ShelbyNext Membership 2026: Benefits, Features & Pricing

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Overview
Screenshots
Pricing and Plans
Features
Integrations
User Reviews
Popular Comparisons

Overview

ShelbyNext Membership

3.9

(158)

Pricing

Starting at $35.00 per month

About ShelbyNext Membership

Shelby System is a cloud-based church management solution for ministries and nonprofit organizations. Key features include giving management, financial management, website building, bulk communication, background check and volunteer verification.

Shelby supports multiple channels to accept and process giving, including online, mobile, text and kiosk. Donors can make donations through their credit/debit cards and even transfer funds through online modes. It offers recurring giving feature through which a fixed donation is automatically debited from the donors’ account in favor of the church every month.

Shelby offers an accounting system that includes general ledger, payroll, account payable, account receivable and more. It also offers bank reconciliation feature to help ministries manage and record their financial transactions to-and-from the bank.

Additionally, it offers website building tool that helps to create websites for church and nonprofit organizations. The solution is available on a monthly subscription basis, which includes support via phone, email and fax.

ShelbyNext Membership Screenshots

ShelbyNext Membership Pricing and Plans

Starting price: $35.00 per month

Free Trial

Free Version

Basic

$35.00

per feature, per month

No plan information available

ShelbyNext Membership Features

Popular features found in Church Management
Attendance Tracking
Event Management
Member Communication
Member Directory
Online Calendar
Online Giving
Pledge Management
Small Group Management
Volunteer Management
Worship Planning
More features of ShelbyNext Membership
Access Controls/Permissions
Accounting Integration
Built-in Accounting
Child Check-in
Contact Database
Data Import/Export
Donation Management
Event Scheduling
For Religious Organizations
Member Portal
Membership Management
Mobile Access
Mobile App
Multi-Location
Search/Filter
Third-Party Integrations
Visitor Tracking
Website Management

ShelbyNext Membership Integrations

Microsoft Excel

ShelbyNext Membership User Reviews

Overall Rating

3.9

Ratings Breakdown

30%

43%

22%

Secondary Ratings

Ease of Use

3.8

Value for money

3.9

Customer support

3.8

Functionality

3.6

Amy S.

Verified reviewer

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed June 2018

Overall, the database & information it holds has been beneficial to us.

It is a great program for database information. It is not perfect, but I don't know a program that is. Shelby Next has been very beneficial for our church, and the ability we now have to communicate with & keep track of our membership.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

1- We like the accessibility on mobile devices. 2- Allowing various users to have access to specific groups has been great in terms of communication & attendance. 3- Overall appearance & ability to view information have been enjoyed by our users. 4- Search tools have been very useful (except that we cannot easily report once the search is completed).

Cons:

1- Reporting options are very limited so the data has to be manipulated through Excel. This is not easily done by most of our users, so the burden of reporting rests on one individual. It would be nice if reports could be run right out of Shelby including the data fields the user chooses. 2- We have 'snowbirds' and the use of 2 addresses is not precise at this time. We do input addresses with corresponding dates, but the system isn't recognizing them when it reports on individuals. 3- Running a list for contribution envelopes was very simple in v5. The report in Shelby Next has to be completed by exporting a list to CSV & then manipulating data. 4- In Contributions, when we choose 'Group Giving with Family', ShelbyNext doesn't default to one report for the entire family (or couple) so contributions have to be transferred, or 2 reports are created. In Shelby v5, when this option was chosen, donations had to be inputted under the "Primary" member of the family. It didn't allow us to put it under a spouse in this situation. Again, this has required 'clean-up' on our part, which could be avoided if the program was more precise.

Larry S.

Verified reviewer

Religious Institutions

51-200 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed August 2019

Shelby Membership Module Overview

It's just been good. As with any new system, there is some learning curve but, for the Membership Module, it's been a rather soft curve.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

It's a really solid product overall. The best features are it's ability to easily enter, edit, combine or delete member records. The combining of duplicate records is ESPECIALLY useful. It transfers all information, including giving information, to the chosen record and misses nothing. Again, an excellent tool indeed. Plus, the entire package is just user friendly. It doesn't require indepth instruction to use and find needed information about an individual member, a group or team, and so on. Finally...the email function that allows emailing end of year giving statements is excellent.

