HELPING LEADERS BECOME BETTER STEWARDS
APRIL 2013
A Resource You Can Use When it comes to church management software, good stewards know that simple is powerful. But, it’s no secret that often it’s anything but simple to find the right tools that can help church leaders better manage the day-today operation of their organization. Hence, this software guide. Our managing editor, RaeAnn Slaybaugh, spoke with some of the top CMS providers in the nation to find out what churches need to look for when choosing software – whether it’s to manage online giving and accounting or schedule meetings and events. Here, she writes on these – and so much more. Take a look, click on the links and pass the information along to your staff and peers. As always, our business at Church Executive is to provide churches with proven, practical and innovative solutions that can help them become better stewards of God’s incredible resources. And please let us know how we may be able to serve you with more information guides like this. We welcome your suggestions and comments. Grateful to serve,
Rez Gopez-Sindac, Editor Email: rgopez-sindac@churchexecutive.com Twitter: @churchexecutive Facebook: ChurchExecutiveMagazine
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SPECIAL SECTION: CHURCH MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE 4 | The CMS wish list
An expert offers practical advice for evaluating and choosing the right management software for your church’s unique needs.
6 | Church software: trends & twists
Three trends are top-of-mind among her clients right now.
8 | CMS tool under one roof
Excellerate has aimed its sights on minimizing the stress and exhaustion that comes with managing and growing a church.
9 | Must haves for CMS users Three CMS characteristics are most critical among today’s churches: simple, scalable and “platformagnostic
12 | Software to the rescue Three churches find easy-to-use Web-based solutions to their room scheduling, facility management and online ticketing challenges.
16 | Easy reference Several church management software companies listed.
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SPECIAL SECTION CMS
The
CMS
wish list
An expert offers practical advice for evaluating and choosing the right management software for your church’s unique needs. BY rAeANN SLAYBAuGh
Church Executive spoke with Mark Peterson, president of Carlsbad, CA-based Web Church Connect — provider of database software for the religious market — about the “next big thing(s)” in church management software, or CMS. From all-in-one solutions, to transparency in the fee structure, to privacy concerns surrounding members’ information, it seems church executives
are more sophisticated than ever about what they want (and need) their church management software to do. 4 | ChurCh exeCutive | 04/2013
in the end, he says, the first step in the selection process should be to pair the software tool’s capabilities with a short list of church-friendly characteristics and functions, including: A one-stop solution. First, from a financial stewardship perspective, Peterson says church clients want to invest in one tool that meets all their software requirements. “We’re finding that they’re looking for an all-in-one [software] solution so they aren’t stuck using two or three different systems — one to [keep track of] money, another to do kids’ check-in, a different one for member directories, and another to manage members,” he explains. One price, with no hidden charges. Peterson says churches are looking to “ditch the different platforms” in favor of a single, all-in-one solution — at an all-in-one price. to this end, he and his team designed Web Church Connect, or WCC, to offer all modules (from team management, to attendance tracking and more) for a monthly fee. “We’re finding that churches … need all the modules — kids’ check-in and online giving, for example — but often find these modules to be extra [on top of] what they’re paying already,” he says. As a result, churches end up either paying too much for their software or simply doing without the modules they need for their ministry.
All kinds of accessibility. Oodles of accessibility is another trend Peterson has noticed among CMS users — in particular, the ability to access the church database remotely via smartphones, iPads and tablets. Aside from accessibility on all these platforms, WCC’s architecture also reflects a move towards more Web-/cloud-based CMS, enabling access to the database using any computer, at any time. Going further down the accessibility path, Peterson and his team recently integrated WCC with the most popular social media platforms and Google Calendars. WCC Calendar events can be synced with Google Calendars, as well as allow users to sync their Google calendars to their Calendar in the WCC database. “Through WCC, church members can connect with, ‘like’ and follow their church home on Facebook and Twitter,” he explains. “And, more social media integration options are in development.”
