Hello Tim, our church (Community CRC Roselawn) is looking to upgrade from Power Church to an integrated suite. Are you aware of any good resources that compare the features and functionality, ease of use, reporting, customer support, and future feature development for leading church management systems? Also, are you aware of churches that have recently gone through the process of evaluating, selecting and implementing an integrated system? Thanks!
Hi Shari, I would appreciate hearing more about your church's experiences with Planning Center (PC) and Church Community Builder (CCB). Doesn't PC offer a comprehensive set of integrated tools? Are there specific reasons it was decided to go with CCB? Are there specific functionality that CCB offers that isn't found in PC?
We currently use a number of tools, Power Church for membership, Planning Center for worship planning and children's ministry check-in, Instant Church Directory for online and printed directory, and Vanco for online giving. Primarily because we're very disappointed with the reporting capabilities of Power Church, we're beginning a process to investigate and choose a comprehensive system.
Wendy, does your church have a written policy stating that individual wages and cost of benefits will not be shared? If so, would you be willing to share a copy of the policy? Our church has had an unwritten policy for a number of years, but we now want to adopt a written policy. Thanks in advance.
Hello Ken, the administrative team of our church has also discussed the questions raised. I'm wondering whether any documents have been developed? And if so, whether you would be willing to share them? Thanks!
Hi Joshua, as others have noted, there are many companies offering church management software systems. Last year after evaluating many systems, we converted to One Church Software, and I would highly recommend them. I believe they still offer special pricing for small churches. However, if your church doesn't need the other tools and features of a comprehensive system, I think it would be quite workable to set up an Excel spreadsheet to record key dates and information for your members and regular attenders. Please feel free to reach out if you need any additional assistance.
Hi Joshua, to add to my previous comments, if you decide to set up a spreadsheet, I would strongly encourage you to review the annual denomination questionnaire for categories and dates you would want to set up and include. Some of the information requested is date driven.
Hi Tim, at our church, we're still using paper expense reports, so I'm not able to help in that area. However, I am wondering whether you are aware of any churches using an HR system? Keeping track of employee merit and cost of living increases, spot awards, also possibly vacation requests and tracking, and also time card reporting and approval? Our bookkeeper uses QuickBooks Payroll, so for time reporting for hourly employees, integration with QB Payroll would be a plus. Thanks!
Does your church use a church management system? Many of those systems will allow a staff member or volunteer to enter a visitor's contact information, the date the guest first attended, and even develop a workflow to assign follow-up to a staff member or volunteer.
Posted in: Retaining Records
The embedded link is no longer active. Are you able to update? Thanks!
Posted in: How Does Your Church Do Photo Directories?
Hello Tim, our church (Community CRC Roselawn) is looking to upgrade from Power Church to an integrated suite. Are you aware of any good resources that compare the features and functionality, ease of use, reporting, customer support, and future feature development for leading church management systems? Also, are you aware of churches that have recently gone through the process of evaluating, selecting and implementing an integrated system? Thanks!
Posted in: Software for Scheduling Church Volunteers
Hi Shari, I would appreciate hearing more about your church's experiences with Planning Center (PC) and Church Community Builder (CCB). Doesn't PC offer a comprehensive set of integrated tools? Are there specific reasons it was decided to go with CCB? Are there specific functionality that CCB offers that isn't found in PC?
We currently use a number of tools, Power Church for membership, Planning Center for worship planning and children's ministry check-in, Instant Church Directory for online and printed directory, and Vanco for online giving. Primarily because we're very disappointed with the reporting capabilities of Power Church, we're beginning a process to investigate and choose a comprehensive system.
If you would prefer to email, my address is [email protected]
Thanks!
Bob Swanson, Council President
Community CRC
Demotte, Indiana
Posted in: The Disclosure of Church Staff Salaries
Wendy, does your church have a written policy stating that individual wages and cost of benefits will not be shared? If so, would you be willing to share a copy of the policy? Our church has had an unwritten policy for a number of years, but we now want to adopt a written policy. Thanks in advance.
Posted in: Best Practices for Operational Oversight and Staff Salaries?
Hello Ken, the administrative team of our church has also discussed the questions raised. I'm wondering whether any documents have been developed? And if so, whether you would be willing to share them? Thanks!
Posted in: Track Church Membership Using Excel?
Hi Joshua, as others have noted, there are many companies offering church management software systems. Last year after evaluating many systems, we converted to One Church Software, and I would highly recommend them. I believe they still offer special pricing for small churches. However, if your church doesn't need the other tools and features of a comprehensive system, I think it would be quite workable to set up an Excel spreadsheet to record key dates and information for your members and regular attenders. Please feel free to reach out if you need any additional assistance.
Posted in: Track Church Membership Using Excel?
Hi Joshua, to add to my previous comments, if you decide to set up a spreadsheet, I would strongly encourage you to review the annual denomination questionnaire for categories and dates you would want to set up and include. Some of the information requested is date driven.
Posted in: App for Submitting Expenses?
Hi Tim, at our church, we're still using paper expense reports, so I'm not able to help in that area. However, I am wondering whether you are aware of any churches using an HR system? Keeping track of employee merit and cost of living increases, spot awards, also possibly vacation requests and tracking, and also time card reporting and approval? Our bookkeeper uses QuickBooks Payroll, so for time reporting for hourly employees, integration with QB Payroll would be a plus. Thanks!
Posted in: Process for Church Name Change?
If a US church, could a church change its name by adopting a DBA? If so, what would be the recommended process? Thanks!
Posted in: Tips on Tracking Visitors?
Does your church use a church management system? Many of those systems will allow a staff member or volunteer to enter a visitor's contact information, the date the guest first attended, and even develop a workflow to assign follow-up to a staff member or volunteer.