What Is Church Management Software (ChMS)? A Detailed Guide

Managing a church is no joke.

You have to keep track of membership, including children. You have to manage donations and ensure that everyone's gifts are managed appropriately. You have to communicate effectively with your entire member base.

The bigger your church gets, the more complicated things get. Trying to stay on top of everything using just spreadsheets and documents becomes impossible.

You need church management software (ChMS).

Church management software is an all-in-one platform that allows you to effectively manage every element of your church, from children's ministry to event planning to member communications.

In this article, we will take a detailed look at church management software. We'll look at who it's for, key features, the benefits it offers, and a lot more.

If you're a pastor, part of a church admin team, volunteer, or tech decision-maker, this article is for you.

5 Myths About Church Management Software

1. It’s only for megachurches.
   Not true. Many ChMS providers offer scalable pricing and features for small churches.
   
   
2. It’s too expensive.
   Some systems start free or under $50/month.
   
   
3. It’s hard to learn.
   Today’s systems offer easy interfaces and onboarding support.
   
   
4. It won’t integrate with our tools.
   Most modern ChMS platforms integrate with QuickBooks, Mailchimp, and more.
   
   
5. We don’t need it.
   If you’re using spreadsheets, you’re already managing something manually—ChMS just makes it easier.

What is Church Management Software (ChMS)?

Church management software is a robust, all-encompassing platform that simplifies the process of managing a church. It makes it easy to keep track of different aspects of church operations, including:

• Member information
• Event planning
• Volunteer coordination
• Financial management
• Children's ministry
• And many other aspects of church life

Essentially, ChMS is designed to streamline administrative tasks and help churches run more efficiently.

For many years, all of these tasks had to be done manually using good old-fashioned pen and paper. Can you imagine trying to administrate a large church this way?

The invention of computers and spreadsheets went a long way in simplifying this process, but it was still a highly manual process requiring a lot of hours and managing a lot of different files.

Church management software was created to centralize the entire church management process and automate a lot of the tedious manual tasks. Now, even very large churches can stay organized and efficient thanks to the power of church management technology.

What's the Difference Between ChMS, CRM, and an Online Donation Platform?

Both are tools designed to manage relationships and interactions with people. However, a ChMS is specifically tailored to the unique needs of a church community. CRMs like Hubspot, Salesforce, and Zoho are used for marketing purposes. The "relationship" they're designed to "nurture" is part of a customer journey and not concerned with discipleship and meaningful connection in a community of believers and those exploring faith.

What about between a ChMS and an online donation platform? An online donation platform is designed for the very specific purpose of, you guessed it, accepting online giving. A church management system might include online giving functionality, but it also has many other features that are part of church life.

Who Uses Church Management Software—and Why?

There are a number of core groups of people who use and benefit from ChMS:

Pastors and Church Leaders

Pastors and church leaders are responsible for shepherding the members of their churches. They're called to teach, counsel, and guide their congregations. But how can pastors stay on top of who is part of their church and what the needs of each member are? Church management software. 

Pastors and church leaders can use ChMS to keep track of members, monitor attendance, communicate with their congregation, and more. All from a single platform.

Admin and Office Staff

Church administrators and office staff have the challenge of managing the day-to-day operations of the church. They schedule events, manage finances, maintain records, send out church-wide communications, and a thousand other crucial things. Daunting? Yes, you could say that.

Church management software can massively streamline these processes. Events can be managed from a central location, finances can be tracked with ease, records can be maintained digitally, and communications can be sent out to specific groups within the church.

This allows administrators and office staff to focus on other important tasks without worrying about spending countless hours on manual processes.

Volunteers and Ministry Leaders

A huge portion of ministry in churches is done by volunteers. The friendly greeters at the doors on Sunday morning? Volunteers. The team that sets up and tears down the chairs in the sanctuary? Volunteers. The worship team, youth ministry team, and children's ministry team? All made up of volunteers.

The more volunteers involved, the more complicated things become. Church management software makes organizing and communicating with volunteers way easier. Volunteer schedules can be created and managed through the software. Personalized communications can be sent out to specific volunteer teams or individuals, keeping everyone informed and on the same page.

What was once an incredibly complicated process is suddenly so much easier.

10 Key Features of Church Management Software

What exactly makes church management software so special? What's the secret sauce?

Here are 10 key features:

Membership and Contact Database

If your church is less than 50 people, you might be able to keep track of all your members (and their contact info) in a spreadsheet or document. But as more members join, it becomes increasingly unwieldy to try to keep track of every member of your church, their contact info, whether they have children, etc.

The best church management software makes it simple to keep track of your member lists, along with all the other relevant info, regardless of how big your church becomes. Whether your church is 100 or 1,000 people, you can easily manage your member lists and stay connected with everyone in your community.

Volunteer Management

Managing volunteers involves a lot more than keeping track of who signed up to serve at an event. It also includes scheduling, training, and communication. ChMS offers features that can help with all of these aspects. It allows you to easily create volunteer schedules without fear of having too many or too few. You can send out training materials to specific teams prior to events. And you can communicate all the necessary details of an event well before it happens.

