- I’ve been following conversations at http://groups.google.com/group/ChMS and several individual blogs discussing ChMS (Church Management Software) and the issues in selecting a solution for their church. It reminded me of similar decisions we had to make 6 years ago when we were searching for a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) product to manage our client information and our sales operation. It was a big decision and the product selected had to work for the long-term.
After many months of research, attending conferences, visiting users and talking to a lot of sales people, we ended up going with SalesLogix. The price of the software and implementation was over $400,000. We have since spent the past 4-5 years customizing the product for our support and sales areas. We have over 300 users on Sales/SupportLogix product and see no end to the customizations we need to make on the product. We had to pay another integrator to integrate with MAS 500 this year when we changed our accounting even though the same company, Sage Software, owns both SalesLogix and MAS 500. None of these vendors really understood the software business so we had to educate them along the way. It was by no means a perfect fit but we felt it was the best available.
As we were going through the process there were several things that were very important in our decision in addition to the features and functions. I knew the features and functions would change with time and continue to improve if we selected the right partner.
I believe these considerations are just as important as churches make this important decision about who they choose as a technology partner for the future. Here are the items I would suggest for any church considering a new direction for their Church Management Software solution.
Dedication to the ChMS Market
Select a company that is dedicated to the ChMS market. Churches have unique needs that other software companies may not understand. You shouldn’t have to spend your time as we did educating your vendor about the market. Churches are fortunate that they have choices. Many organizations don’t have vendors who have developed solutions around their specific needs.
Total Solution
Which vendor has the most complete solution? Not only the specific features of the individual products but do they even offer a solution or do you have to deal with another vendor. No one vendor will have absolutely everything a church would ever want but who is doing the best job of providing a total solution across the functions I listed below.
- Membership Management – Interfaces for staff and congregation
- Contact Management
- Contribution/Donor Management
- On-Line Donations
- Attendance Tracking
- Volunteer Ministry Management
- CASS Certification
- Event Registration
- Email Communication/Marketing
- Check In security System
- Group/Small Group management including website management for each group
- Accounting – GL,PR,AP,PO,AR,FAetc
- Employee benefits management
- Event/Facilities management
- School k-12 management – Includes Teachers Gradebook
- Student Billing
- Web Store/eCommerce
- Website Management – Integrated with the membership information, groups, staff, Enterprise solution.
- Private communities with websites
- Email hosting
- Help Desk
Ideally, all of these would be available to the end user anytime, anywhere, from one vendor and fully integrated.
I’m sure I may have left out something. The point here is that a total solution includes many different products that all work together. Finding a vendor that can provide the total solution or who is moving in that direction should be an important factor in your long-term partnership selection.
Stability of the Company
There are several of ChMS vendors to choose from. Which ones are stable? Choose a vendor that you don’t have to worry about their future. Does the company have the financial strength to take their product to the next new technology when it comes along? Is the company a start-up or does it have a track record of success? Companies come and go so you want to make sure you’re partnering with a company that will be around 5-10 years from now.
Customer Satisfaction
For sure make sure they have some. How happy are they and for how long? This seems obvious but I can’t leave it out. Nothing predicts your experience with a vendor like their current customers. The satisfaction level may change as a company grows so make sure they have the infrastructure and financial strength to make the transition.
On-site Visit
This is a critical decision for your church and if possible you should schedule a visit to the vendors offices to see the organization at work. Meet with the team and get them to show you where the company is heading. Many times there is much more going on than you can see in a demo or a website. Get them to show you not just what’s available now but what is being developed and what is the vision for the organization, products and services.
We’ve been satisfied with the decision we made on our CRM partner. While there are times when we get frustrated and wished it would do things different we don’t talk about replacing it with something else. SalesLogix is still in business and continues to improve.
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