A church management software can solve a variety of problems. It’s a time saver. It is an organizing tool. Track people skills. Keep track of church finances. It is a communication tool. Mainly, it can add integrity to the activities of the church. Managing the needs and expectations of the people can solidify all the activities carried out by a church.
The key components of a good church management program are membership management, skills management, communication, accounting, contributions, and reporting.
First, let’s take a look at membership and skills management. How useful do people feel in a church? Are they being called to serve when the need arises? One way to engage church members is to ask them in what areas of service they feel comfortable. Keeping a record of skills and interests is a great way to engage people as needs arise. A good church management software will have an easy to use membership skills module to track the interests of each member.
Next, it is important to be able to communicate with members. An integrated church management software will provide a way to contact members through various means. Beyond that, having a direct link to email or other online communication resources greatly benefits the church. Having the ability to create phone groups or email groups based on skill or need is a great feature.
Church accounting systems have great value. A double-entry bookkeeping system adds integrity to a church’s finances and reports. The learning curve is a bit steeper for a double-entry bookkeeping system, but the payoff is being able to produce an auditable report that ensures the proper use of church money. Recording contributions and providing individual reports for tax purposes is another key element in church management software.
Reporting is a big area and it cuts across all other areas. Membership reports can include attendance, schedule, schedule regular email communications, and have different levels of detail available for different audiences.
Church accounting reports include budget reports, financial analysis reports, accounts payable and accounts receivable, and congregational annual reports. Contribution reports include individual tax reports, contribution trends, commitments and compliance, and envelope numbering.
PowerChurch Plus church management software is one of the few fully integrated church management software packages available. It can be run on an individual computer, an internal network, or on a server for churches to access via client software. Some improvements to the software could include having a true cloud-based application, which can be accessed through a web browser instead of client software. Rewriting the software in a web-based computer language, such as Java, could also improve its usefulness for many years.