Many Church Management Software solutions (ChMS or sometimes CMS) are programs that have to be installed directly onto your church computer. While these church management tools have been a staple in churches for years, the best ChMS products on the market are actually based online. If your church is still using a PC-based church management software, you might be wondering, “Why make the change to using a web-based ChMS for my church?” To answer that question, here are five practical reasons why you should consider upgrading to a web based church management software:
1) Easy Accessibility – This is by far the best reason of all. When you go web-based, you are no longer tied to the computers you have operating on your local network. You can ask volunteers to help with data entry since they are free from only using a church computer to do it. Instead, they can do their volunteer work from home, the coffee shop, or anywhere they have Internet access. When you find yourself needing to call a church member, but you’re not in the office, another great advantage is you can easily log into your web-based ChMS and find their phone number. Best of all, you will finally be able to take a sledge hammer to that old computer that your traditional ChMS has been running on since 1987. Admit it, you’ve wanted to smash that thing for years!
2) Data Security and Reliability – What happens if the computer your traditional ChMS is on goes down? What if the hard drive crashes and the data is irretrievable? Your church may have a policy for backing up this computer regularly, but what if someone forgets? With online church management software you no longer have to worry about data loss. The company providing your ChMS has redundant servers (or at least should have) to protect your data and ensure nothing happens to it. Churchteams is a company with redundant servers you can trust to keep your data safe.
3) Tablets, Pads and Phones – Phones and tablets have more computing power today than the warehouse-sized computers used to send astronauts to the moon in 1969. This is why everywhere you turn people are glued to their mobile devices. These devices are everywhere and are being used for countless purposes; therefore, why wouldn’t a church want to redeem the use of these technological wonders with a ChMS product? Web-based church management software gives you the ability to leverage the power and accessibility of tablets and smartphones, and thus, increase your efficiency and data integrity.
4) Social Media Incorporation – Social Media is the new normal. For example, I went on a mission trip to Guatemala in 2012 and the teenagers I met wanted to friend me on Facebook. In fact, my mom, who is over 80 years old, is a social media fanatic. Obviously, it is the new normal. Online church management software can tie directly into the most popular social media outlets thereby giving you more ways to communicate with your community. Not all web-based ChMS companies provide this, but the best do.
5) Excellent Value – All these advantages sound like they might add up to big dollars, and frankly, sometimes they do. There are web-based Church Management software companies who charge a ton for their services. Yet, some do not. You might immediately think, “You get what you pay for.” In today’s marketplace that old saying has become obsolete. Think for a moment about how much value is added to your life by some 99-cent smartphone apps. Because of technology and accessibility, costs don’t have to be artificially inflated! Churchteams is the most value-packed Church Management System on the market today. They include all the best features of their competitors at the most competitive prices possible. Some people wonder why Churchteams remains so affordable. The answer to that question is found in two of the company’s core values: generosity and ministry first. From day one, Churchteams has been committed to making products that churches can use at a reasonable price, and continues that commitment to this day.
So those are the top five reasons to “Go Web” with your church management. What else would you add to the list?