When you’re choosing a church management software, you need to ask yourself (and your team) a series of questions to figure out which option is the best for you. It can be overwhelming to figure out what’s most important, especially when making a big investment like this.
However, once you’ve asked the right questions, you should feel comfortable with your decision, knowing it’s the best fit for your team’s needs! Here are some questions to ask before choosing your church management software.
What Problems Am I Trying to Solve?
If you’re actively searching for a church management software, you’ve likely already answered this question at least in part, because you have a felt need that a software could solve! However, it can be important to go through this exercise to identify exactly what your pain points are.
Church management softwares can solve streamlining processes, organize member information, track financials, and take attendance. You also might just want to consolidate multiple softwares into one.
What Features Do I Need?
The next natural question you should ask is what specific features your church needs. This varies from church to church, but asking this question will help you identify which software is right for you. It will also help you avoid paying for features you’ll never use!
For example, you might know your team needs the ability to tie giving and attendance to a member profile, or that you don’t need the ability to send emails because you use a stand-alone email service.
How Many People Will Use the Software?
Another important question to ask is how many people will be using the software. The number of users you need will impact your budget (more on that later), but you also need to be aware if multiple users can use one login, or if multiple users can log into the software and work simultaneously.
While most church management software options charge by the number of users, some, like Church360° Members, don't. You’ll need to ensure that you can set different levels of access if necessary so that team members can access the software from wherever they are (especially if they’re volunteers).
What’s My Budget?
Lastly, you need to determine your budget. You might be tempted to ask this question first, but we recommend asking this question last because it all depends on your answers to the questions above. For example, if you have a number in mind for your budget but need to give a lot of users access and need a full suite of features, your budget might not be realistic for your needs.
However, consolidating softwares and switching to a church management software suite may be more cost-effective. If you no longer have to pay for multiple products, like a stand-alone email software, an event sign-up software, a texting platform, and a church directory software, and you instead only have one subscription, a church management software could save your church money.
Of course, it’s important to be good stewards of your church finances and to find a solution that’s right for your church’s needs and budget. But by answering all of these questions, you might find that you overestimated your budget because your needs are less than you anticipated!
The Church360° Suite contains everything your church needs in a church management software.
