Choosing Church Management Software: A Mission-Focused Approach

Choosing the right church management software can be a daunting task. With so many features and options available, it's easy to get lost in the details and lose sight of what's really important: the mission and vision of the church. In this article, we'll explore how to evaluate software packages based on their mission impact and the effort/cost required to implement and manage them, using an analogy.

The Analogy:

?Imagine you're taking a trip to Florida with your church group. Your vision is to get to the beach and your mission is to do evangelism on the beach. On the way, your group plans to do some group training and team building exercises, and it's very important that everyone arrive at the same time and that the group doesn't have to stop to use the bathroom. To get there, you need to choose a mode of transportation. You could choose a car, van, bus, collection of motorcycles, or fly commerically. Each mode has different costs and efforts, and some may have features that are nice to have but don't contribute to achieving the mission.

Evaluation Criteria:

?To evaluate the modes of transportation, you need to consider the following criteria:

?Mission Impact: How well does the mode of transportation help you achieve your mission? For example, if you need to arrive at the beach at a specific time to do evangelism, then the mode of transportation that gets you there on time will have a higher mission impact. Group training and team building will require that everyone be in the same vehicle. If it's important to not stop for bathroom breaks, having a bathroom facility in the vehicle is important.

?Effort/Cost: How much effort and cost is required to own, implement, and manage the mode of transportation? For example, a car may be the cheapest option because the participants already have cars, but a charter bus may have costs like charter fees, costs for a professional driver and navigator, and additional lodging for the drivers.

?Preferences: What features or preferences do you have that are not essential to achieving the mission? For example, the color of the vehicle or whether there is a stereo in the vehicle may be nice to have but don't contribute to the ability of the vehicle to help you achieve your mission of getting to the beach, on time, as a group,.

Applying the Analogy to Church Management Software:

?Now let's apply this analogy to church management software. Most software has many "features," some of which are not necessarily important to helping a church execute its mission and vision. To evaluate software packages based on their mission impact and the effort/cost required to implement and manage them, consider the following:

?Mission Impact: How well does the software help you achieve your mission? For example, if your mission is to "help people connect with Jesus and each other, through service and generosity," then the software that helps identify people who are not connected through service groups, helps to plan service opportunities, and help your staff to communicate with members about how they can grow in generosity will have a higher mission impact.

?If part of your ministry strategy includes shepherding teams in which a leader is assigned the task of touching base with members on a regular basis and connecting them with other members, and you need your shepherding leaders to have a high level understanding of the member's involvement and engagement in the church, then the software that provides an app or web site for leaders, with access to a list of their assigned members, and a dashboard showing when a contact is due, a summary of each member's involvement, and a way to take notes and assign tasks to other members, volunteers, or staff will have a significant impact on your ability to act on your mission strategy.

?Effort/Cost: How much effort and cost is required to own, implement, and manage the software? For example, a cloud-based software may be more expensive but may require less effort to implement and manage than an on-premise software. While some software may be very customizable, it may require staffing and training to maintain a high level of technical expertise, whereas a less customizable application that still meets the mission impact requirements is a better choice. Consider though, all of the costs - while it may seem expensive to buy software that requires costs $20,000 a year and requires hiring a technical expert to run it, if it frees the equivalent of three full time staff member's administrative time to do ministry instead of working around the limitations of another application, it may be a bargain.

?Preferences: What features or preferences do you have that are not essential to achieving the mission? For example, the color scheme or user interface of the software may be nice to have but don't contribute to the ability of the software to help you achieve your mission. Given two options that both have a high mission impact, but one that has a low cost and dated, but intuitive interface, which is the better option?

?Conclusion:

?Choosing the right church management software is critical to achieving your mission. By using a mission-focused approach and evaluating software packages based on their mission impact and the effort/cost required to implement and manage them, you can make a good decision that leads to the highest impact and the lowest effort. Don't get lost in the details; keep your eyes on the mission.