Once you've had congregants sign up for texting and matched up contact information to their corresponding person records, you can create and format a text message and assign an audience all in one screen from the Communications.
To send a text in the Communications view,
1. Go to the Communications view and click the link to "Add New Message".
2. In the next window, choose "Text" as your channel.
3. For your new message, choose a message type that best describes the purpose of your message. Message types can be created under Communication Settings.
4. Type in your message title. This will be used in the Communications view to show statistics for your message.
5. Using the drop-down menus under the Include heading, choose any Smart Groups or Tags (using the first field) or individuals (using the second field) you want to receive this message. The statistics below the menus will automatically update to show how many people are selected in total as well as the number of selected records that have phone numbers on their record and those that do not.
6. Using the drop-down menus under the Exclude heading, choose any Smart Groups or Tags (using the first field) or individuals (using the second field) you want to subtract from those initially chosen using the Include fields. The statistics below the menus will automatically update to show how many people are selected in total as well as the number of selected records that have phone numbers on their record and those that do not.
7. After selecting the groups and persons for your Audience, click the "Review >" link to review the phone numbers used for each person. Click "Done" once your review is complete.
8. In the lower section of the screen, type or paste your message into the text editor. Text messages have a 160-character limit.
9. After composing your message, choose your desired action from the buttons at the bottom of the page.
- Cancel - This will cancel your message permanently and return you to the Communications view.
- Save Draft - This will save the message to the Communications view without sending it. You will be able to edit this message before scheduling and sending it at a later time.
- Schedule - This will allow you to set a date and time for your message to be sent to all chosen recipients.
- Send - This will send your message out immediately to all chosen recipients.