here there is no milage in churches, they have practically sold most of them off to other religions because people don't attend as much in the UK. Be interesting to know what prices you are charging where you are to see how the rates for services differ if you are USA based.

All the best,
Sim

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BKH

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Information Publishing

Hi B, glad to hear its going well for you and congrats on the church close, over here there is no milage in churches, they have practically sold most of them off to other religions because people don't attend as much in the UK. Be interesting to know what prices you are charging where you are to see how the rates for services differ if you are USA based.

All the best,
Sim

Thank you! I can see there not being enough of an attendance to justify it for the churches over there but do they not still contact them in some way, phone call or email? That is really what the churches use it for here it almost replaces the phone calls and emails so the money and time spent is spared for other things.

I charge the same for the churches that I do for any other business and the churches average about 2000 messages a month and for that I charge $140 but one is very small and only uses 250 messages month for $25.

Hope this helps,
b

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madeinheaven

9 years ago

I sell sms text to churches all the time, there is nothing wrong with this. I was talking to a pastor yesterday and he said his focus is to market his message the 21st century way.

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madeinheaven

9 years ago

Matter of fact, when I was focused on only selling a sms text service to them, he wanted alot more. He wanted to email to a cold list, he wanted a moblie app for the church. He wanted a different website. And then he explained how important marketing is for the church.

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chrisclements521

9 years ago

Some of our most active clients are Churches... Its a great market! I would advise against uploading a list of numbers from people that have not opted in... This would be spamming and you don't want to get a church in trouble for something like that.

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fmnelly

9 years ago

i agree with chris churches are great target point and you will not miss it

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agonce

9 years ago

hey guys, since my religion does not require going to church, can someone please tell me who is the BEST person in the church to talk to about marketing? I am planning to do walk ins in the next two days and I would really appreciate if someone gave me this information.

Thanks

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madeinheaven 9 years ago

I alway go to the senior pastor, most of them are the decision makers.
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Rose Anderson

9 years ago

Depends on the size of the church. Most large churches will have an administrator or someone in charge of marketing. Many churches have a "communications committee" who make advertising decisions.

The senior pastors rarely want to mess with these kind of issues except to make a final yes or no. They probably won't want to deal with the details...unless it's a very small church where the pastor has to do everything.

Rose (preacher's kid and church bookkeeper)

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rainingproblems

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Rose Anderson

Depends on the size of the church. Most large churches will have an administrator or someone in charge of marketing. Many churches have a "communications committee" who make advertising decisions.

The senior pastors rarely want to mess with these kind of issues except to make a final yes or no. They probably won't want to deal with the details...unless it's a very small church where the pastor has to do everything.

Rose (preacher's kid and church bookkeeper)

Does anyone know the best method to get in touch with the senior pastor or the administrator...do you use the same means you'd use for other businesses e.g. cold calling, postcards, lettters, walk-ins etc?

Thanks

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adding church members to sms list?

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