Two Don't-Miss Texting Resources

By Nate Dame

A while back, Joshua Griffin posted a ton of cool online resources. I have two outstanding favorites that I think could be useful for almost every youth pastor:

Simply TXT: Send individual or group text messages to your students, parents, or volunteers. This tool seriously blew me away. I’ve been dreaming about being able to create groups and send text messages on the fly, like I do with email now, but I had never seen something that could actually do it. Simply TXT lets you build groups and send messages whenever you like–you can even schedule them in advance–and the pricing is pretty reasonable.

Poll Everywhere: Create polls and free response questions your students respond to via text message. Results are updated live and can be displayed right on your projector. Another tool I was honestly thinking, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” before I heard about it. Pricing is reasonable with a free option for audiences under 30 people.

Nathaniel Dame

Nate is the president of Called to Youth Ministry which is dedicated to providing youth ministry resources, coaching, community and training for youth pastors and leaders. He is driven by a passion to promote effective youth ministry in the local church. Nate lives with his beautiful wife, Christa, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Follow him on Twitter @NateDame.

Comments

I have another resource that

On Feb 14, 2010, christopher schmitz said:

I have another resource that is amazing in large group settings:
http://wiffiti.com/
I've seen this used at large meetings and conventions. It's a crowd pleaser and a resource I have bookmarked (along with poll everywhere). Simply txt looks like a winner too, so thanx for that one!

you should also add

On Feb 14, 2010, christopher schmitz said:

you should also add http://wiffiti.com/ to your list of resources. It works amazingly well in large group settings/conventions, etc. You should check out the demo/videos on their website. I saw our district youth convention use this a few months back and had to get with my district director to find out what it was, it was a pretty awesome way to get 1000 teens interacting with each other (and coincidently, I spoke in a middle school recently and polled the 6-9th graders on who had a cell phone... 100% of them had their own mobile... we gotta stay ahead of the game, fellow YPS!)

Very cool, thanks Chris!

On Feb 15, 2010, Nate Dame said:

Very cool, thanks Chris!

I use both simply txt and

On Apr 3, 2010, Adam Lehman said:

I use both simply txt and poll everywhere. Love them!

Great post! Thanks for that!

On May 14, 2010, Darren said:

Great post! Thanks for that!

The best texting service I

On Jan 10, 2011, DavidMartinTX said:

The best texting service I have found and currently use is http://mobilizeus.com/

They have special pricing for non-prof and the customer service is unbelievably good.

If you check them out, ask for Debra and just say Dave from Grace Point sent you, that way she'll know how to hook you up like she did us.

Love students and point them to Jesus.

-Dave
DavidMartinBlog.com

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