Church Management Software
By: Tracy Jones

What do church management software and Noah have in common? Let's see--in the book of Genesis, the Bible tells us about Noah. God gave Noah what seemed like a monumental task, to be sure: to save a remnant of mankind by building a huge ship.  Now, God certainly could have just caused a suitable ship to miraculously appear in Noah's backyard, but usually God doesn't work this way. 

The Bible shows us that typically He works His miracles through His people - not necessarily for His people.

So here we have Noah, full of faith, yet nevertheless faced with a very specific blueprint design calling for an enormous task. Although the Bible does not elaborate on this, we can certainly assume that Noah, wanting to fulfill this God-given task in a way that would please and glorify God, proceeded with his construction of the ark using the most current tools of the trade available to him in those days, such as hand saws, pegs, ropes and ramp.

In the same way, churches, as they are called by God to build His Kingdom here on earth today, have the opportunity to take advantage of the tools of the trade available to them, specifically in the area of church management software.

Just like Noah, today's churches in many ways have a monumental task at hand. Utilizing effective management software for your church can dramatically improve your church's efficiency and ability to fulfill God's call. 

Managing a church today can be a monumental task. Church management software is a necessity for today's churches that are looking to take control of their membership database records. 

A quality, fun-to-use church management software system can drastically reduce the administrative tasks faced by today's church staff and volunteers. A hard-to-use or inflexible church management software system will do just the opposite.

The right church management software solution will help the church staff and volunteers use the power of today's software technology to reduce their administrative burdens.  Finding a quality, affordable, full-featured church management software package has never been easier.

Church management software provides an easy and flexible way to record all of the details about the people (members, regulars, visitors, etc.) and their involvement in the various groups, ministries and activities within your church. Church management software can allow you to record each contribution received from a contributor, and then generate the necessary statements and reports. With the help of church management software, church administrators can focus less on the paperwork--and spend more time on Kingdom work.

A quality church management software system will be able to handle a church's needs no matter what the church's size or denomination.  Power and flexibility are key elements, but so are ease of use and simplicity, especially since so many potential users of church software are relatively computer novices.

Church administrators can lessen their work loads dramatically by utilizing a church administration software package. This type of software is designed specifically with churches in mind, and it provides the necessary tools to allow church pastors, secretaries and administrators to efficiently manage all of their day-to-day activities and record keeping needs.

Church administration software helps church administrators manage membership information, groups, activities, skills, boards, committees, contributions, pledges, attendance, visitations and more. A church administration software system will allow all of the church staff and administrators to utilize a shared database of information (no more having to manage multiple databases or enter the same data more than once!).

Reporting and other outputs (such as bulk e-mails, labels, envelopes, charts/graphs) are just another reason why church administration software is so powerful and such a time-saving tool for church administrators.

There are many facets to establishing and running a church. One important area is administration, including tasks like tracking the names and contact information of the church congregation, managing groups and activities, managing events, corresponding by postal mail and e-mail, tracking and reporting on contributions and pledges, tracking attendance, and much more. Without software for such tasks, a church would need to spend considerable resources to manage all of this data.

Church software is a wonderful tool for managing all of the aspects of today's church.  The church office can be a very stressful place. Church software can alleviate this stress, and allow you to manage your church's data in an effective and efficient manner. 

In most cases, church software is available for under $1,000 for a full church-wide license for the software. Sometimes smaller or start-up churches can purchase church software at an even lower price depending on the manufacturer's dedication to smaller churches.

Thankfully today's churches can utilize software that was designed specifically for them: software for churches that allow them to spend less time doing administrative tasks.  Most churches will agree that their true calling is not to administrate their congregation, but to nurture and shepherd their congregation.  Software designed for church management and administration makes this possible. 

Tracy Jones is the creator of www.churchadministrationsoftware.com , a resource for churches that are searching for a church management software solution .

 

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Effective Church Communication for the 21 st Century
By Michael Euliss

Communications in the church requires much more thought today than it did in "less modern" times. Today, there are so many choices it is often hard to decide which is best. Many churches still use the postcard. Postcards are a popular method of getting some messages to members but not necessarily cost effective when compared with other alternatives. Postcards cost on an average about 50 cents each to produce and send, not including the time and labor it takes to produce them. Adding the labor increases the cost to about 63 cents each, which can eat deep into a tight church budget. Postcards are also not time-efficient. Because it takes time to prepare them, mail and receive them, cards must be planned well in advance, which is not always an option.

