How-to articles
Practical guides for church admins: what bulk SMS costs, how to budget it, how to avoid Unicode surprises, and how to choose a platform.
-
What 'Bulk SMS' Actually Means for a Uganda Church
A plain-language explainer on what bulk SMS actually is, how it works in Uganda, and what a church admin needs to understand before sending their first one.
-
How Do You Remind People About Tithe Without Sounding Like a Debt Collector?
Money-adjacent SMS is the easiest kind of church message to get wrong. Some practical, honest guidance on tone, timing, and targeting before you send one.
-
Why Does an SMS Cost UGX 35, and Who Actually Sets That Price?
A plain-language explainer on where the UGX 35 per SMS part price actually comes from, and why no church communications tool can undercut it.
-
One Emoji Turned a 1-Part Text Into 3
A single emoji or curly apostrophe can triple your SMS cost. Here's why, and how to catch it before you hit send.
-
Why SMS Still Beats WhatsApp for the Grandmother in the Third Row
WhatsApp groups feel free and modern. For a chunk of any Uganda congregation, SMS is still the only message that actually arrives.
-
The Weekly Text That Keeps 12 Small Group Leaders on the Same Page
How a church with a dozen home fellowship leaders keeps them all briefed with one tagged SMS, without a WhatsApp group turning into a debate.
-
Someone Replied 'STOP.' Now What?
A church admin gets a blunt reply to a bulk SMS and has to figure out, without a rulebook, how to actually respect it — because no platform does that thinking for you.
-
Half the Message Was in Luganda. The Cost Doubled.
A perfectly natural bilingual church announcement quietly tripped an encoding rule most admins have never heard of — and cost three times what it should have.
-
We Turned On Email Too. Almost Nobody Opened It.
A church admin enables email alongside SMS expecting to save money on messaging, and learns the honest difference in how each channel actually gets read in Uganda.
-
Budgeting for Texts Like You Budget for Airtime
A church finance committee learns to forecast its SMS spend the same practical way it already budgets for airtime, fuel, and diesel for the generator.
-
Eight Questions to Ask Before You Pick a Bulk SMS Tool for Your Church
A practical checklist for church committees comparing bulk SMS options in Uganda, built from the questions that actually matter after the sign-up screen.