Event and Service Planning

Without church management software, event and service planning can turn into a logistical nightmare. Rooms need to be scheduled, equipment needs to be reserved, volunteers need to be recruited, and everyone needs to be kept in the communication loop.

ChMS allows you to easily create event or service schedules by simply dragging and dropping tasks onto a calendar. No more double-booking rooms or volunteers. You can also assign specific teams or individuals to certain tasks, making it easier to delegate responsibilities.

Attendance Tracking

Knowing how many people attend your church on average or on a specific Sunday can be incredibly valuable information, but that data isn't always so easy to collect. ChMS makes the process of tracking attendance much simpler. With features like check-in systems for children's ministry or self-check-in for adult services, you can easily keep track of who is attending your church events.

Additionally, ChMS also allows you to see attendance trends over time and even compare attendance between different services or events.

Online Giving and Donations

Face it: fewer and fewer people donate to churches using cash or checks. In fact, many people don't even carry either with them. Your church needs an effective way to collect online and digital donations.

The best ChMS have online giving platforms built into them, allowing members to give in a variety of ways, like by text, through the church website, via a dedicated app, etc. These platforms often allow for recurring donations and provide detailed reports on giving patterns.

Communication Tools

What do you do when your church-wide picnic has to be canceled at the last minute due to inclement weather? How do you let your church members know in time?

Through email or text, of course. An effective ChMS includes communication tools that allow your church to communicate with all the members by text and email

You can send important announcements, updates, and reminders quickly and efficiently. You can also segment your members into groups based on their interests or involvement in the church, ensuring that they receive relevant information.

Small Group Management

Small groups are an integral part of many churches, providing opportunities for members to build relationships and grow spiritually together. However, managing multiple small groups can be a tough task without the right tools.

With a ChMS, you can easily create and organize small groups, track attendance, and communicate with group leaders.

Child Check-In and Safety Features

If you have a children's ministry in your church, you absolutely need a safe and secure child check-in and check-out process. The safety of the kids in your church is paramount.

Trying to keep track of all the kids using just pen and paper can be really difficult, especially if there are a lot of children.

A ChMS allows you to create a digital check-in system, complete with name tags and security codes for parents or guardians.

This ensures the safety of the children and makes it easier for volunteers to keep track of who is present and who has been picked up by their parents.

Reporting and Dashboards

To effectively manage your church, you need to have at least some idea of what is going on. You need to know things like attendance trends, giving details, how many people are involved in various ministries, and more.

A ChMS usually has reporting and dashboard features that allow you to view all this information at a glance. You can generate reports on different areas of your church, such as attendance, finances, and how many people are volunteering in different ministries. These reports can then be customized to fit your specific needs or preferences.

Integration With Church Apps, Websites, etc.

The best church management software can integrate with other apps and websites. For example, let's say you use QuickBooks to keep track of your church's finances. A good ChMS will seamlessly integrate with QuickBooks.

So when a person gives a donation, not only is that information stored in the ChMS, but it's also seamlessly passed along to QuickBooks. This eliminates the need for manual data entry, saving your staff time and reducing the chances of errors.

Benefits of Using ChMS for Churches

We've already touched on many of the benefits of using a ChMS, but let's spell them out in a little more detail.

Save Time and Reduce Admin Tasks

Church management software is a huge time saver. So many manual tasks can be automated, all while reducing the number of errors. Tasks like attendance tracking, event registration, and donation management can all be handled through the ChMS. This leaves your staff with more time to focus on other important aspects of ministry.

Better Engagement With Congregation

As we noted, the best church management software has multiple communication methods included, such as text messages and email.

These features not only make it easier for your staff to reach out to your congregation but also provide opportunities for increased engagement. Creating and sending newsletters, event invites, and even personalized messages can help foster a stronger relationship between the church and its members.

How to Track Church Donations Digitally

If you use a ChMS that has an online giving option, you're going to see an increase in donations. After all, the more options you give people, the more likely they are to give. Additionally, having a system in place for tracking financial contributions can help your church better understand its budget and make informed decisions about spending.

Strengthen Ministry Organization

It's tough to stay organized as a church. So many people, papers, forms, engagement cards, spreadsheets, and more. It's really easy for things to slip through the cracks. By using ChMS to organize and track important information, you can streamline processes and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

For example, using a church management system can help you keep track of member information, event registrations, volunteer schedules, donation records, and more all in one central location.

Data-Driven Decision-Making

In many churches, decisions are made based on gut feeling or intuition. And while there's nothing wrong with this per se, it can be hard to know if you're making the right decisions. 

With the help of a church management system, you can collect and analyze important data like attendance rates, giving trends, event participation, demographic information, and more. This can give you valuable insights into the health and growth of your church community.

With this information at hand, you can make more informed decisions about budget allocations, programming changes, outreach efforts, and other important aspects of church operations.

