Church management software is a tool that helps religious organizations manage their church and automate administrative tasks to save money and time. Church management software is usually comprised of an event platform, finance and payment system, booking system, communications system, online contact database, website builder, and other features you can use to manage your church and members effectively.
One of the most beneficial features of church management software is its contact management tool, which makes it easy for the administration of the church to get in touch with their members and track them.
How exactly can church contact management software help manage church members? Let’s take a look below.
Capturing of Member Data
The use of church contact management software makes it easy for you to capture and track member data, including their basic contact information like email address, phone number, home address, and complete names. You can also obtain and track their demographic information such as marriages, confirmations, baptisms, births, and other important life events. Some other member data you can capture and track—although it varies depending on the software provider that you have—are complex family structures like families with separated or divorced parents.
# Before you purchase church contact management software for your congregation, it is essential to deeply understand the needs of your organization. Think about how church contact management software can help your church meet your organizational needs. Your primary focus should be the size of your church and the numbers of official members that you have. Always remember that the management requirements of a small-sized church differ from that of medium- to large-sized churches, and corporate or megachurches.
# Traditionally, church contact management software runs on individual computers or installed on your church’s in-house server. Although installed systems are more cost-effective, more congregations now use cloud-based ones because of their accessibility and overall convenience. Find out why a cloud-based system is better for your church below:
Cloud-based systems allow you and your members to access the software even outside the premises of your church or when you are in remote locations. Cloud-based systems also make it easy for members to sign up for church events in the comfort of their homes. Accessing the software using mobile devices requires the assistance of an IT guy with the installed software. With the cloud-based system, on the other hand, you can access it anywhere and anytime on your own so long as you have an internet connection.
# The cloud-based software tends to work better if you or your members are using Mac computers, which are increasingly becoming popular nowadays. The many available installed software in the market today are mostly tailor-made for Windows laptops or computers.
# With the cloud-based system, you can get the assurance that your data is readily accessible anytime and anywhere. The cloud-based software also stores your data safely, making it secured against hackers. Unlike installed software, data with a cloud-based one is appropriately and regularly backed up, as well as easy to download and export if ever you decide to switch systems.
# The flexibility that you get over the control of your data is better with cloud-based systems because software providers charge management or hosting fees for it. You are paying a little bit more for less hassle and a more convenient control of your church and member database, which makes it a smarter choice.
Online Event Signup for Members
Does your church regularly organize events like retreats and camps for youth groups? Church contact management software gives your members the chance to instantly sign up and confirm their participation in activities even in the comfort of their homes. This feature removes the hassle of pen-and-paper-based methods of gathering participants, letting you focus on the event preparation itself.
Aside from signups, here are other things you can do concerning event management:
# Keep track of the total number of confirmed participants and use such data to compare with other events you are organizing or have organized in the past to see the improvement or dropout rate. If you are sending invitations online, you may also have the chance to ask for the reasons why some members are declining. By getting their reasons beforehand, you can help resolve their issues personally and encourage some increase in the number of participation.
# You can also include important notes regarding the event like payment processing, location or venue, and itinerary if it’s going to be a trip to a different place. Everything will be smoother this way, and members will get the necessary information to help them make their mind up and speed up their decision-making process.
Improving Communication
Excellent communication between the church and its members goes a long way in strengthening the organization. Good communication is easy to achieve with church contact management software because of its built-in communication tools. Some of the things that you can do with the software for easy and fast communication with your members include the following:
# Automated newsletter and emails to keep your church members updated about the latest happenings in your organization. You can also use an automated communication system to follow up with your members about their weekly or monthly contributions. Automation helps a lot in streamlining the process of communication without the need to manually monitor church email and church text to give announcements and encourage mass event participation.
# Since you also have the option to target your members based on their information, sending intimation and personalized messages is possible. Say you want to send a different message to teens from the ones you are posting to young adults, you can do it using church contact management software.
Different religious congregations or denominations have different and unique needs or requirements for a church contact management software. So, when you are still at the prospecting stage, make sure to investigate software providers or vendors who specialize in your denomination or one that is closely related to yours. For example, there are management systems that are specific to Catholic, Protestant, or Baptist ministries. There is a software for every congregation out there so narrow down your choices as much as possible.