Deciding factors When deciding on a new CMS system — or an upgrade or retrofit to an existing one — Peterson says churches should follow a checklist of components and capabilities specific to their unique software needs. These include: • New member/visitor follow-up tools — WCC’s assimilation module enables users to send new visitors automated emails and text messages, as well as to generate welcome letters. “By making this process automated, it frees up church leaders’ time,” he explains. “It also makes sure no one goes unnoticed.” • Free, unlimited support and training — “The dollars can really add up anytime you need help,” Peterson points out. “If you can’t pay the extra money for support or training, you’re not getting the most out of the software.” • Multiple-administrator access — “Many times, churches realize [too late] that they can only have a limited number of admins access the database,” he cautions.
• Unlimited member-add capabilities — In Peterson’s experience, many CMS users are shocked to find they can’t keep adding members to their database without paying extra. • Customizable content — Peterson and his team designed WCC to customize a church client’s terminology according to its culture. “For instance, you can rename small groups ‘life groups,’ or ‘connect groups,’ or whatever you want to call your smallgroups ministry,” he explains. “In fact, you can take any term in the database and rename it.” • Privacy of member data — Peterson advises church clients to make sure their CMS provider won’t share or sell its members’ information to a third party. “Check the fine print,” he says. “Some providers will share your members’ information with anyone who’ll pay.”
“People are the best investment” Peterson believes that having a church database your church can afford always pays off. “If it costs you X dollars to get someone saved, [who then becomes] a passionate pursuer of Jesus Christ, how do you put a price on that?” he asks. “By having the latest technology — created by pastors for pastors, and at the most affordable cost — churches grow and their people feel connected and loved. “And that’s what it’s all about: the people.” CE
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SPECIAL SECTION CMS
CHURCH SOFTWARE TRENDS & TwISTS
Cordova, TN-based Shelby Systems has been providing software to churches, parishes, denominational headquarters, independent ministries and development organizations since 1976. So, it stands to reason the company has adapted and expanded its ChMS — a term the software
provider prefers to CMS, as it emphasizes the church aspect of its solutions — to meet the needs of its religious market clients. According to Colleen Hogue, marketing coordinator, three trends are top-of-mind among her clients right now:
A BIG EMPHASIS ON WHERE DATA “LIVES.” As Hogue explains, many churches want their software hosted on-site — but, hosting data “in the cloud” is gaining quite a bit of popularity because of the ease of access that it provides. “Hosting data [this way] is actually a very secure operation, as well,” she points out.
ACCESSIBILITY VIA MOBILE DEVICES AND TABLETS. Hogue says more and more churches are looking for the ability to access their information from any location with an Internet connection. “Since [we] offer browser- and Web-based software, our users are able to log in to our software, Arena, from any device that’s Internet-accessible.”
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MORE EFFICIENT WAYS TO MANAGE OUTREACH PROJECTS. To address the growing demand for better management of outreach projects, Shelby Systems has created a Missions module. It enables churches to accept online registrations, payments and contributions, as well as to scan passports and other important travel documents. “This module will … simplify [their missions trip] planning,” Hogue says.
LONG-TERM OuTLOOk While many ChMS programs come with standard membership management capabilities, Hogue contends that it’s more important to look for additional features that will meet the church’s unique needs several years down the road. “Review your ministry’s five- to 10-year plan, and narrow down your software
options even more,” she advises. “Remember that it must be able to keep up and assist your church with constant growth. “If a [CMS provider] is only striving to keep up with other CMS companies, it might not have the ability to fully assist your church on its path of growth,” Hogue adds.
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SPECIAL SECTION CMS
CMS TOOLS uNDER ONE ROOf Since 1998, CMS provider Excellerate has aimed its sights on minimizing the stress and exhaustion that comes with managing and growing a church. To that end, a range of CMS options are available from the company — from member tracking to volunteer scheduling. “When you look at the logistics of managing a church, it can be a little daunting,” says spokesperson Chris Hayden.
