A complete guide to Church Management Software (ChMS)

There’s not a pastor or church leader out there who doesn’t wish they had more time for ministry. Unfortunately, many feel bogged down by administrative tasks like managing complex communication tools, accounting spreadsheets, and church membership software.

But the right church management software (ChMS) can make managing all those systems and processes so much easier. That’s why every year more and more churches are adopting ChMS solutions to streamline their operations so they can invest more time into serving and growing their congregations. 

Simple-to-use church management software programs can help your church be more organized, while also serving as a powerful tool to create more and better disciples. Let’s explore everything that pastors need to know about a ChMS, including:

Church management software is cloud-based technology that provides a central place for church leaders to manage their operations, organize membership information, and automate their processes and communications. A ChMS integrates with church databases, communication software, event calendars, finances and accounting, online giving, and much more.

One of the biggest frustrations church leaders face today is “tool fatigue.” Having to manage so many separate tools is starting to take its toll! On the flip side, having a centralized database with all of this information allows leaders to have a fuller picture of how their people are doing and keep a pulse on how they’re engaging with the church! Let’s take a deeper look at all of the benefits a ChMS offers. 

Church management software offers many benefits to everyone in your church, from your leadership, staff, and volunteers to your members and visitors.

Here are some specific benefits you can expect from a ChMS.

1. View your church community holistically

Relationships are the heartbeat of your church. Every time someone visits your church, fills out a welcome card, joins a small group, or checks their child into a children’s class, they’re providing your team with valuable information about who they are and how they want to belong to your community.

Church membership software uses this information to provide helpful insights into your community, giving everyone on your team a holistic understanding of who exactly is part of your community. This includes:

• Ages & demographics: Easily find the average age of your church members, or know how many high schoolers are going to graduate this year.
• Attendance history: Learn who has been consistently attending, and see who may need to be followed up with in case they’re slipping through the cracks. 
• Church membership: Keep tabs on your church’s membership growth. 
• Tithing & giving: Make it easy to know the health of your church’s finances by having all of your church’s incoming gifts in one place. 
• Volunteers: Quickly coordinate teams and know when it’s time to share volunteer opportunities for different ministries. 
• Small groups: Keep track of which members are participating in small groups, as well as which small groups are growing—and which might need some help. 
• Birthdays & anniversaries: Special days like these are great opportunities for celebrations. Reach out to show that you care!

Knowing this information gives you a more complete picture of your members, allowing you to keep a pulse on the health and engagement of your congregation. 

2. Organize & streamline your operations

Administration is the backbone of your church’s organization. When your operations are running smoothly, your staff is happier, more effective, and have more time to focus on ministry and discipleship . 

Church management software provides many time-saving benefits for your church’s administrative team:

• Centralized database: Organize all of your church’s information that your team can access everything from cloud-based church management software.
• Automated processes: Automation streamlines your operations by triggering processes (like newcomer follow-ups) that result in more efficiency. 
• Integrations with digital tools: Seamless integrations with your church website, custom mobile app, online giving, live streaming, media and on-demand content, and group messaging.
• Proactive communication: Ensure that your emails and other church communications are sent on time by automating or pre-scheduling them. 
• Collaboration tools: A ChMS provides simplified collaboration between your teams.
• Check-in management: Having your congregation check in online or with their smartphones saves your staff time and keeps your children safer. 
• Up-to-date member profiles: Your members can update their contact information and other data themselves, saving time and making your data more accurate. 
• Financial reports: Having data about your church’s finances allows for more transparency and better budgeting. 

3. Protect your congregation

Most church management software programs offer a cloud-based database with security features that protect your congregation’s personal information from hackers and would-be data thieves. So having a secure ChMS offers much more data privacy for your church compared to using personal computers (or worse yet, paper records) to store their data!

Integrating your ChMS with secure online giving solutions, like Subsplash Giving, can also reduce your church’s financial exposure to fraud, theft, and embezzlement. Check out this article about financial best practices for more tips and information to keep your church safe!

4. Enhance your church communications

Keep your community engaged by creating workflows that turn your ChMS into an automated church communication system. Imagine that a family visits your church for the first time. The parents use your ChMS child check-in feature in your lobby before heading to the children’s classrooms. Then, during the service, they fill out your church connection form and also give an offering.

