Version 2.0 of mass texting from Planning Center People is now available for our US customers! There are some changes to the setup process, but how you can use texting hasn’t changed. Each church will now apply to be assigned their own toll-free number instead of sending from a shared shortcode.
New Pricing
Text messaging will now cost $5 per month with no setup fee. This is a pass-through cost assessed by the telecom provider to maintain ownership and exclusive use of your toll-free number.
We are covering the first month’s $5 fee for everyone that signs up for a phone number before November 1st, 2023.
You’ll still purchase texting credits as needed, and these will continue to be $0.02 per credit.
Getting Your Account Setup to Send Texts
We now require a few key pieces of information about your church in order to verify that any texts being sent through Planning Center are from a legitimate organization.
The application to get an assigned 10-digit toll-free phone number will ask for the following:
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Credit card information | How to add a credit card to your account: Set Your Billing Information
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Estimated monthly texts | Choose the option that will cover the number of texts you expect to send each month.
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Opt-in form URL | You’ll need a method to gather consent from the people you’ll be texting. This article can show you how to create a People Form to gather consent: Common Forms. Be sure to insert the public URL!
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Church contact information | Physical address, website (this can be your Church Center site), email address, and phone number.
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Contact person at your church | This should be someone with Organization Administrator permissions in your account.
As soon as you submit the application, you can start texting within a few minutes! Our partners at Twilio will take up to a couple of weeks to confirm that the information you provided in your application is valid, then send you an email once it’s been officially approved. While awaiting verification, there will be daily, weekly, and monthly limits.
Thanks again for your patience, and we’re excited to get texting back up!
Happy texting!
♥️
~ The People Team ~