What features should you look for in a church management software for your church? In this article we'll cover the core features every ChMS should have.
If you’re leading a church in the 21st century, then you need church management software.
Church management software saves you significant time on admin, reduces errors, automates communication, and even creates more space for ministry.
But choosing a church management software tool that’s right for your church isn’t easy. There are a range of options available. And most of them promise the same outcome: simplify church management.
In the following article, we’ll talk about the seven key features you must have in a church management software.
Church management software, or ChMS, typically comes with a monthly subscription fee, but the price is well worth the investment.
By using the right software, you’ll save hours of administrative labor. Not only that, but you’ll create a culture of more connection and engagement with your church members with tools designed for communication. Ultimately, the right ChMS will even help you grow your church membership and finances.
Again, you’ll need to choose a tool that includes key features needed for church administration.
Church is all about connection. That being said, most church management tools come with a contact database for staying organized, connecting with church members, and keeping track of who’s who in your community. Using a church database, an admin can easily locate specific members and look up information such as background check renewals, child food allergies, spiritual gifts, or anything else that would be most beneficial to your church.*
How do you know what kind of database to look for?
Your ChMS’s database should:
Finally, your church’s database should be simple to use and understand.
*Note that detailed information will only be available in databases with customizable data fields!
Your church members are more likely to be generous if they can give online.
Even better? Giving them the ability to make a financial gift on an app or with a text message.
When your church management software is integrated with an online giving platform, tasks like collecting and tracking donations become that much easier.
Your church management software should offer the ability to:
Finally, look for a ChMS that includes online giving in the monthly price.
Churches run on volunteers. That’s why it’s so critical to retain them, recruit them, and keep them organized.
Every church admin knows that scheduling can be one of the most significant pain points when it comes to volunteers. Coordinating with multiple volunteers across multiple ministries–kids, tech, hospitality, bookstore, security, and more–can be tricky.
That’s why it’s so key to have a church management software that helps you schedule volunteers for specific events. Not only that, but it should help volunteers stay on the same page by sending them automated reminders before they serve.
One of the things that parents look most for in a church is a great children’s ministry.
Part of an effective children’s ministry–aside from the fun, of course–is an organized environment where parents can drop off their kids and feel good knowing that they’re safe.
That being said, you’ll want to find a church management software that provides easy child check-in and tracking. If your tool can help you print name tags (and corresponding tags for parents), that’s an added bonus.
The easiest way to connect with church members during the week? Email and text.
Some of your church members will prefer an email. Others are more likely to open up or respond to a text message.
In any case, you’ll want to use digital communication to connect with your church members about upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, fundraising campaigns, workshops and classes, and anything else that might be relevant to your church.
The best church management software tools will include email and text messaging so that you can quickly connect with your church members. But just because your email and text message tool is connected to a church management software doesn’t mean it should be basic.
Your email and text tool should:
The biggest benefit of having email and text connected to your ChMS? Using an email and text message tool that syncs with your contact database makes communication that much easier.
The ability to organize your church members and visitors into groups is a critical aspect of church management.
Even a small church will likely need to organize their people into multiple groups–possibly including church members vs. visitors, deacons, elders, volunteer leads, kid’s ministry volunteers, hospitality crew, worship team, and leadership.
The easiest-to-use church management system will focus on group organization as a key function of the software.
Group organization in a ChMS should:
When you’re looking for an easy-to-use ChMS, focus on groups. Your church admin (that could be you!) will be grateful later on.
Most churches aren’t very large, which means they don’t have massive budgets. In fact, half of all churches in America have fewer than 65 members.
That being said, most churches don’t want to spend tons of money on software. More likely, they want to reserve their excess budget for making building upgrades, or hiring a new staff member, or starting a new ministry.
Your ChMS should be affordable.
What does affordable mean?
Less than $100 per month–and preferably, less than $75. Watch out for hidden costs, too. The best church management software teams will help you move over your data for free.
Breeze is an easy-to-use, affordable ($72 per month), and most importantly, super useful church management software.
Breeze includes everything you need to run your church efficiently, including:
To learn more about using Breeze for your church management needs, click here.
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