Church and community groups span a wider age and technology range than almost any other group, so the binding constraint on a scheduling tool is not features but the lowest common denominator: no account, no app, works on any device, and readable out loud for anyone not online. Who can when? is free and needs no sign-up from anyone, and every poll has a short spoken code.
Design for the person least online
In most groups the hard constraint is calendars. Here it is reach: there will be people who do not use a group chat, people who will not create an account, and people who need someone to read them the details over the phone.
Anything that requires a sign-up quietly excludes them, and they are usually the members who most reliably turn up when they know about something.
What makes it work
- A short spoken code per poll - six characters, no letters that sound like numbers.
- No account and no app, for anyone.
- An optional email address, so nobody is forced to hand one over.
- A printed date on the notice sheet with the code on it, alongside the link.
- Someone happy to enter answers on behalf of others, which nothing here prevents.
Rotas and recurring meetings
For a rota, poll availability across a month or a term in one go - up to 20 dates - and build the rota from the grid. It is much less work than asking people one at a time, and it leaves you something you can point at when someone asks why they are on twice.
Common questions
- Can someone answer for a person who is not online?
- Yes. Anyone can enter more than one answer under separate names.
- Is it free for a church or charity?
- It is free for everyone. There is no paid tier.
- Can we use it for a rota?
- Yes - poll availability across the month and build the rota from the answers.
Ready when you are
Clubs, teams and communities
The recurring ones: a fixed cast, a moving date, and someone who has to ask every time.
Related
- Reunion date poll Class reunion, family reunion, old team: dozens of people who are not in one chat and will not install anything. One link, three taps, no sign-up.
- A scheduling poll without a sign-up No account to create the poll, and no account to answer it. The sign-up wall is where most of your replies go missing, so there isn't one.
- Committee meeting scheduling Committees run on goodwill and evenings. Propose the dates, let everyone mark them, and pick the one that keeps the most members in the room.
Read next
- How to get people to actually answer your date poll Most people who do not answer a scheduling poll are not refusing - they hit friction. Here is where the drop-off happens and what removes it.
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