Enhancing Student Organization Communications With Text Messaging
Student organization communications are key to its success and vital to campus life. Student clubs and organizations at college campuses across the country can use text messaging in a variety of ways to interact with members, and do good for the campus and local community. A recent Penn State study published in the Social Science Journal polled respondents from a mid-sized university in the northeastern U.S. and found more than one-third of students said they send/and or receive at least 100 texts a day, and check their message on average nearly 16 times an hour! So if you want to reach college students, you can’t ignore text messaging.
Whether your college club is academic, cultural, faith-based, political, social (fraternity or sorority), sports related, service oriented or affiliated with a national honor society, you can use text messaging in many ways. Here are just a few ways that student organizations can take advantage of text messaging:
Recruiting
During recruiting times, student organizations can post signs around campus with text-for-information prompts. If an interested student sees one of these signs, they can text a keyword to 81411, and immediately receive more information about the group. Once they’ve subscribed to receive more information, interested students can also receive messages about upcoming recruiting events via text. Additionally, whenever someone texts for information, the student organization can capture interested students’ contact info, and follow-up with a phone call to answer any questions.
Event Information
Speaking of events, text messaging is a great way to inform existing student organization members about upcoming events. Mass text messaging can be used to provide event updates, or event changes to all members at once. The ability to text everyone in your organization simultaneously keeps everyone in your group informed and on the same page.
Team Building
Team building exercises are a great way to learn to work together and have fun. For example, Boston University has conducted annual scavenger hunts as a way for new students to meet each other and learn more about their new city. Scavenger hunts can be organized and executed easily using text messaging. Rather than giving clues on strips of paper that can be destroyed or lost, text message clues stay on the users phone. Text message clues also instantly reach users’ phones, so there’s no delay when a team needs their next clue.
News and General Information
In addition to event information, text messaging is an incredibly useful conduit for sending general organization news and information to members. If your chapter accomplishes something outstanding, or receives recognition, you can inform every member right away with a text! Student organization communications that include text messages are also useful in announcing chapter election results, or any other news that’s relevant to members.
Photo Credit: “Club Information Day” by Parker Knight, CC by 2.0
If you have questions about how text messaging can enhance your student organization’s communication, feel free to call us at 800-696-1393, or email tmsales@textmarks.com.
