Private Beta — Now Accepting Organizers

Your group is out there.
Getting together is the hard part.

SMSGO is an SMS-based coordination tool built to help recreational group organizers spend less time managing headcount and more time actually showing up. No apps. No logins for your members. Just text.

57%
of Americans report feeling lonely
~50%
decline in civic club participation since 1975
98%
SMS open rate vs. 20% for email
0
apps your members need to download
The problem we're trying to help solve

America has a loneliness problem.
And it's getting worse.

In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health epidemic. The data has only grown more sobering since. But buried inside the statistics is something most people already feel in their daily lives — the slow unraveling of the groups, leagues, clubs, and communities that used to hold us together.

57%

Americans Report Loneliness

More than half of U.S. adults report feeling lonely — a figure that has climbed steadily for years, cutting across age groups, income levels, and geographies.

Cigna / Evernorth Research Institute, 2024
1 in 3

Feel Lonely Every Week

One in three Americans experiences loneliness at least once a week. For adults 30–44 — peak working, parenting, and organizing years — nearly 29% report feeling frequently or always lonely.

American Psychiatric Association, 2024
10%

Only in Sports Leagues

Just 10% of Americans today are active members of a sports or recreation league — a number that has been falling for decades as local clubs, rec leagues, and community groups quietly disappear.

Survey Center on American Life, 2025

We didn't always live this way. A generation ago, America was stitched together by bowling leagues, social clubs, church groups, and neighborhood sports teams. Political scientist Robert Putnam called this "social capital" — the invisible glue of relationships and trust that holds communities together. And for decades, we've been spending it down.

"Not feeling part of meaningful groups" is one of the most commonly reported experiences among lonely Americans — cited by 67% of those who feel isolated.

The reasons are many: longer commutes, more screen time, the privatization of leisure, the rise of remote work. But the result is the same everywhere — people who want to be part of something, but keep running into friction. Friction in finding the group. Friction in showing up. And most of all, friction in just figuring out if the game is even on.

That last one is more consequential than it sounds. When the coordination is hard, the organizer burns out. When the organizer burns out, the game stops. When the game stops, the group drifts. When the group drifts, the connections fade. And one more small thread of community quietly disappears.

📉

The quiet collapse of America's community groups

Decades of data tell the same story. The organizations that once gave people a reason to show up — and a place to belong — have been shrinking steadily since the 1970s.

This isn't about people caring less about community. It's about the logistics of belonging becoming harder than the reward feels worth.

Rotary Club membership ↓ 20%
Bowling league participation ↓ 40%+
Club meeting attendance ↓ 58% since 1975
Informal socializing time ↓ ~25% since 1965
Adults in sports leagues Only 10%
Why I built this

It started with a Frisbee game
that kept not happening.

I run an Ultimate Frisbee group in Washington, D.C. — about 100 people who all want to play, but who can never quite all commit at the same time. Getting a game together meant texts, replies, more texts, silence, maybe a group chat, probably a last-minute scramble to figure out if we had enough people.

More often than I'd like to admit — we didn't. Games that should have happened, didn't. People who wanted to play, went home. And slowly, the group started showing up less, because showing up for a game that might not happen is its own kind of disappointment.

"The answer wasn't a new app. The answer was the tool everyone already uses every day — their text messages."

I'm a developer by trade. So I built something. Not because I wanted to build a startup — but because I was tired of watching a good group of people slowly drift apart over something as solvable as knowing if the game was on.

Last season: 15 weeks in a row. Not a single game missed. The same group. The same players. Just a lot less friction.

DC Ultimate Frisbee
SMSGO
Text Message
You have been joined to group DC Ultimate Frisbee.

Members get a simple text.
No app. No login. No friction.

What we believe

Groups don't die because
people stop caring.
They die because organizing is hard.

SMSGO was built on one belief: if you can remove the coordination friction from a group, the people who want to show up will show up. The game will happen. The community will stay alive.

We're not trying to replace the human connection that happens on the field, at the table, in the pews, or around the court. We're just trying to make sure you all get there.

SMS is the right medium for this. Not because it's sophisticated — but because it's universal. Every phone can receive a text. Every member of your group already knows how to reply to one. That's the only friction that should exist: deciding whether to say yes.

📱

SMS-first, always

Your members shouldn't have to download anything, create an account, or learn a new tool. If they can reply to a text, they're in.

As little friction as possible

Every extra step between "I want to play" and "I'm confirmed" is a place where someone drops off. We're obsessed with removing those steps.

💸

Pay for what you use

No monthly fees. No subscriptions. If your group goes quiet for the winter, you pay nothing. Your balance waits patiently until spring.

🤝

Built for real organizers

Not enterprise teams. Not corporate event planners. People who are just trying to get a game together on a Wednesday night — and keep doing it week after week.

Who SMSGO is for

Any group that gathers regularly
and struggles to know if it will.

If you've ever sent "is everyone still coming?" to a group chat and waited anxiously for the replies, SMSGO was built for you.

🥏

Recreational Sports Leagues

Pickup basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, soccer, volleyball, softball — any sport where headcount determines whether you play or go home.

♟️

Game Nights & Social Groups

Board game nights, trivia crews, poker groups. You need enough people to make it worthwhile. SMSGO helps you know, before everyone shows up.

Faith & Community Organizations

Bible studies, small groups, volunteer teams — communities where showing up matters and a reliable coordinator makes all the difference.

📚

Book Clubs & Interest Groups

Any group built around a shared interest that meets regularly and needs a simple, low-friction way to confirm who's coming this week.

🏃

Running & Fitness Groups

Morning run crews, hiking groups, cycling clubs — groups that need to confirm a quorum before someone drives 45 minutes to a trailhead alone.

🌍

Any Recurring Community

If your group gathers regularly, depends on attendance, and you're tired of managing it manually — SMSGO exists for you.

Private Beta

We're in invite-only beta.
And we'd love your group to join us.

SMSGO is currently in a carefully controlled private beta. We're onboarding organizers one at a time — learning from real groups, refining the experience, and making sure every organizer who joins gets the attention they deserve as an early partner in what we're building.

Why invite-only?

We're not trying to grow fast. We're trying to get it right. Every group is different — different sizes, different rhythms, different dynamics — and we want to understand those differences before we open the doors wide. Early beta organizers help shape the product and get priority access as we scale.

If you already have an invite code, you can create your account at smsgo.org/signup. If you don't have one yet, reach out below — we'd love to hear about your group.

Request an Invite Code

Send us a quick note about your group — what it is, how many people, how often you gather. We'll follow up personally.
No pitch decks required.

✉ Email support@smsgo.org

We respond to every request personally, usually within a day or two.

📱 SMS Program Information

What is SMSGO?

An SMS coordination platform. When enrolled in a group, members receive event invitations, RSVP confirmations, status notifications, and group messages from their organizer.

How to Opt In

Text JOIN to the SMSGO number, or your organizer adds your number with your consent. Consent is never a condition of participation.

How to Opt Out

  • Reply STOP — all messages
  • Reply LEAVE — leave group
  • Reply UNSUBSCRIBE — all messages

Need Help?

Reply HELP to any SMSGO message, or email support@smsgo.org. Message frequency varies. Msg & data rates may apply.