Cons:

I cannot really identify a significant downside to this software package. It simply does the job in an efficient, easy fashion.

Reasons for choosing ShelbyNext Membership

Because Shelby offered an "All In One" package. Membership, Giving, Financials (account payables) and the general ledger portion. We didn't have to purchase different standalone modules and make them "Play Nice" with each other. With Shelby's full package, it's all there in one nice, neat package.

Reasons for switching to ShelbyNext Membership

RDS just no longer offered the functions we needed. It didn't integrate well with other software packages we were using whereas Shelby does. RDS was very "rigid" in how it worked and there was little leeway. Shelby is just more user friendly.

Verified

Reviewer

Accounting

Self-Employed

Used weekly for less than 6 months

Review source

Reviewed February 2020

Not user friendly, not intuitive, not a good value for the money

All of the cons listed are minor pet peeves, but added together it makes the software very difficult to get used to. Seems like they would be easy fixes if the developers were to ask the current users what shortcuts would make the user's life better. Wait time to get in the queue for customer support is very long...if you can even get added to the queue. I've waited over an hour a few times. So much time wasted using this product. Don't assume you need an expensive, church specific software to meet your needs, especially if your church is small and doesn't have a lot of outreach programs or a day care/nursery school. This church was definitely oversold on this product - it has many features that will never be used here. Pay close attention to how the monthly fee is calculated - monthly fee for a year for this church is equivalent to buying several user licenses for other popular software (one of which doesn't have to be replaced for 3 years). If you have to put your financials into Excel to get the format you want, then why spend more for ShelbyNext? Training to use this product is expensive on top of the purchase price.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

I haven't found anything I like about it yet. Maybe the reports are good, I haven't gotten that far yet.

Cons:

This software is NOTHING like popular accounting programs on the market. Simple feature like using the + to advance the date or check numbers won't work. In the middle of a bank rec and need to look at an entry? Can't click on it to see details. Have to leave the bank rec to go there? Click Apply or you lose it all. That too is weird - apply means save, update means save and close. Why change terminology? Have to add lines to any type of entry? It won't automatically add them. More than one page in a report? You can't scroll to page 2. I carefully craft a journal entry to MY liking but ShelbyNext posts the lines in account number order - that is NOT how I want to see the entry. No back arrow to look at the previous transaction entered. If you are entering a list of manual checks and need to add a vendor all of the previous info entered (date, check number etc) is lost. Every time you return to the bank rec you have to tell it to only show the data for the current month you're reconciling. Date always defaults to today's date. I am entering historical data, so I have to re-enter the date every transaction. No warning for duplicate vendors, check numbers, vendor invoice numbers. My church doesn't use dept numbers, but I have to enter one to get the transaction to save. Can't search for account name directly from transaction screen, takes a few clicks to do so. When the CoA is 6 pages long, searching by acct name would save time.

Bob W.

Verified reviewer

Religious Institutions

11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed August 2019

Almost Great

Before we migrated to the ShelbyNext Cloud platform, our ministers and staff never had current data and it was always difficult to follow-up so the database was not updated. Now, if the users perform as they should the data is always updated and communication between ministers, staff and members has increased by 100%

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

The portability and distributed nature of the cloud database keeps everyone on the team and in the church connected and up to date. There is ongoing enhancement that helps make the product more user friendly. The security of the data and the ongoing updates and the redundant backup process reduces in-house IT staff time.

Cons:

The giving reports are not accurate. When you run a demographic of givers from three years ago against current date, the current data is wrong. The program does not look at the dates. We live in a complicated world and we must be able to show through reporting tools how the giving is coming in to the system. Shelbynext does not do this well.

Reasons for choosing ShelbyNext Membership

Since we had been using Shelby V5 we were familar with the product and the support staff at Shelby. Migrating was a data move not a company move. Other products that were cloud based involved more user setup to get it functional. Shelbynext was already stable and performing well before we moved.