Other churches use human phone trees (I call you, you call three people, they each call three people, etc.), another popular method of notification. This relieves the church staff from having to make notifications that they would never have the time to do themselves. But, because the message is not consistent, there is a lot of room for mistakes and embellishment. Human phone trees are not very time-efficient either. When attempting to deliver a message, the caller often gets involved in a long conversation, thus delaying the delivery to the rest of the tree, if the calls are made at all.

In the 1990s, there was a trend to convert all church communication to e-mail. E-mail has become a very popular way of delivering church-related messages but is not always the most effective, particularly when time is of the essence. Here are some often overlooked e-mail shortcomings:

1. When polled, people said they checked their home e-mail an average of once in three days. If the event is immediate, it may be over before the reader even finds out about it.
   
2. Because of the nature of e-mail services, people change addresses regularly resulting in "bounced," returned, or undeliverable messages.
   
3. Most studies show that only about 1/3 of Americans have at least one e-mail address. Some churches report having e-mail addresses from almost 60% of their congregation. What about the members who do not?

The best answer for today's church is a combination of automated voice and e-messaging. State-of-the-art systems are available and affordable for churches of all sizes that work with most church management software. This allows you to automatically send voice and e-messages to people from your existing database without having to re-type numbers. Some systems have advanced features that allow you recruit volunteers, automatically contact shut-ins, perform outreach evangelism and much more.

Automated communication systems designed for the church allow the staff to maximize their efficiency with a minimal amount of effort. Effective, consistent communication is an example of great leadership and results in active involvement, enthusiasm and sense of ownership in a church throughout its membership.

Michael Euliss is vice president of marketing for Personal Communication Systems, Inc., the manufacturer of PhoneTree and a noted authority in church communications.

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Product Roundup

Revelations from Icon Systems Network
Revelations from Icon Systems Network is a complete Church Management software package that allows you to plan and track your church's activities. Revelations will enhance communication, build fellowship, manage finances and automate office tasks in your church. Equipped with a superior database engine, Revelations makes data entry processing and report generation fast and easy. Features include membership tracking, archives, group management and communication, attendance, fund, contribution and tithing management, network capable, user security and much more. Another product from Icon Systems Network, CornerstoneCMO, lets you connect and empower your people anytime, anywhere. There is no hardware or software to buy, no upgrades, no maintenance fees, no service contract renewals, and no hidden costs. And, the low monthly subscription fee will be easy on your budget.
www.iconsystemsnetwork.com

VIANSOFT
VIANSOFT Church Management Software is currently used by more than 3100 congregations worldwide in more than 58 denominations, as well as by ministries and non-profit organizations. Since 1985, the company has specialized exclusively in the development of church management software for accounting, financial and membership applications. The Church Contribution System (Release 3) for Windows is an easy-to-use program designed to record contributions, member participation in activities and membership records for small and large congregations. The Church Treasurer (Release 3) for Windows is an easy-to-use program designed to meet the unique accounting needs of a church. It allows churches to keep track of budget, income and expense as compared to a traditional business accounting system where the main emphasis is keeping track of profit and loss.
www.vian.com

RDS Advantage
Since 1979, RDS Publishing has been a developer of commercial accounting systems software. The RDS Advantage church management software system   provides comprehensive applications for fund accounting, attendance and visitation as well as contacts, notebook, contributions, library, scheduling, electronic funds transfer, voice messaging, Internet and e-mail interactivity and export capabilities. The system has both multi-user and multi-entity applications, meaning that any number of users can be simultaneously entering data, printing or making inquiries, while being protected by a file and record locking system. Data may be processed for a number of different entities, with complete security of data for each entity or organization.
www.rdsadvantage.com

Membership Plus by QuickVerse
Membership Plus 2005 is an effective tool for managing any size church or non-profit organization. With the easy-to-use program, churches can track contributions and pledges, take attendance, manage finances, print reports, access member information and much more. New features include true fund accounting, a fully-integrated program with complete general ledger, check writing/printing capabilities, budgeting and complete financial reporting. With contribution check scanning, users may set up multiple member checking accounts or use predictive contributions to complete the automation process. Office Smart Tags integrate key Membership Plus data into all Office documents.
www.quickverse.com

