Religious organizations are some of our most passionate users, and for good reason. We have thousands of churches and youth ministries using our group SMS service to reach out to their congregations and youth with daily verses, alerts and changes in schedule – with a single click.
Youth Specialties provides a prime example of how the power of Tatango can be incorporated to better communication within youth ministries.
Youth Specialties formed out of a genuine realization that there was a lack of relevant, fun and effective youth ministry resources. Founders Mike Yaconelli and Wayne Rice saw an opportunity to bring a current solution to the timeless question, “how do you provide a compelling environment for young believers to grow in their faith?” Their proactive approach led to the self-release of a book entitled “Ideas” which was precisely that; ideas of how to engage the new generation. Today Youth Specialties has grown exponentially and is involved in multiple facets of the media. One thing that has remained unchanged is youth specialties dedication to finding current solutions to problems facing the church.
Challenge
Youth Specialties has been blessed with a rapidly growing and diversifying ministry. Even the most overt blessings often come with problems. One such problem Youth Specialties needed to address was their inability to effectively communicate with their increasingly mobile students. Making last minute changes caused headaches for the ministry leaders. Phone calls and texts were sent out in a flurry of chaos and confusion often leaving group members unaware of important schedule changes.
Furthermore, sending reminders often led to wasted time on the phone. “Since I was calling/texting people individually, I was often accidentally starting a conversation when I just wanted to convey a message.” says Adam McLane, Consumer Engagement Manager. Needless to say, potentially productive hours were wasted. While there is no way to get those hours back, there is a way to prevent hours from being wasted in the future.
Solution
“Tatango has simplified the whole deal,” says Adam. “If I’m coming back from a trip 30 minutes late, I can send a quick text to the list and poof, everyone knows.”Tatango’s intuitive system allows text messages to be sent instantaneously to entire groups. It no longer matters where the sender or the recipients are. Your worries can be put at bay in the time it takes to draft a text message. Thousands of ministries already utilize Tatango’s unique SMS service to increase communication and fellowship within their organization.
Youth Specialties is similar to most ministries in that it is multi-faceted. As such, most messages need not be read by every individual in a respective ministry. Tatango understands this. To give users increased control, Tatango created subgroups. You can organize members into as many subgroups as you see fit and send messages to any combination of these groups. “I have subgroups for youth, parents, and volunteers. They give me a simple way to communicate with everyone without having them join a bunch of messy lists.” raves Adam. “Its pure brilliance.”Without the hassle of miscommunication, Youth Specialties has gotten back to doing what they do best, which is providing a compelling environment for young believers to grow in their faith.