Thanks to your ChMS, your ministry has effortlessly collected this family’s names and contact information, as well as their children’s ages and grades. That same day, it then sends them a “Welcome to church” email, or text message, along with a thank you note for their first-time donation. The following week, the family automatically receives a follow-up invitation to visit again with information about upcoming events and a prayer request form. Simple, powerful, effective!

This is just one example of how technology can make a big difference when it comes to communicating with your church. Easy church management software acts as an automation system that proactively communicates with your community with automatic responses to:

• First-time visitors: Automatically send follow-up communications to each first time visitor.
• Returning visitors: Maintain relationships with visitors who attend less frequently.
• First-time donors: Send thank you messages after someone gives for the first time.
• Small groups: Based on a person’s demographics, send a list of recommended small groups to explore. 
• Event registrants: Once someone signs up for an event, set up a sequence of communications to keep them informed and excited about what is to come.

5. Measure the real life impact

As a pastor or ministry leader, it’s crucial to know the health of your church. Church management software makes it easy to get the information you need to perform a church health checkup, such as: 

• Reporting: Create, generate, and share insightful reports.
• Forms & registrations: Know exactly how many signups you have.
• Giving: Quickly find out what percentage of your congregation is tithing and manage your budget accordingly.
• Attendance: Keep a pulse on how your attendance is trending. 
• New visitors: Discover how effectively your church reaches and retains visitors by tracking returning visitors. 
• New members: Discover how many people are regularly attending your services or who has completed your membership classes.

While every ChMS offers its own bells and whistles, here are some essential features that you should insist on having—no matter which solution you ultimately choose.

Church contact features

• Organized contact data
• First time visitor forms
• Member management
• Giving history
• Relationships
• Small groups
• Demographics
• Class attendance
• Church directory     
• Ages  

Operational features

• Centralized database
• Volunteer management
• Signup forms
• Events management
• Revenue tracking

Communication features

• Prayer requests
• Mass emails
• Team communication
• Text messaging
• Audience segmentation
• Event registration
• Track conversations
• Push notifications
• Group messaging            

Companies that offer ChMS software promise a more simple and effective way to manage your congregation, while also simplifying your team’s administrative tasks. But every church is different. A church with 100 people in attendance has different needs from a church with 1,000 people attending. 

This is why it’s important for you to evaluate your church’s specific needs before choosing a ChMS. There are a lot more factors that should be considered besides the price! Here are some questions to ask your team before making your decision:

• What communications do we need to automate?
• How user-friendly is it, and how much training will our team need?
• Does the company have reliable customer service?
• Does it integrate with our current software and digital tools?
• Will this ChMS grow with us as our church expands or opens new campuses?
• How long will it take to set up and get running? 
• Can it help us better manage our members, communications, and groups?
• How well does it help with tracking and reporting on contributions?

Finding one system like Church Management by Subsplash to handle all of these tasks will be a worthwhile investment that results in more productivity and better communications!

Like most other software, the cost of church management software can vary depending on the available features and number of users. Another factor is the number of integrations with other online church platforms, as well as the level of customer support. 

Here are the four most common types of ChMS payment options:

1. Fixed monthly or annual pricing based on the number of users and contacts. This type of cloud-based church management software will charge a fixed monthly rate based on the number of contacts in your database and the amount of storage used.
2. Fixed monthly or annual pricing based on average weekly church attendance size. This is a similar pricing model for a cloud-based ChMS based on the number of people regularly attending. 
3. Single-payment license fee. Unlike the cloud-based pricing models, this is a one-time payment for a user license that gives a church full access to a suite of features and tools limited to an on-premise location or specific computers. These require a bigger payment up front and may require more technical knowledge (e.g. how to use the open API architecture.)
4. Custom-quote pricing. While this may sound expensive, some churches may like the flexibility of picking and choosing the features they want. 

Most churches can find a cloud-based ChMS that works well for them at a lower price point. Larger churches, however, often need to get a quote for enterprise plans that require custom features. 

Managing church operations can be overwhelming and complex. Don’t lose the convenience and the peace of mind that comes from having simple and easy-to-use church management software!

Over 15,000 churches use the Subsplash Platform to reach and connect with millions of people around the world. If you would like to find out more about using tools like ChMS, mobile apps, websites, live streaming, group messaging, and online giving to grow your church, [.blog-contact-cta]let’s chat![.blog-contact-cta]