ChurchTools offers you different ways to get or stay in contact with people in your congregation – automated and individual. The best way to do this is to use the groups in ChurchTools, from which you can send e-mails, start chats or publish posts, for example.
For example, you can create designated “communication or distribution groups” to quickly and easily write to all congregation members, donors or other target groups by e-mail.
In the small groups, for example, the chat can be used for this purpose so that the participants in the small groups can network independently and the congregation leadership can publish important information for the entire congregation via posts.
Below we present the various communication channels so that you can use them according to your needs.
E-mail #
You can either use routines to automatically send an e-mail from your ChurchTools when a group member changes role or status. In this prepared e-mail, for example, the registration is confirmed for each newly signed up participant in your group, further important information about the group is shared or you are informed when the next meeting will take place.
Or you can send individual e-mails to individual or all members of your groups.
Chat #
A much easier and faster means of communication for many is chat. With ChurchTools, you have the option of enabling a shared group chat for your group. If you enable chat for your group, you can make it easier for group leaders and organizers, for example, to organize and communicate with each other without having to send an e-mail for every little thing or create a new group chat in an external messenger service.
As the group leader, you can individually set which roles in your group can participate in this chat and whether they are allowed to read and/or write. You can find out exactly how to do this in our guide to managing group chats.
In addition, group members can also talk to each other in One-on-one chats or create their own small chat rooms with several other participants.
Posts #
Posts may be more suitable for large groups than chat for direct communication. They allow your group to exchange information on specific topics at any time and from anywhere. In addition to reading or viewing posts, group members can interact with each other on different posts. You can find more information about posts in the article Overview posts. In our article on the How do posts differ from chat, we provide you with criteria that you can use to decide which way makes more sense for your group.