Common Challenges Churches Face Without ChMS

Without a ChMS in place, you're going to find yourself experiencing some serious challenges:

Losing Track of Members

When relying on paper records or outdated databases, it's easy to lose track of members and their contact information. This can lead to missed opportunities for communication, a lack of attendance tracking, and difficulty in reaching out to those who may have stopped attending.

Communication Breakdown

If you don't have a simple, effective way to communicate with every member of your church, there will be communication breakdowns. Someone will accidentally get left off a text thread or won't see an announcement posted on social media.

This can lead to confusion, missed events, and frustration for both members and church leaders.

Inconsistent Giving Records

How do you keep track of donations in your church? If you're using a spreadsheet or document, you're going to end up with inconsistent giving records. Some donations may be missed, others might be double-counted, and it can be a time-consuming process to manually input and reconcile all donations.

Manual Processes That Waste Time

Without a ChMS, you and your staff are going to waste a lot of time on manual processes. Whether it's entering data into a spreadsheet by hand, sorting through piles of physical donation envelopes, or trying to track down missing information, these tasks can quickly become overwhelming and take away from more important work. Additionally, manual processes are prone to human error, which can lead to further discrepancies in your giving records.

Volunteer Scheduling Headaches

We've already mentioned this, but coordinating volunteers can be a nightmare sometimes. Bigger events require more volunteers, and that means more schedules to juggle, more last-minute changes, and more headaches for you. You can end up with either way too many volunteers or not enough. 

How to Choose the Right Church Management Software

Hopefully, by this point, you're sold on the idea of church management software and want to implement it in your church. But how do you know which one is right for you? Here are some things to consider:

Identify Your Church's Specific Needs

The bigger your church, the more robust your ChMS needs to be. You need to be able to manage a large number of member records and track giving, volunteer schedules, and event registrations. Smaller churches may only need a basic ChMS to manage their members and donations. Think about what specific features you need in a ChMS that will benefit your church the most.

Evaluate Ease of Use and Support

It doesn't matter how powerful your church management software is if it's too complicated and difficult to use. If your staff can't navigate the system easily, it will end up causing more frustration rather than streamlining processes. When considering a ChMS, make sure to evaluate its ease of use for both church staff and members.

Also, it's important to consider the level of support provided by the ChMS vendor. Does the vendor offer training resources and customer support? Are there user forums or online communities where you can connect with other church administrators using the same system?

Look For Mobile Access and Cloud Capabilities

You should be able to access your ChMS from anywhere via a mobile device. In other words, you shouldn't have to come into the church building to access the church management software.
You also want to make sure the ChMS has cloud capabilities. This means that information in your system is not stored exclusively on a single server in the church building, but rather it is accessible from any internet-connected device. This is important for data security and allows for easier collaboration among team members.

Consider Pricing Models

It's also important to consider the pricing models of the various ChMS. Do they offer a free trial? Is there a one-time fee or a subscription-based model? Are there additional fees for certain features or support? Make sure to thoroughly research and compare the pricing options before making a decision.

Ask About Integrations

There's a good chance that you use multiple apps to help you effectively run your church. You may utilize an online giving platform, a communication tool, or a planning software. It's important to ask about the integrations that each ChMS offers. This can save you time and effort by allowing all of your systems to work together seamlessly.

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FAQs About Church Management Software

Is ChMS only for large churches?

No, even smaller churches can really benefit from a ChMS. While some features may be more useful for larger churches, there are plenty of tools and functions that can benefit smaller congregations as well.

Is ChMS secure?

Yes, the data in a church management system is highly secure. ChMS providers use encryption, access controls, and other security measures to protect your church's data from unauthorized access.

Can ChMS help with giving?

Yes, a ChMS can actually increase giving in your church. By offering your church members multiple ways to give, you increase the chances of them doing so.

How much does church software cost?

Most ChMS start at an inexpensive rate for small churches and increase in price as the size of the church grows. The cost also depends on the specific features and needs of your church. It is best to research different ChMS providers and their pricing to find the best fit for your budget.

What makes Tithely different?

Put simply, Tithely church management software does it all. A powerful member management database allows you to manage member information and track engagement. Using tags, you can easily organize your members into specific groups and then communicate with those groups. It's easy to create sign-up forms

It's easy to create sign-up forms for events, plan out various services, manage volunteers, and manage the check-in process at children's ministry or events. Tithely does it all.

Get Started with Tithely ChMS

Ready to get started with Tithely ChMS and start reaping the benefits? You can start a free trial today!

Or, if you're not quite ready, consider downloading our buyer's guide and booking a demo. We know that choosing a ChMS can feel overwhelming, and we want to provide you with as much information as possible.

And if you have ANY questions, don't hesitate to reach out to our sales or support team.

Closing Thoughts

Having the right church management software in place can transform the way your church operates. It can streamline processes, improve communication, and ultimately help you better serve your congregation.

If you want to see your church be more organized and have a greater impact, consider investing in church management software.

And remember, Tithely is here to help you. If we can be of service in any way, please let us know.

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