Best Church Management Software System

We manage our member administration, we use the group email function, our members are part of schedules for which they get reminders, pictures of our church activities are shared securely on Church Social, we use the file sharing option, our pastors, elders and deacons are accessing member information daily, our older members are using Church Social to stay in touch (and love the pictures), our new members get to know the congregation but also find out how to get involved. We use the member maps to analyze where our members live as we are a fast growing church, the member statistics are great for demographic analysis. A key tool for our congregational live and church leadership.

Pros

Allowing our large congregation to work together, be more unified, managing schedules, calendars, files, committees, teams, etc. withing a secure setting. The automated email reminders work make sure everyone shows up as a greeter, babysitter, driver, usher, or library attendant. The pictures of members and activities allows new members to quickly feel home. The convenience of having all this information anywhere and anytime. It has improved our church community and we can't function without Church Social anymore.

Cons

In using Church Social, we see the potential. We are asking more and more functionality, which is always developed, if it makes sense. We would like it "tomorrow"... which we realize is not realistic :-)

Increase Member Unity!

Church Social was put in place for our church (~375 members) two years ago primarily to solve the multiple spreadsheet issue that was our membership statistics. Our elders and deacons were unaware of basic information such as member milestones, names of children, family relationships, etc. As the new statistician, I wanted to solve this issue. I trialed a few other high rated tools including Servant Keeper, but found these tools focused more on overall Church management, something we already had well in hand. Church Social appealed to us as not trying to be everything to everyone, but working hard to enhance member to member communication, and at the same time make member management easier! Church Social solved the spreadsheet problem and added the benefits of an online secure mobile friendly member directory that is used by many members of our congregation. Visiting a family? Click the address and open up your default map application to get there. Whose birthdays are coming up? Pop in the app and check. Usher schedule? Build it and setup email reminders. Elders, deacons, and members can quickly email the whole congregation or select groups. Bible study resources, bulletins, and sermons can be stored within the app for easy retrieval. While we have not used it yet, Church social offers WordPress integration of calendar and sermon modules for items deemed public.

Pros

Ease of use, security, built as a member directory, excellent mobile interface, powerful reporting, full member download available (not locked in), flexible pricing.

Cons

Very little. They are always working hard to add new features based on customer needs. One feature I'm waiting for is to save my custom reports. It's not a big dealt though, as they are easy to create!

Church Social

Pros

It's customer service is excellent. All records of members are kept systematically.

Cons

I don't think there is anything in this software which is not good.

Community enhancing software!

Over the years, I have had an extremely positive experience using this software and dealing with the knowledgeable developers. It has had a tremendous overall benefit for our congregation's members, any of whom I am sure, if asked, would not want to be without it anymore! In addition the church membership data is well organized and accessible keeping everyone from church leaders to administrators happy!

Pros

Church Social is a visually attractive, user friendly, community enhancing church membership software! The numerous features including a colourful member directory, up to date calendar with birthdays and anniversaries, and bulk e-mail tool allow members to interact with one another and stay informed. In addition the schedules feature keeps everyone on task! From a statisticians point of view, having all the membership data well organized and easily accessible is a huge time saver. The ability to create an almost infinite number of reports allows me to organize the data in a multitude of ways for the benefit of church leaders and interested members. The support is second to none! Issues and questions are quickly dealt with by the friendly, courteous Church Social team.

Cons

Using this software since it was first developed has given me a great appreciation for the work done by the Church Social team in dealing with any "cons" that may have come up over the years. They have continually looked at ways to improve the software - so much so that I can't think of any cons!

Great App for connecting in the Church

Church directory info and photos easily updated by the members so the info can always be current unlike a printed directory Uploading files for use by the congregation means less printing, the member can always find the file unlike papers stuffed in a drawer. It is a great tool for our congregation and is used daily (or more often) by most members

Pros

Its a great resource all pertinent info regarding members of the congregation is all in one place. Being able to share files, church policies etc in a secure place is great. Members can access as required. Great way to connect with members of the congregation through email messages to individuals, groups, or everyone Detailed member info great for office bearers Able to make worship services (Audio only or Video) available to members or share them with the public via our website which is linked with Church Social Nice church directory The Calendar is a great feature where groups and individuals can post dates for meetings, Bible studies and other important events. Also listed are birthdays and anniversaries. Regular/ongoing improvements to the feature available on Church Social

Cons

It is a minor detail but when sending messages there isn't options for the font used. There is only one font, no ability to change font size, bold or underline. Not a big deal but would be a nice touch if available.

A Program with All the Features a Church could Need!

We've only been using the service for approximately 6 months but everything about it has simplified the way we communicate as a congregation throughout the week. We know there are more improvements on the horizon and look forward to the way in which our church can make use of those!

