Text2Give will be discontinued in Canada on May 10th 2022.
This change is impacting all Planning Center Giving customers in Canada that use our short code 84321. We’ve tried everything in our power to prevent this from happening but we’re now out of options. Our short code is being decommissioned in Canada. On May 10th, our system will lose the ability to route messages to/from 84321.
Between now and May 10th:
Text2Give will function normally for existing donors who already use it. There are two immediate changes:
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The system will not allow new donors to set up Text2Give. Incoming texts to 84321 will receive a reply letting the sender know that this system is being retired on May 10th.
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For existing Text2Give donors, the usual “Thanks! You gave $_ …” message will be followed by an additional message that says: “NOTICE: Text2Give will be shut down on May 10th. For future donations, please use {your_church_center_donation_link}". If the donor already has the Church Center mobile app on iOS or Android installed, this link will automatically open the Church Center app. Without the app installed, they’ll be brought to the online donation form.
Our goal is to provide clarity to your donors and give them an alternative way to give as quickly and clearly as possible.
On May 10th:
Planning Center will lose its ability to respond to incoming SMS messages at 84321 completely in Canada. At this time, the feature will be considered shut down.
Why is this happening?
SMS text messaging is regulated by telecom providers in Canada. Short codes like 84321 are approved for use by the Short Code Council (“SCC”). The SCC will occasionally issue new restrictions. Systems like Text2Give that send automated messages from short codes are being increasingly regulated.
A few weeks ago, our service provider Twilio alerted us that Rogers Wireless had raised a concern about 84321. Rogers was concerned about the existence of the 30 day software trial that Planning Center offers to all new customers. Their concern was that a freely available trial would be a potential magnet for spammers and fraudsters looking to use 84321 to spam phone numbers.
If you know how Text2Give works, you know why this is an odd concern.
- There’s no way to send mass messages using 84321.
- There’s no way to customize messages using 84321 (pre-formatted messages are sent in response to incoming messages from donors).
In addition to this, Planning Center has been a responsible steward of this short code 84321 in Canada since 2017 with virtually no spam and fraud.
We, along with Twilio, were convinced that once Rogers understood how the system worked their concerns would abate. After many emails, Zoom calls, and software demos Rogers was still unsatisfied. So, we dropped the ability to use the short code and switched instead to a 10 digit “long code” phone number for customers still on their 30 day trial period. The auditor was unmoved.
We then offered to remove all SMS functionality (short code or long code) while customers are engaged in their 30 day trial. While we were putting that in place, we unexpectedly received word that Rogers had submitted a decommissioning request for 84321 set for May 10th. This is irrevocable and we have no appeal process for this decision.
We and our service provider Twilio are convinced we’ve exhausted all our options.
Our team is dismayed by this decision and we know many of our customers in Canada will be too. As always, our support staff is here to answer your questions.
Sincerely,
Planning Center and the Giving Team