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.

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.  

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."  

I hear a lot of pastors debate the need for a quality experience at the expense of connecting and growing the vast majority of their congregations and their communities into their group system. I also hear the reverse of this, which is, in order to embrace a large quantity of groups, then quality must somehow be sacrificed. 

We approach ministry as if we have all the time in the world. Somehow we think our people will live forever, and so will the people our people need to reach for Christ. But let’s be honest, we don’t have the luxury of time. 

The apostle Paul didn’t have the luxury of time either. Reviewing his journeys in the book of Acts, Paul never spent more than 6-18 months in any one location, yet in his quest to spread the gospel throughout the known world and to reach Spain, he put leaders in place everywhere he planted a church and then gave them the crash course on ministry. We would call this “quick and dirty” before we would call it “quality.” Paul gave them their marching orders and then basically instructed them, “Do the best you can. The Holy Spirit will guide you. If you run into trouble, then send me a letter.” Then, Paul was off to the next place. 

In living with the tension between the quality and quantity of ministry, I want you to consider these words from Peter Drucker on the Profession of Management: 

In today’s world every church has data management needs. Managing church data doesn’t sound profound or spiritual, but it’s necessary. That’s why Church Management Software (ChMS or CMS for short) systems are wildly popular resources for church leaders. Since the 1980s entrepreneurs have been making software specifically designed for managing churches. As time has marched on and technology has progressed the abilities of ChMS systems has dramatically improved.  As a result there are better services and products available for church management than ever before.  If you are in the market for a ChMS, you will most likely want a system that includes the following much-in-demand features: