When you’re implementing church software, there’s a lot to consider—even after you’ve decided which church membership software is right for your church! The implementation process can take months, and it will likely require a high level of coordination between you and your staff or volunteers.
But that doesn’t mean the implementation has to be a headache! We’ve created a comprehensive guide to help you successfully implement your new church management software.
Step 1: Set Launch Dates
The first step in implementing church software is to find your end goal. By setting official launch dates and milestones, you’ll be able to more effectively tackle each of the next steps in this guide.
There are a few key launch dates you’ll want to set as milestones so that you can intentionally work toward them. First, you’ll want to set a final launch date, when everyone on your team and in your congregation will adopt the software. Before you set that date, you’ll likely want to set additional milestones, such as the date your team will make the transition internally.
Step 2: Work Backward to Create a Launch Timeline
Once you’ve set your launch dates and big milestone moments, you can work backward to create a launch timeline. This timeline will look different for every church. It depends on how big your team is (whether paid or volunteer), how much data you have to transfer, and how many members you have.
A good starting point as you prepare to set additional milestones is to look at the steps of this guide! Be sure to set enough time between each step to allow you and your team time to actually implement each step. As you go, you’ll likely decide to add other milestone moments that are unique to your church!
Step 3: Assign Duties
The next step is to assign duties to your team—or yourself if you’re a one-person operation!
If you have a team of staff or volunteers who are committing to this project with you, it’ll be important to evenly divide up tasks based on their roles. For example, your financial secretary might be put in charge of migrating your financial data and setting up online giving. Your volunteer coordinator, on the other hand, might handle setting up registration forms.
No matter what, you’ll need to ensure that you have multiple people exporting and uploading data. Then your team should double-check that data to ensure its accuracy. We recommend having two people review all uploaded data to make sure everything is correct.
Step 4: Train Internal Team
The next step is to train your internal team and volunteers on how to use the software. As the project lead, it might be up to you to understand the software well enough to be able to train your team on how to use it properly and effectively! But be sure to check with your contact at your church membership software company to see if he or she can offer live or video training. They want to see you succeed, so they’ll likely have an abundance of resources for you to take advantage of!
Step 5: Make the Internal Transition
Before you roll out your church membership software to your members, you should make the transition internally. This allows your team time to make sure they understand how everything works and that all systems are running smoothly!
By implementing this step first, you’ll still need to do everything how you were doing it before—which means double the work for your team for a short period of time. For example, your team may need to enter offering data into both your existing system and your new church membership software.
Step 6: Work Out Bugs
After you make the internal transition, your team will have the opportunity to work out any remaining issues in the transition process before it’s made public! This gives your team plenty of time to figure out the nuances of the system and how they can best use it in their individual roles.
It also gives you time to reach out to your support contact to make sure your new processes are being accurately implemented. If you notice something seems off, don’t hesitate to reach out to him or her.
Step 7: Roll Out to Congregation
It’s finally time to share all of your hard work with your members! By rolling out your church membership software to your congregation after it has been implemented internally, you’re ensuring that everything is working smoothly behind the scenes.
One primary benefit to this is that you can dedicate your time and effort to helping your members make the transition, rather than having to help both your staff and members make the transition simultaneously.
Step 8: Offer Training to Members
Once you’ve made the official external transition, you should be sure to offer training for your members. Some members will be able to easily create their new account and set up their member profile with ease, but others might have trouble navigating the new website or app.
Consider offering multiple trainings over the course of a month so that anyone who needs help can attend and get their questions answered. It may be helpful to offer training on Sunday mornings after worship so that people don’t have to make a separate trip!
Step 9: Monitor Usage and Common Pitfalls
Lastly, you’ll want to monitor your members’ usage and pay attention to common pitfalls they’re experiencing. This is an ongoing process that will last indefinitely, but it can help you continuously improve the adoption of your new software!
Perhaps you start to notice that engagement within your new prayer group has sharply dropped off. That could be a sign to check and make sure that everyone has access, permissions didn’t get changed, or there’s not a bug in the software.
Encourage your members to reach out if they notice anything not functioning correctly or they can’t figure out a certain feature. If multiple people point out the same issues, it could be time to offer a refresh on your trainings or reach out to your support contact for help.
Every church’s implementation journey will look a little different. As you consider what comes next for your congregation, explore how Church360° Members can support your people, processes, and ministry. Try it free for 30 days.
