GUIDE · ABOUT 15 MINUTES
Move your group from GroupMe.
Six steps. Nothing for members to install. Flip phones and kosher phones included.
Six steps. Nothing for members to install. Flip phones and kosher phones included.
Go to bunchtext.com/app on any phone or computer. Your mobile number, a 6-digit code, the group's name, open chat or announce-only, and a card for the first $10. The group's number appears on the spot.
Save that number in your phone under the group's name. It's the group from now on.
Use whichever of these fits. Most groups use two.
GroupMe's "Export my data" won't help here. It gives you names only, no numbers. Use it as a checklist of who still has to join.
Open the group → Members → Add people. Paste lines like Miriam, 917 555 0123, or drop in the CSV / Excel file. Names are optional.
Each person gets one text:
No answer? It is sent once more, three days later. The Members tab shows who is invited, in, or left, so you always know who still needs a nudge.
Fill in the yellow parts and post it. Pin it if you can.
This group is moving to a plain text number, so everyone gets it again, flip phones too.
Save (929) 555-0100 in your phone as "Cohen Family".
You'll get a text asking you to reply YES. Reply YES and you're in. If you don't get one by Thursday, reply here with your number, and the number of anyone in your house on a basic phone.
After Sunday I'll stop posting here.
Set a date. A group with no end date keeps two chats alive for months.
That's their whole job. They get:
From then on every text to the number reaches the whole group, as BunchText/Cohen Family - Miriam: on our way. Members can set their name with NAME Miriam.
Smartphone members who'd rather have an app: turn on Web chat in the group's settings ($10 a month for the group, free per member). They open the group's link, sign in with their number, add it to the home screen, and stop getting texts if they want. That also lowers your text bill.
When the Members tab shows most people in, post one last "we've moved" in GroupMe, then mute it or leave it. Print the flyer (Flyer tab) for the bulletin board or the school office: the number, the link, the logo.
| Someone never got the invitation. | Check the number on the Members tab. A landline or a wrong digit shows as invited forever. Fix it and re-add; or they can text the number themselves once "anyone can join" is on. |
| Can I keep my GroupMe number? | No. The group gets the next number from our pool (929 area). Members save it once and it never changes. |
| Do members pay anything? | No. The group's owner pays 1.5¢ per text sent. A family of 12 texting 3 times a day is about $16 a month. |
| I only want to send announcements. | Pick announce-only. Members' replies go to you and the admins, not to everyone. |
| Someone doesn't want texts at all. | They reply STOP and get nothing more. If they have a smartphone, web chat gives them the group without texts. |
| Can someone else help run it? | Yes. Add admins by mobile number or by email. They can do everything except billing. |
GroupMe is a trademark of its owner; BunchText is not affiliated with it.