7 Signs You Need a New Church Management Software

Is it time to get a new church management software? 

If you work on staff at a church, then you might assume that all church management technology is created equal. But that’s not actually the case. Church management software solutions, or ChMS, vary in price, ease of use, and feature set.

Making the switch to a better solution can help you save time and money…and make your life as a church administrator or church leader a whole lot easier!

A great church management software can…

• Increase engagement and connection with your church members
• Help you create a stronger online presence
• Boost giving
• Reduce frustration and inefficiency at work
• Streamline and create space in your budget

On the other hand, a less-than-ideal ChMS can…

• Waste time and money
• Cause frustration and poor communication
• Hinder you from achieving your goals in ministry
• Limit online giving
• Reduce insight into the health of your church

The trouble is, many of us get accustomed to slow, inefficient processes and high costs associated with the wrong church management solution. 

In the following article, we’ll take a look at 7 signs that you need a new church management solution for your church. We’ll also look at a few must-have features you should be looking for in a church management solution.

7 Signs You Need a New ChMS Solution
 

1. You pay over $100 a month for software.

Small churches with limited budgets don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars a month on software. They have salaries to pay and ministries to fund. 

The same goes for mid-sized churches of course. Using financial resources well is a priority for every faith-based organization, whether it’s a tiny church plant or 10k-person megachurch!

An excellent church software tool shouldn’t cost more than $100 a month. Many tools that have scaled pricing seem as if they’re charging reasonable fees. After all, you can use Planning Center for less than $100 month…but only if your church has less than 50 members. As soon as you start to grow, monthly pricing scales up exponentially.

2. You spend lots of time switching between tools. 

There’s a high cost to switching tasks or tools. One study published by the University of California at Irvine found that once you’ve changed tasks, returning back to the original task takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds. 

Church administrators have lots of responsibilities (event management, financial management, volunteer scheduling, and more). To protect their valuable time and energy, it’s critical to keep everything under one roof. 

A church management software tool that’s streamlined and integrated can help church administrators minimize task-switching. For example, a tool that integrates your contact database with email marketing and donation management can prevent confusion and wasted time. 

3. You’re not following up with first-time visitors. 

Following up with first-time visitors to your church is so important. When you miss the opportunity for follow-up, you miss the opportunity to connect with someone who could potentially become a valuable church member who volunteers, gives, encourages others, and most importantly, grows in relationship with God!

But new visitor follow-up is much easier said than done. To effectively connect with new visitors, you need a church software that can help you easily add new contacts to your CRM, and then send a follow-up email and text message. The right church management solution will make this task simple and seamless.

4. Your online giving is sub-par. 

If your online giving isn’t very high, it’s time to reconsider your software tool. The wrong tool will make it complicated to make a donation, or not offer enough options for giving. Your church members expect online processes to be fast and seamless–remember that we’re living in the age of 1-click purchases, mobile ordering, and QR codes!

The right church software will make online giving super easy for your church members and administrator. It will include tools for providing online and text giving, plus donation tracking and management. It will help you generate reports that make it easy to get insight into the financial health of your church. Finally, it will make it simple to send end-of-year tax statements to your donors.

5. Volunteer scheduling is a major headache. 

One of the core responsibilities of church administration is volunteer scheduling. After all, most churches run on volunteers. From the hospitality team to the security team to kid’s ministry volunteers, weekend services wouldn’t be the same without church members who are willing to give their time and energy for free. 

That being said, every church needs a process that makes it easy to schedule volunteers. Ideally, that looks like a software tool that a) makes it simple to invite volunteers to specific events, and b) sends them automated reminders before their scheduled events. If your software tool isn’t doing either of these things well, it’s time to consider switching!

6. Your software isn’t optimized for your smartphone. 

If you work for a church, you know that a lot of your work happens on the go–especially during weekend services. That being the case, it’s important that your church management solution is accessible on your phone. 

But you shouldn’t just be able to utilize your church management solution on your mobile phone; it should be mobile-optimized! That means that it should be smooth and simple to use your church software on your iPhone or Android, with an easy-to-understand interface.

7. Your church admin keeps quitting. 

Okay, this last one is a bit of a joke, but the wrong church management software can result in frustration, inefficiency, and even employee turnover! The right tool makes your church administration easy and seamless…and ultimately, makes the job of your admin more enjoyable. Do everyone on staff a favor, and get a tool that’s effective and easy to use.

Make Church Admin a Breeze

Breeze is a church management software that simplifies tasks like donor management, event management, email and text messaging, volunteer scheduling, and child check-in. One streamlined tool with everything you need, a low monthly fee ($72), and free data migration make Breeze a no-brainer for churches of all sizes.

To learn more about using Breeze for your church administration, click here.