em Check- in Syst excellerate’s
“Using a paper system to keep track of everything would be a mess.” Instead, Excellerate takes all that information (member tracking, visitor follow-up, classes, small groups, organizations and contributions) and stores it in one place. “Any member of the staff can go to find exactly what they need,” Hayden explains. “With our
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installed software, they’ll never have to rely on an Internet connection; the church houses its own member database and will always have the information on hand.” Tracking contributions is another important — and sometimes complicated — issue, he continues. To simplify matters, Excellerate enables easy tracking of giving income across all church’s funds. In a matter of minutes, users can even print year-end giving statements. Another handy feature of Excellerate is ServePoint, which simplifies volunteer management, says Hayden. “There are two main factors in growing an outreach: making the outreach known to your volunteers and communicating the details to them,” he adds. ServePoint can help a church do just that, by letting users organize volunteers into different teams. “This way,” he explains, “they can be notified of upcoming opportunities, scheduled to specific events, or even reminded of their current assignments.” — RaeAnn Slaybaugh
for CMS users According to John Connell, sales and marketing director at Elizabethtown, PA-based Elexio, three CMS characteristics are most critical among today’s churches: simple, scalable and “platform-agnostic.” Simple. “Without question, a CMS should have tools that are easy to navigate and update,” he emphasizes. Although Connell acknowledges that church-based users are more tech-savvy than ever, they’re also exposed to a wide range of Web-based applications — “and we can’t be subject-matter experts in all of them.” Additionally, since most church help is voluntary, CMS needs to accommodate a wide range of skill levels. “Easy block updates, dropin widgets and straight text updates with basic word processing knowledge should all be mandatory for a rich CMS platform,” according to Connell. Scalable. Because a healthy, growing church is more complex than just a single weekend service and some Bible classes — extending to youth ministry, women’s groups, outreach, small group studies and beyond — the next non-negotiable CMS criteria is scalability. “A scalable solution can handle everything you throw at it, including unlimited pages, ministry ‘faces’ and so on,” he points out. “Who you are today isn’t who you’ll be a year from now.” Platform-agnostic. With the variety of devices used to access Web pages these days, features such as responsive design become really important. “[Such capabilities ensure] your website will look equally great on a large monitor or on a tablet,” he points out. “Site content that responds to changing displays is an indication of a CMS that’s designed for today’s and tomorrow’s needs.”
4 steps to a solid choice
Choosing a scalable package that meets the church’s needs is critically important. To that end, Connell recommends the following steps: if the current system has an upgrade 1 Determine the church has neglected to take that will improve its performance. “If not, consider the advantages of moving to a new CMS platform,” he suggests. “Will you get more media storage? Easier content management? Fresh designs?” CMS providers that focus specifi2 Investigate cally on the local church. “They need to understand its vision and be able to provide the tools to reach it,” he says. You get what you pay for. Connell 3 Remember: contends this adage is true even when it comes to website CMS platforms. “A ‘free’ solution potentially means little or no support, incorporation of ads in your church website, and other ways of offsetting the provider’s costs.” the platform’s limitations. Details includ4 Assess ing page and design limits, and the SEO value of the final product, can all be significant depending on a church’s vision for its website, he advises. CE — RaeAnn Slaybaugh
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Software to the
rescue
BY reZ GOPeZ-SiNDAC
Three churches find easy-to-use web-based solutions to their room scheduling, facility management and online ticketing challenges.
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if anyone at First Baptist Church-hendersonville, NC, needed to schedule an event and secure a space for an event back in 2001, the staff would have had to use a large planning calendar, write entries on it in pencil, and transfer the information to a Word document. Amy Parce, a student ministry assistant, says the method was cumbersome and time-consuming as “we are a big church with lots of activities and rooms. it was difficult to read the paper calendar and make changes to any event.�
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this prompted the church to purchase ACS Facility Scheduler, “a hosted, central calendar coordinator designed specifically to synchronize calendars and manage facilities across your organization,” according to the company website. “Now, only one person makes changes to the calendar,” says Parce. that person is receptionist DeeDee Shehan, who is also responsible for tracking the use of the church’s five buildings. Keeping up with facility use would be nearly impossible without the ACS program, she says. Shehan is not the only one who appreciates the usefulness of the ACS Facility Scheduler. the maintenance and custodial departments also depend on it daily. they have to make their weekly and monthly schedules based on what rooms are booked at that time. this is how the process for booking a room at First Baptist-hendersonville works: First, the request is put on a form. Next, Shehan takes the request to their weekly calendar meeting where the request either gets approved or denied. if approved, Shehan adds the event to the calendar. “i have a notebook full of all the upcoming requests that have been approved so i have all of the contact information on everything that is scheduled in case we need to make any changes,” she says. to explain the complexity of scheduling events, Shehan gives a specific scenario: One ministry has a banquet. they use
