Church Management Software: ChMS Buyer’s Guide

At Capterra we love helping organizations find the right business software. That’s why we’ve created this guide…to help you find the right church management software (ChMS). We know you want you to spend more time with your ministry and less time with paperwork, so we’ve cut the fluff.

This software guide will answer your questions about church management software and ChMS solutions, such as:

What is church management software?
Why should you consider a church management software solution?
When do you need church management software?
How do you buy the right solution for your church?
What should you expect to pay for a church management solution?
What are the basic and advanced features of a typical ChMS?

We’ll give you tons of practical information so you have a solid understanding of how to select the right church management software solution for your church.

Note: Church management software may be referred to as “CMS” or “ChMS.” “CMS” more commonly refers to Content Management Systems. “ChMS” is starting to be used to differentiate the two.

What is Church Management Software?

Church management software is an application designed specifically for churches and typically includes core functionality to manage:

Membership: contact details and preferences, family profiles, education, volunteer tracking, group tracking, outreach, participation, communication, and member self-service
Attendance: check-in, tracking, reporting, and visitor communication
Contributions: pledges, donations, IRS reporting, and tax receipts
Scheduling: events, classes, and worship service
Accounting: not-for-profit accounting, fund management, income and expenses

Some church management software solutions may also include functionality for:

Facilities management
Volunteer management
Daycare and nursery
Document creation
Website development
Payroll

An integrated church management software solution should include the core functionality mentioned above. Keep in mind that there are stand-alone and other “church software” products that do not cover the functionality of true church management software. Take the time upfront to define the type of software you need.

Examples of additional “church” software products:

(Non-profit) accounting software does not include membership, scheduling, and administration functionality.
Membership management software does not include fund accounting, donation management, and administration functionality.
General “church software” includes applications like worship software, donation software, and religious education software. They lack the core church management functionality.
Other non-church specific software may include some functionality like day care management, scheduling, facilities management, or contact management but are not specifically for churches.

Selection Tip: As you define the type of software you need also decide if you want an integrated solution or if several stand-alone applications will work better for your church.

Why Should You Consider a Church Management Software Solution?

There are a lot of great reasons to buy church management software…and a few bad ones. Make sure you can justify your reasons with your needs.

Good Reasons to Consider Church Management Software:

The best reasons for getting church management software are the challenges your church is currently facing. Is your church…

Unable to easily account for contributions
Overwhelmed by the IRS and tax reporting requirements
Losing track of who hasn’t attended in a while
Unable to tell the fully involved from the casual attenders
Spending more time on “ad-ministry” than ministry
Struggling to track and follow up with visitors
Losing contributions because you can’t offer eGiving
Worrying about the safety of the children in Sunday school

If so, you’ve identified significant business needs for considering ChMS.

Bad Reasons to Consider Church Management Software:

Reconsider buying a ChMS solution if you’ve caught yourself thinking any of the following:

The church down the road has a ChMS system so we need one too…NOW!
We don’t really have anyone to take responsibility for the system but we’ll figure something out.
We’re losing members fast…we’ll buy some church management software to fix it.

It’s important that any church management software you consider fits your church, that you have someone to own the system, and that you fix your issues first.

When Do You Need Church Management Software?

Churches of all sizes can benefit from using church management software but will benefit most if they have…

More than 40 – 50 members and are growing
A dedicated person or people to “own” the system
Established processes in place for attendance tracking, donations, etc…
Staff members that are comfortable using computers or are willing to learn

Church management software may be right for you if you are…

Continually forgetting who came to service
Entering the same information in multiple records or applications
Spending a considerable amount on printing and postage to keep in touch
Wondering how to make church services available online

How Do You Buy the Right Church Management Software?

If the time is right, there are a few resources you’ll need and a few tips that will help.

Resources

Capterra’s Software Selection Guide covers the whole process: defining your needs, identifying matching options, and selecting the right software.

Capterra’s Church Management Software Directory contains over 180 solutions and tools to help you in your evaluation, including:

Product Filtering enables you to specify your requirements and find products that match
Product Comparisons give you the ability to quickly compare up to four products at a time
Expert Advice Library gives you additional insight and help through the process

FREE Expert Consultation: If you want even more help Email us or call us at 855.GO.SOFTWARE

Church Management Software Selection Tips

(Note: These are specific to church management software and supplement our Software Selection Guide.)

Define the relationship you have with your members
What information would you like to record about them? Do you want contact information only? Do you want full family profiles? Do you want to track activities, attendance, and contributions on an individual level? Defining the relationship will help clarify the membership features that you will require.
Consider the culture of your church
How do you work? Who does the work? Do staff members do the work on-site or remotely? Are volunteers used? Are there a few primary people that are responsible for administration and management or do numerous people have responsibility for small areas? How comfortable are you with the Internet and web-based applications? Answering questions like these will help define security, access, and platform requirements.

Reminder: As you start to define your needs, consider again the type of software you want and whether or not an integrated solution is right for you.

Advice From Your Peers…

If you are considering buying church management software, do it sooner rather than later. It’s easier to install and set up when you have time to do it right. Waiting until you are desperate and don’t have the time and energy means you’ll make bad decisions.
Buy a system with room to grow. The point of having church software is to help you grow your ministry. Make sure you buy one that can handle more than you need today.
Think twice about building your own system. It may seem tempting to build something to save a little money, but in the long run you end up spending more. Leave the software to the experts and focus on what you do best…building your congregation.
Beware of “free” solutions. You get what you pay for and most often the free system is only an intro system to get you started. Typically you end up having to pay for additional users, features, and usage and you’ll be stuck with a system that doesn’t really fit.
Decide if you’re willing to fit your processes to the ChMS, or if you need a ChMS that fits your processes. That means you have to know your processes first.

What Should You Expect to Pay for Church Management Software?

Pricing varies depending on your specific requirements and functionality needed, but there are plenty of options to fit any budget. Start by determining the following:

Is the price based on a monthly (recurring) fee or a one-time license fee?
Is the price based on a per-user basis or a flat fee (unlimited users)?
Are there additional applications, services, or hardware needs that must be purchased?

Consider all of these factors to calculate and compare the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Remember, don’t base your choice solely on price, but be aware of the initial and ongoing costs.

Price Ranges for a ChMS solution:

Monthly (recurring): Less than $10 per month to over $100 per month
One-time license: Start around $50 and range up over $1000

The wide range of prices that are available make it that much more important to start talking about pricing early in your discussions with software vendors. Use price to help limit your options not to select the solution.

What are the Features of a Typical Church Management Software Solution?

It’s possible to find hundreds of “features” in a church management software solution, but you should focus on the top 10 – 15 that your church really needs. Here are some of the most common basic and advanced features of a ChMS:

Basic Features:

Membership management and directory
Family records and profiles
Groups
Outreach and follow-up
Attendance management and check-in
Contributions management
Non-profit accounting or integration with accounting packages
Event management
Resource and facilities management
Scheduling and calendars

Advanced Features:

Mobile apps and social media tools
Online and virtual church services
Multi-site management
Volunteer management
eGiving and/or eCommerce integration
Member self-service
Worship planning
Payroll management
Integration with content management systems
Denominational versions

Ready for more?

If you have questions, call us at 1.855.GO.SOFTWARE (855-467-6389) for a FREE Expert Consultation.

As detailed as we believe this is, we know there is a lot more out there. If you have suggestions for how we can improve this guide, please let us know. We love feedback.

And if you liked our guide, please share it with co-workers and friends.

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