Send a text to a list
If you need to send quick information to people, send them a text message! All texts are sent from lists and stored on the Message History page. You can also see them on the Communication tab of any profile. Replies are not received.
Text messages can be sent by managers, editors, and viewers who can send text messages. To send outgoing messages, you must purchase credits, which cost $0.02 each. This cost is in addition to the $5.00 monthly fee to maintain your toll-free number.
Tip
Want to see other ways to use texting in Planning Center? Check out our Texting Reference Guide!
Send or schedule a text message
Choose the Lists page from the top navigation.
Select the list to which you'd like to send a text message.
(Optional) If you don't want to text everyone on the list, use the checkbox at the top left to select everyone, and then uncheck the boxes to the left of people who should not receive the text. If no names are checked, the text will be sent to everyone on the list.
Select the message icon at the top of the list
Choose Send text message from the dropdown.
In the Compose your text message popup, enter the message and review the details below.
Characters: If you use more than the allotted number of characters, you will use more than one credit for the text.
You cannot send images, shortened URLs, or use keywords/two-way messaging.
Total cost: A credit is one text message of up to 160 standard characters to one recipient. Messages using more than 160 characters will be broken into two messages, with a 300-character total limit. The message size limit will decrease if your message uses special characters like emoji. Special characters are any characters not found in the GSM-7 encoding standard.
Credits available: If the list has more people than you have available credits or you use more characters, an organization administrator can purchase more credits from the Products page.
Scheduled Delivery: Choose a date and time to send your message up to one month in the future.
To finish, select the Send text message or Schedule text message button at the bottom of the window.
The first text a person receives notifies them that they've been subscribed to your church's texts. You are not charged for that text.
If someone tries to respond to a message, their reply is discarded, and they'll receive a text telling them that the number cannot receive replies.
Scheduled text messages
Scheduling text messages is an excellent way for your team to plan communications well in advance. However, a few additional details apply to scheduled text messages.
You can only schedule messages to be sent between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in your organization's time zone.
Scheduled text messages are sent to anyone on the list at the time the message is sent, which could be different than the people on the list when you create the message.
To view or edit scheduled text messages, choose the Lists page from the top navigation and then select Text messages in the Message history section of the left sidebar.
If your organization does not have sufficient SMS credits at the scheduled send time, the text is not sent, and the message creator receives an email notification.
Tip
To avoid insufficient SMS credits altogether, an organization administrator can enable auto-refill in account settings. This optional setting allows your organization to automatically purchase additional SMS credits when your account drops below a set threshold.
Unsubscribe and resubscribe options
If a person no longer wants to receive texts from your church, they can text STOP or STOPALL (one word) to your toll-free number. If they want to receive texts again after unsubscribing, they can text START to your number.
Warning
To prevent your phone number from being marked as spam, only send texts to people who have opted to receive texts from your church using your texting consent form. If your church has a high number of unsubscribes, your texting ability may be revoked due to mobile carrier restrictions.
Text codes
If a number isn't textable, the codes below can help explain why:
30003: The number's carrier doesn't allow for texts from shortcodes.
30004: The number is blocked. They will not receive any texts.
21612: The number is not a valid US number.
30007: A shortened URL that was included in the message is not readable by this number's provider.