Opting in or out from a phone needs no permission. Your staff need the Limited SMS permission to add numbers, opt someone back in or delete opt-ins on the Text Opt Ins screen.
The people you text control whether they hear from you. They can subscribe at any time and stop at any time, and both happen from their own phone. This article covers what they do and what they receive back.
For the wider picture of what counts as consent and why someone may be missing from a send, see What is text messaging consent?
If your account has more than one organization, each organization has its own texting number and its own opt-in list. A person opts in to, and out of, each organization separately. See STOPALL does not stop all below.
Opting in
A person can subscribe in any of these ways.
Your public opt-in page - Available to every church from the moment text messaging is enabled, at {your church}.onechurchsoftware.com/public/sms-optin. It already carries every disclosure the carriers require, and it is linked from the Text Messaging panel as Opt-In Form. It also links to your church's terms of service and privacy policy, whether they are on your own website or hosted by One Church. The person enters their number, accepts the disclosures and submits, then receives a welcome text confirming the subscription. If your account has more than one organization, each organization has its own opt-in page. A link with no organization in it uses the organization that kept the old links while that organization still holds a number, and otherwise the default organization.
Texting START or UNSTOP - Subscribes the number immediately, and clears any previous opt-out. They receive: "You have subscribed to receive text messages from [Church]. Message & data rates apply. Reply STOP to opt out."
Texting JOIN, then CONFIRM - JOIN on its own grants nothing. It replies "Reply CONFIRM to opt into receiving text messages from [Church]. Message & data rates apply." Only the CONFIRM subscribes them. If the number has stopped your texts, the reply to JOIN is not delivered, so ask people in that position to text START instead.
Answering the opt-in question on one of your forms - See How do I add the text message opt-in question to a form? If your account has more than one organization, the answer gives consent to the form's one active organization, or to the default organization if the form does not have exactly one.
Tip: Point people at your public opt-in page rather than adding their numbers yourself. It records the date, their IP address and browser, which is the evidence a carrier will ask for.
Opting out
A person can stop your messages at any time by texting any of STOP, END, QUIT, STOPALL, CANCEL or UNSUBSCRIBE to your messaging number. If your account has more than one organization, this stops texts from the organization whose number they texted, and no other.
They receive one final confirmation, which the carriers require: "You will no longer receive communication from [Church] via text message. Text START or UNSTOP to opt back in." That is the last message they get from you.
Someone can also block your number at their mobile carrier instead of texting STOP. One Church Software learns this from the failed delivery and records the opt-out for you, so you are not charged for further messages to that number. With more than one organization, the block is recorded for the organization whose number sent the message.
An opt-out only the person can reverse
Warning: When someone stops your messages themselves, no one at your church can re-subscribe them, and neither can the One Church Software support team. Overriding an opt-out is what the carriers audit for, and it puts your number's approval at risk.
The block survives everything. If that person texts your church again next month about something unrelated, they stay opted out. The way back is for them to text START or UNSTOP from that phone. JOIN then CONFIRM would also work, but after a stop the reply to JOIN is not delivered, so the person never sees the request to confirm. Always tell people to text START.
On the Text Opt Ins screen these rows carry a Consent Source of Texted STOP or Blocked At Carrier, and the Opt in and Delete actions are not offered on them.
If someone tells you they want your texts again, ask them to text START from that phone to the same number they stopped. They are re-subscribed straight away.
Opt-outs your church can undo
If the person did not stop the messages themselves, for example because a staff member marked them opted out by mistake or they answered No to the opt-in question on a form, you can reverse it with the Opt in action. This is a soft opt-out: until you reverse it, transactional texts still reach the number. See How do I manage text message opt ins?
Which texts reach someone who has opted out
What gets through depends on the kind of text:
Marketing texts - reach only people who have opted in.
Conversational replies - also reach someone who texted you during the reply window, unless they stopped or blocked your texts.
Transactional and emergency texts - reach everyone except a person who stopped or blocked your texts themselves.
What is text messaging consent? explains each kind of text.
STOPALL does not stop all
If your account has more than one organization, consent is per organization. STOP, END, QUIT, STOPALL, CANCEL or UNSUBSCRIBE sent to an organization's number stops that organization only, even though one of the words is STOPALL. The person receives one confirmation, and no one at your church can undo it. Your other organizations can still text them if they have opted in there.
Example: Riverside Community and Riverside Academy each have a number. A parent texts STOP to the Academy's number. They stop getting Academy texts, and Riverside Community can still text them.
Email works differently. An email unsubscribe covers every organization. If the same parent unsubscribes from an Academy email, they stop getting general email from both Riverside Academy and Riverside Community. The page they unsubscribe on tells them so.
What is an organization? explains organizations.
Texts to a number that cannot answer
A number that is not verified yet - texts sent to it are ignored. A STOP sent to it is recorded nowhere, so it does not stop anything.
A number your account no longer holds - when a number is released from the Messaging Center, or by archiving its organization, a STOP sent to it stops every active organization, but only while the number still leads to your account. That link breaks within about a day. A STOP after that is dropped and recorded nowhere.
How do I archive an organization? explains what happens to an organization's number when it is archived.
Getting help by text
Anyone can text HELP or INFO to your messaging number and receive your church name, your phone number, a note that message and data rates may apply, and how to opt out. Churches with giving enabled also get "Text GIVE to donate."
The carriers require this reply to name the program, provide contact details and state that rates apply, and it is kept to a single message so you are not billed twice each time someone asks. It is not customizable.