Text-to-Act How To & Examples

Text-to-Act is another way to build a deeper connection with your church members. From offering volunteer opportunities and collecting prayer requests to sharing daily devotions, open up texting as another avenue for communication. You have the ability to completely customize the keywords and messages your members receive. 

Let's get Started

As you begin using this feature, remember:

• Keep the messages short and meaningful.
• Remember to link to something like a form to fill out when looking to gather additional info.
• Help with length and appearance by shortening URLs (using a service like bit.ly).
• Do not send solely a URL as a response; instead, start the message with a short piece of text and then use the shortened URL. 

Getting started is 4-steps:

1. Navigate to 'Connect' > 'Text-to-Act' tab in the portal.
2. Start plugging in a 'Keyword' individuals may text to your assigned campus number to receive responses.
3. Create a ‘Keyword’ that someone can text to you to trigger engagement, such as ‘Devotion’, or ‘Connect’.
4. Write the response message and click ‘add’ to make it live.

If you're looking for inspiration, below are 'Keywords' followed by responses you can try out with your church:

Registration and Needs

• 'Shoebox' Put a smile on a child's face. Sponsor a shoebox: https://a3a.me/6f633
• 'Prayer' Need to be uplifted in prayer? Let us know your needs: https://a3a.me/4d525 
• 'Volunteer' We're looking for volunteers to assist with our Easter service. Let us know how you would like to help: https://a3a.me/eaed7

Events and Ministries

• 'Retreat' Register for the Men's Retreat 2016: https://a3a.me/7eda9
• 'Serve' Sign up today https://a3a.me/479bb
• 'Small Group' Ready to take the next step? Find and join a small group: https://a3a.me/eaed7
• 'Peru' Provide ongoing support to the Robinsons' by helping to cover annual expenses: https://a3a.me/bSS6b

Sermon Content/Sunday Morning

• 'Connect' Thank you for joining us! Please fill out our connection card: https://a3a.me/6a67d 
• 'Prepare' Click here to pause for a minute and prepare for Sunday! https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Mid-Week Engagement

• 'Devotion' "Show hospitality to one another without grumbling." 1 Peter 4:9
• 'Renew' Click this link from your phone to download our Renew app: https://a3a.me/myrenew

Note: 'App' is a keyword that's already systematically reserved and one you don't have to set up. It's another great way to send users directly to your store listing to download your app.

To help spread the word around this tool, share you text number in your bulletin and/or slides as well as within your mobile app using the "Text Us" feature. Also, mention this option during announcements and let them know how simple the process is - just another way to invite the entire church body to participate.  

Check out our short video on how to create key words and response messages for Text-to-Act below!

Text-to-Act is part of our Text Engagement Suite (includes Outbound Text, Welcome Concierge and Text-to-Act). Interested in adding this to your plan? Send us a note at support@aware3.com!