PowerChurch Plus
PowerChurch Plus is a complete and integrated software system for managing church membership, contributions and accounting. Since 1984, more than 23,000 churches have turned to PowerChurch for their software needs. The new PowerChurch Plus v9 features many enhancements, including an accounting setup assistant to get users started. New features make it easier to manage donor restrictions in compliance with GAAP modifications for non-profit organizations (specifically FASB117). Other enhancements include the ability to e-mail contribution statements and reports, export reports in PDF and HTML formats, locate people by first names and define activities by departments, types, and roles that a person may play in an activity.
www.powerchurch.com

Church Windows
Church Windows offers user-friendly software, available in denominational versions and customizable to meet a church's needs. Users can e-mail reports to committees, produce giving statements and membership directories at a click, run payroll in minutes instead of hours, produce financial reports by fund and more. Purchasers get free updates and free telephone, fax, and online support for 15 months. Training classes are conducted nationwide.
www.churchwindows.com

CMTS for Windows
CMTS for Windows is a comprehensive, yet simple-to-use, church management product. The program consists of five fully-integrated modules, covering membership and visitors, donations, fund accounting and check writing, attendance and visitation and event tracking. CMTS for Windows may be installed on multiple computers, where users may export data into Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheets then sort, reorganize, view or print data as desired. With the optional report writer, users can design custom reports.  The bookkeeping system of CMTS for Windows allows users to run the system in either basic mode or double entry fund accounting mode. A powerful help system, the TDS Advisor Professional Help System and Tutor, guides users through the software.
www.churchsoftware.com

Members To Action
Members To Action software is the ideal tool to fulfill the charge of Ephesians 4: equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. The program helps churches to value people through outreach, visitor follow-up, new member assimilation and ongoing involvement and to grow disciples through small groups and Bible studies. By using discovery tools, interviews and gift assessments and matching and placing people where they best fit, the software aids in enabling people to grow in Christian maturity and realize fulfillment in service. This allows churches to meet the needs of people, the church and community.
www.memberstoaction.com

Church Management Solutions
Church Management Solutions provides technology solutions to connect and empower. Powerful management software and Web solutions streamline operations, increase productivity and improve communication. Their software modules include Membership, Contribution, Attendance, Outreach, Ledger & Payables, and Payroll. Web solutions include free Web site, e-mail accounts, online church calendar, facility scheduler and forms. They offer a complete solution, including tele-training (learn in the convenience of your own office), data conversion and technical support. Their software is compatible with Microsoft Excel, Word and Outlook and supports PDAs, electronic giving and direct deposit of payroll.
www.ChurchManagementSolutions.com

Minister Scheduler Pro
At last, a computer program created just for church ministry and volunteer scheduling, developed by industry professionals, and designed so that it can easily be used by anybody with any level of computer skills. Minister Scheduler Pro generates personnel schedules for your church's weekly services or events by taking into account the specific needs of your church and the preferences of each of your volunteers. Family members are kept together, vacation dates and can't serve times are honored, preferred serving frequencies may be specified; even the most complex scheduling considerations may be dictated through a remarkable simple, plain English interface. A specially designed, state of the art scheduling algorithm ensures that the total distribution of duties is always absolutely fair. You can even use Minister Scheduler Pro to send personalized reminder e-mails to your volunteers and to easily post your schedules on the Internet so your volunteers always have access to a complete, up-to-date schedule.
www.MinisterSchedulerPro.com

Roll Call from By the Book
Roll Call is a powerful church management program that gives your staff the tools to minister effectively and efficiently. Whether your church is large or small, Mac, Windows or both, Roll Call provides the capability to store and retrieve the data you need with flexibility and ease. Roll Call captures membership contact information, significant dates, interest and talents, pictures, donations and pledges, groups and classes, attendance, visitations, comments and background check information. There are many standard reports included in Roll Call, for example, donation receipts, donation statistics, directories, pledge progress, significant date and attendance reports. Roll Call is also customizable. There are fields that your church can define to capture the information you need. You can also use the query editor and ad-hoc report generator to create custom reports.
www.bythebook.com

CMTS for Windows from Torbert
CMTS for Windows from Torbert Data Systems will save you time entering donations, posting checks and other financial information, preparing reports and statements. More importantly, the exclusive TDS Advisor Professional Help System and Tutor will guide you every step of the way. It is very comprehensive and loaded with numerous features. It is simple, straightforward and easy to navigate. It is very easy to learn and practical to use. Share the work and the information. CMTS for Windows may be installed on multiple computers. You can also license additional computers to run CMTS a small fee. When using this powerful option, no duplication of data entry is necessary. Only one person enters names and addresses, and the information is shared.
www.churchsoftware.com