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the gymnasium to eat, after which they transfer to the fellowship hall to view some displays, and then they move to the worship center to hear the guest speaker. This takes a lot of planning. Shehan says the custodial crew checks the online calendar ahead of time to determine how many people are needed to prepare the rooms and clean them after the event. Also, the security crew looks at the same calendar to know what time to unlock the facility and to do the rounds of locking up and setting all the alarms. When there is a big event at the church, Shehan says she can decide quickly, by looking at the online calendar, whether it is OK to book other events. Problems arising from overlapping or not having enough parking, equipment or things like chairs and tables can be easily prevented, she adds. Managing resources faithfully For Sean Moyer, facility manager at Savannah Christian Church, a light bulb moment came after learning that his assistant had been spending at least 20 hours a week just scheduling rooms. At the time, the church had one building and 37 reservable spaces and was building a youth center. Moyer says he knew that as the church grew, managing the spaces and resources for various meetings and functions was only going to get worse. Immediately, he searched for a better way to ease the process and came across a scheduling and event manage-
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ment solution called events Management System (eMS). the difference is night and day. What is most helpful, says Moyer, is that all facility reservations can be viewed via the church’s network in real time and on any computer or mobile device. in contrast, the old system was installed on only one or two computers, and the calendar had to be printed out “for the rest of us to see it,” says Moyer. Before Savannah Christian Church purchased the eMS software, room scheduling consumed most of the working hours of Moyer’s assistant. With eMS, all that responsibility is put on the requester. “they input all the information that we require, as well as times and contact information. it only gives them the option to request a room that is available for those times,” says Moyer. Only staff members are allowed to request rooms. this puts the responsibility on their respective ministry and prevents unauthorized use. And if the room is left in a disorderly manner, Moyer says it’s easy to know who is the responsible party. “A process that took at least 20 hours a week for 37 rooms now takes about an hour a week to handle 120 rooms in nine buildings on three campuses,” says Moyer. As far as managing resources, Moyer says eMS has been a stepping stone for his church. the room scheduling software alone saves Savannah thousands of dollars a year on manpower, he adds. But by integrating it with hvAC scheduling software, which automatically controls the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, Moyer says his church has taken stewardship one step further. Air is cooled only when rooms are in use, saving the church energy, time and labor. Previous to using hvAC software, Moyer says the church was running its hvAC units 515,424 hours a year. Now, it’s down to 128,856 hours a year. “Not only are we extending the lifespan
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by three years for every year we have the units, we also have been able to reduce our maintenance costs,” says Moyer. Reaching its community effectively Phoenix First Assembly of God in Phoenix, AZ, is another congregation that stepped outside the box to provide efficient and convenient service not only to its members but the general public as well. the church hosts hundreds of outreach ministries, but one of its most successful events is “the Celebration of Christmas,” which has been going on for more than 30 years. A case study done by Active Network shows how the company’s 100 percent Web-based ticketing software, Serviceu ticketing, has helped Phoenix First streamline the ticketing of nearly 24,000 patrons over nine performances. richard Buoscio, director of facilities, says the church started using Serviceu ticketing in 2004 and tested it on a very small area of seats within their facility. “everything worked so smoothly that we slowly integrated the system into our entire event,” he adds. Despite increasing attendance every year since, Buoscio says the church has actually reduced its full-time ticketing staff from four to one. having tickets available online has also been incredibly convenient for community members who no longer have to stand in line to purchase tickets, says Active Network. Although the church still sells tickets at their box office for people who don’t have internet capabilities, more than 70 percent of the tickets sold are through Serviceu ticketing via online sales. the church offers free seating – which is on a first-come, first-served basis – along with reserved seating – which is almost always the best way to go. “Serviceu ticketing has proven to us over time that they will be able to meet all the technological needs we may have as our church and productions grow,” Buoscio says. CE
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More Resources Thrive.am | 10 PowerChurch.com | 18 WebChurchConnect.com | 19 ServantPC.com | 20 MinistryLinq.com | 20 ByTheBook.com | 21 Excellerate.com | 21 DEA.com | 21 Elexio.com | 22
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