Volunteer Management
As a church, your focus should not solely be on creating a member database, tracking them, and communicating with them. Volunteers also play a massive part in the success of your congregation and the events that you are organizing. Volunteers can also become future church members, so effectively managing them is crucial. Church contact management software includes a volunteer management tool where you can organize their volunteer history, availability, and contact information.
Other functionalities you can enjoy with the volunteer management tool are:
# Scheduling features and outreach tools to get in touch with volunteers for your upcoming church event.
# An automated invitation that you can edit and send to them in a personalized way, so you get to have them on other church gatherings and work on converting them into real church members.
Child Security and Check-in Management
Track the entry and exit of the members of your church, including children, and ensure their safety at all times in different events like retreats, camps, seminars, and even regular masses. Have the option to either allow members to do self-service check-ins or let your greeters or ushers manually check every member in once they enter the venue.
Those are some of the essential benefits that you can get from church contact management software. You can find more features and add-on functionalities depending on the software provider that you choose. When choosing a provider, consider the following:
# Finding a software provider is like finding an employee for your church. What’s the first thing that you are looking into aside from experience? You look for references. Ask your potential software vendor to provide some references, including a list of its past and current customers or users. Ask for feedback from the software’s previous users about its benefits and potential issues.
# Another consideration to take is the price of the software that you are planning to have for your church. With the vast number of software vendors and providers in the market, there are undoubtedly numerous pricing models, as well. The fees vary based on what features the software is supplying to you. Some providers charge monthly fees for management and maintenance while others charge a heftier one-time payment for you to get a hold of the software.
# As already mentioned, it is vital to ask for feedback from the software’s past and current users. From their answers, you make a list of the benefits and issues that the software has and weigh things out. Do the benefits outweigh the problems, or the issues break the benefits? Also, incorporate your preferences to the weighing out process so you can make a more sound decision.
At this point, you should already have a concrete idea of how church management software can help manage your church members and how to choose a software that adequately meets the needs and requirements of your religious congregation. To better your understanding of church contact management software, here are some frequently asked questions that you may be interested in:
How Much Will Church Contact Management Software Cost?
The price or the cost of using software varies depending on different factors. Again, there are many software vendors and providers out there, and they can have different pricing models for their products. Another factor is the number and type of features you are getting from the software. The more the functionalities the software has, the more costly it is. So, if your church is on a budget, consider the needs of your church based on your church size and other factors before choosing one.
Is Church Contact Management Software Worth the Money?
Depending on the size of the church, managing members can be hard and too much of a hassle, especially if you have a massive inflow of believers every month. Issues with event management, accounting donations, and contributions, a tracking system, as well as sending out announcements and communications to members are some of the problems that may arise. Church contact management software lessens the amount of work required for a church to manage its members and also keep everything accurate and organized.
Does Church Contact Management Software Allow Electronic Giving?
Although it may vary depending on the software provider and the functionalities that your software has, most church contact management systems facilitate electronic giving. Church contact management software allows contributors, members, and sponsors to choose the online giving option when donating or contributing to their church. Electronic giving is especially a considerable help to megachurches, which are composed of thousands of members.
What are Common Features Your Church Contact Management Should Have?
The list is long, which includes features like check-in and child security, outreach and communication tools, volunteer management tools, facilities and event management, electronic donations and contributions, and membership management. Although many of these features are also found in general management software suites, a church contact management software is tailor-made to handle members unique to faith-based organizations and churches.
Conclusion
With all the issues the church faces in terms of managing its organization and the members, requiring and getting the assistance of modern technology became standard practice. All the benefits, considerations to make when choosing a software, and the answers to frequently asked questions that we have tackled above should be enough to clear whatever confusion you may still have in mind. Empowering churches means adapting to current technology to eradicate all errors in church operations and be able to optimize the process of running a church community.
The good thing is that more and more churches around the globe are starting to understand the importance of management software in coming up with productive output. Religious organizations and churches have evolved to the point that efficient management requires more than just a leader sermonizing the members and calling the shots. This leads to the development of management software that automates everything and streamlines every process that the church makes daily.