Pros

- User Friendly. Being a congregation, like most, with quite a variance in age groups, Church Social was extremely easy for all members of our congregation to learn and start to use. With a little bit of 1:1 for some of our more elderly members, everyone was up and running comfortably with the software within a week's time. - Content. As a smaller congregation of about 120 members, we were looking to create a custom website which included most of the features provided in Church Social. To have bulletins, files, messages, calendar, directory, etc. all located in one convenient location - Top notch customer service! Easy to get a hold of and resolves 'issues' or concerns promptly.

Cons

There is nothing that is not liked. There is always room for improvement with any software and Church Social is no exception. However, the difference lies in the customer service which is top notch! Always willing to listen and even implement ideas or improvements which will benefit our congregation's needs.

Church Social just works!

Church Social is a great tool for the congregation to communicate with each other, and to look up information like phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. about individuals and families in our congregation.

Pros

Church Social is easy to use and has great features. The ability to create groups, schedule events and reminders for various groups, see birthdays, anniversaries, and special dates at a glance, message each other, drill down and get details of families and individuals are all very useful. Office bearers have additional capabilities to help manage families and individuals in their ward.

Cons

Changing information for a family often requires changing the same information for individuals within a family. A "modify family info" option would be a great addition.

It's become a pretty essential tool for our congregation...

As an elder in the church I go to having a tool to keep in contact with members is essential. It's so handy to have contact information of congregants at my finger tips and I use Church Social regularly for this purpose. In addition, it is great that the congregation can be connected using the email tool and not have to wait each Sunday to connect. Church Social also provides an excellent way to manage member statistics – accurately. And it helps that Church Social presents that data nicer than an Excel spreadsheet.

Pros

I love how easy the software is to use. There are so many cool features: - The database of member contact information allows you to get in touch with members anywhere - The calendar helps you keep track of birthdays keep conflicts to a minimum - You can run membership reports - You can manage member statistics quickly and efficiently - The email tool is easy to use and allow the congregation to stay connected through the weeks

Cons

I don't really have much negative to say. I am looking forward to the launch of the app.

Great database and enhances congregational life!

Our congregational fellow-shipping has benefited greatly with the use of Church Social.

Pros

In my role for maintaining the church membership records, I find it is simple to use and to keep our records updated. Superior than our previous database management. The support from the Church Social staff has also been excellent. The congregation has enthusiastically embraced the networking capabilities and information access.

Cons

There are no shortcomings that cause issues and enhancement updates occur regularly.

Church Social has changed our church!

Pros

It's so easy to use, all information is right where you need it, whether you're a member, office bearer a regular guest, it's a great tool! Importing the data was very easy and members adopted it very quickly, now we can't imagine church life without it!

Cons

What did I like least? It's hard to say... Maybe early on in the product's life there were a few minor little nuances for administrators to get used to in navigating the product but nothing I can even remember.

Great way to involve everyone

Overall I recommend this to get your church involved and motivated to stay socially connected.

Pros

Church Social is a great way to involve everyone in the church including the youth and older children in managing the social events happening at your church. We use this as the main calendar despite having other programs. This one allows us to track small group gatherings, youth events, and even birthdays for the congregation. It really gets people to "socialize".

Cons

The system is a bit price but nothing crazy. Customer service is not always helpful but they are pleasant.

A great piece of software

This company is motivated and accepts challenges for improvement. If I have a question they will respond with a solution. They are willing to listen and improve as needed.

Pros

This software is great in keeping track of all information about church members. This software requires login for all members and a special login for elders, deacons and ministers. This software maintains all personal data about individuals and the section for church leaders allows extra information to be added. We have used this software for several years now in our church and it has been well received by the membership. I would recommend this to all church groups.

Cons

I have not found anything I dislike. This software fits the needs of our church.

Church Social App

Church Social has provided a platform to record all our members statistical information in an up-to-date format that is very easy to manage and maintain. Any problems or questions I had in using the product were dealt with in a professional and timely manner. Our members enjoy using the app to stay up-to-date on activities and special events happening in our church community. It has turned out to be a real blessing for our congregation.

Pros

The software is so easy to use. It is well laid out and provides users with information quickly and in a concise format.

Cons

The software will transfer information of events that are entered into Church Social onto our public website but the formatting of text in lost in this process.

Great Product, simple implementation

I served as administrator of our congregation's membership information, and as an elder, and in both respects, Church Social met our needs and then some. The congregation enjoys the easy to navigate photo directory, group email messaging, and 'reminder' functionality, while I really appreciated the depth of access control and data exports as an administrator. Additionally, during my term as elder we used access control for private documents and information quite extensively. Church Social is now our centralized membership information database, as well as the information hub for goings on in the congregation. The last update included an overhaul with a nice responsive design that works well on PCs, tablets, and mobile phones. In summary, this is a thoughtfully designed, well supported application that I would recommend to anyone.

Pros

- Beautiful, easy to navigate members directory - Logical group messaging functionality - Great access and privacy control - Good membership data export functionality

Cons

- None, more or less all our feedback was considered and changes were made in several rounds of updates