Is Your Church Using Planning Centre?

Our church uses Planning Center.

Some Pros for Planning Center for me are:

• All-in-One Database: You can do a lot with Planning Center. You have the options to manage your church's member database, create lists, and create simple directories. You can also opt in to all the other feature it offers, like online giving, Child check-ins, Groups, Church calendar, etc.
• Volunteer & Service Scheduling: One feature I like the most is the Services feature, which helps plan worship services and schedule volunteers. Volunteers can accept or reject requests for dates they are scheduled for and add their blockout dates for when they'll be away.
• Church Center App for members: Members can download Planning Center's app, the Church Center App. In the app, members can manage their personal/directory information, volunteer schedule, online giving, see the church calendar (if you use that feature), communicate with one and another, and more. You can also use Church Center features on a desktop/laptop. If your church doesn't have a website, you could direct people towards your Church Center URL instead.
• Great customer service and help articles: Planning Center's customer service team is super helpful every time I've had to contact them. They also have a ton of articles and videos on their website explaining how to use or set up features.

Some cons for me are:

• Your congregation needs to be a little tech savvy: Some of our members use the Church Center App, but others do not. This becomes an issue for in-app features like the app's church directory. Members only appear in the in-app directory if they approve their information to be made visible to others. If you have members who don't use apps or don't have an email address, they can't login in to approve this. This results in members still needing to contact the office when they have to get in touch with someone else from church, but don't have their contact info because they can't look them up.
• Scammers/Hackers: Over the years, there have been a few incidents where scammers have figured out how Planning Center works and try to use that to their advantage. Planning Center used to have a feature where you could send text messages to members, but it got hacked and they now use a separate third-party instead. I didn't want to add another subscription, so we no longer have access to that feature. A year or so ago, there were scammers who pretended to be church members so they could log into their Church Center app accounts, access the directory, and email everyone at church to ask for gift cards. This happened to us as well as a few other church I spoke to.
• The subscriptions add up: It's nice to have a database and app where you can manage most of your church's needs, but the subscriptions do add up. Sometimes I wonder it if would have been better to go with a database that charges a flat rate, like Breeze, but I know that Planning Center was the only option at the time that had all of the features we were looking for.

Sorry, that was probably more information than you were looking for. Hope it helps though!

Our church uses Planning Center.  We have many singles and young families.  A few people in the 40 - 70 age range.  Everyone is computer literate and almost everyone uses smartphones.  We use Planning Center for the membership database, service and volunteer scheduling and the Giving module.  I am not aware of any scamming/hacking issues.  

The Scheduling module is handy as volunteers can block out dates that they are not available.  When the scheduling is done, volunteers are sent their schedule.  They go online and confirm their commitment so the administrator can verify who is coming.  You can also send a reminder email to the volunteers the week before they are scheduled.  The service liturgy can also be included.

The Giving module allows members, at their convenience, to go online to make their donation via credit card (debit, not sure as we don't use this).  Their donations are automatically recorded in the database.  You can set up different funds.  There is also a batch feature that allows you to enter other giving methods such as etransfers or monthly giving.  We no longer have in person offerings during the service as everybody prefers a different giving method.  You can export the data into Excel and obtain statistical and reporting information.  We use this to also reconcile to the bank account and accounting software.  We balance everything at year-end.  Tax receipts are very easy.  Just verify everyone's email and mailing address, set up a cover letter and then press the button and an email is sent to everyone for their access to their tax receipt.  Hard copies can be printed as needed.  Revisions can be made.  Electronic copies of all the receipts can be kept in central location.   Only those people (eg treasurer) who have been provided access to the module can see this confidential information.

There is a cost.  However, for our church,  the features keep the time commitment from everyone at a minimum.  With how busy most people are these days, it allows us to schedule more efficiently and our donations are higher than they would be if we didn't provide online options.  It also reduces the need for paper records.

We use Planning Center for worship service planning. In 2021 after extensive evaluation of numerous church management systems, including Planning Center, we decided to implement One Church Software for our church's member database, children's ministry registration and check-ins, background checks, group management, events calendar, online giving and reporting, and smartphone app. One Church Software offers extensive features and functionality, but with less complexity and a lower overall cost. We have been very pleased with their ongoing support, help articles and videos, and no-cost training.