I don't know if the end of the year is necessarily the greatest time to think about security of your church management system, but we are always thinking about it.  A few months ago, we released a security/access upgrade to our password system.  This video will explain for you the different levels of access to the software and specifically the difference and reasoning for:

The past several weeks our pastors have emphasized end of year giving.  20% of the annual giving for our church every year comes in December.  As I reflect on end of year giving, here are four different scenarios that might be helpful to consider in planning your end of year giving campaign.  I think you'll realize, like I did, that online giving is not just important, but essential.   

Churchteams pricing is done differently than most Church Management Systems. We think it is the most customer-centric which aligns with our #1 value - great service.  It is based simply on the number of people in the database.  It doesn't matter if a person is an adult or child, active or inactive, or a member or not.  Nor does it matter if you use one feature or all of them.  However, here are 7 subtleties in this approach you should be aware of.

Of all the usage / design ideas we've had through the years, the idea of using a push out email to get a response from volunteers may be the most significant.  Along with the Groupfinder feature, the email reminders to leaders established Churchteams as the innovator and leader in small group software for churches in the first eight years of this century.

You've probably heard of a Gratitude Journal.  It was referenced in the repost/retweet of a blog from Lifeway I sent out yesterday.  I'm looking forward to thinking more about the benefits of gratitude this week.  But for this Thanksgiving week post, I want to do a short journal of things I'm grateful for.  In no particular order, starting with the biggies:

In the last post I shared four factors that I've considered in how to set a price for church management software.  In this post I want to talk about upon what do you base your price.  There are likely other approaches to pricing, but here are the common ones out there and my perspective on them.

If you have ever shopped for Church management software, you know that pricing varies widely.  Maybe you've even wondered why that is.  I've done a lot of thinking about pricing ChMS through the years.  Here are some of the different factors I've considered.

Last week I had the opportunity to speak at our weekly men's gathering.  About 150 to 200 of us have been working on spiritual disciplines that last six weeks, my topic was reflection.  Here are a few things from 1 Timothy 4:6-16 that I think are relevant for any leader.

We've been thinking a lot about pricing lately.  One of my favorite business blogs has been doing a series based on the book "Confessions of The Pricing Man:  How Price Affects Everything".  The author, Hermann Simon, talks about three basic strategies for pricing: Low, Premium, and Luxury.  Each one has it's own strengths and challenges.  We've struggled with this issue for a lot of years and have only adjusted our pricing twice.  At a high level, this presses me to think about a really basic question.  Is Church Management Software Worth the Money?  Which begs the question, how much money?  First, some thoughts about the value software brings to churches.  Then, I'll relate this value to the 3 strategies.

 You just invested time and money in a Church software application.  You enjoyed the conversation with the sales person and got a lot out of their implementation process.  However, the congregation has been slow or limited in using it.  

Agility is the ability to improve speed and grace.  It is the way an athlete moves on the field that gives him or her a competitive advantage.  It is the way a lawyer exudes confidence with clarity and timing before the judge and jury.  It is the way a software company innovates quickly, efficiently and beautifully to serve their clients.  Agility is also the way some churches are able to constantly improve how they attract, equip and release people.

Last week I visited with the Executive Pastor and IT director of a church about an hour from me.  Over a decade ago they built a really useful software application to manage their church.  It is especially good at automating follow-up of guests.  We talked back then about Churchteams and I was impressed with what they built.  Obviously, they didn't need us.