Matthew S.

Verified reviewer

Religious Institutions

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed November 2022

Overall a Top Choice for Managing Membership

ShelbyNext is a good solid church management software if that's all you need. There are no options for managing volunteers and planning. For that you would need to upgrade to the pricier Shelby Arena.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

In addition to a solid database ShelbyNext has a robust groups feature that really is the hallmark of this software. The forms feature is well designed and can be imbedded on a website, used as a direct link, or generate a QR code. It also integrates well with Constant Contact.

Cons:

The conversion process from Shelby version 5 to ShelbyNext was excruciating, but once everything got organized correctly it functions well. Organizing family units can be a little complicated as can searching for certain parameters.

Reasons for choosing ShelbyNext Membership

Key features and ability to integrate with current programs.

Sandi S.

Verified reviewer

Religious Institutions

2-10 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed March 2021

Great Organization Tool

I enjoy having all the features in Shelby Next for groups, and for sending texts to specific groups as reminders, etc. Our church still likes to print a directory for our older members, and I'm glad I can still do that through Shelby Next for them. Shelby Next is more user friendly than other software I've seen, which is a big help in training new leaders who might be resistant or a bit apprehensive about using technology.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

It has really helped me organize our church membership data. It's become a great tool for our leadership to use as far as Interactions and keeping membership information handy for our leaders who are on the go. They really utilize the directory in the Shelby Next app for reaching members and checking on them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cons:

I would like to see more updates in the mass contact portion of the software. Being able to insert and use graphics more easily in email templates would be a great help.

Reasons for choosing ShelbyNext Membership

We were already Arena users, so it was a fairly easy switch.

Reasons for switching to ShelbyNext Membership

Shelby Next was a much better fit for our church. It was easier to learn and teach people to use as well.

Jodi K.

Verified reviewer

Religious Institutions

51-200 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review source

Reviewed September 2019

Great Product

Having the ability to access this program without being hardwired to the database has changed everything for us. And the apps make it easy to make changes quickly and easily on the fly. Overall we are so pleased with the capability of all the faucets and Shelby Next.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

We have a big church and have thousands of congregants - Shelby has allowed us to create a more personal portfolio for each of them. It's hard to know them all individually - but shelby has helped us disciple to each of them on a level that meets them where they are - because we can in real-time track their attendance, giving, small groups, classes and their prayer requests. It's revolutionized our congregational care - among many other wonderful ways it's served our church.

Cons:

I don't work with the financial part of the program - but I do know there were some crossover issues from the old Shelby that made the integration challenging. Although, once it was completed, it's worked seamlessly.

Reasons for switching to ShelbyNext Membership

Our Church was using the old hardwired Shelby and our campus (satellite campus) used planning center because we needed something wireless and easier for our smaller campus. All the perks we needed and didn't have with the old Shelby (but found in Planning Center) were given to us with Shelby Next - along with many more.

Pam O.

Verified reviewer

Religious Institutions

11-50 employees

Used daily for more than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed August 2019

Shelby Next Pros and Cons

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

That it is cloud based, love the app and being able to use the software where ever I happen to be working. The overall look of the site is fresh and fairly user friendly. Easy to get around and update profiles. Check In was not an option with V-5 so that has been a nice feature. We love the ability to create forms as well, really has helped us with many events.

Cons:

Reports!! Headers, dates, reliability of the data is really poor. V5 gave us way more options for creating and saving reports that are used regularly. The Directory feature needs work as well. Would like the pre-set configurable fields to be more flexible.

Reasons for choosing ShelbyNext Membership

Since we were already a Shelby customer on V-5 we thought the conversion would be an easier process.

Reasons for switching to ShelbyNext Membership

Wanted something cloud based, and had heard that V-5 was being phased out.

Jennifer D.

Verified reviewer

Religious Institutions

11-50 employees

Used daily for less than 2 years

Review source

Reviewed August 2019

Very Happy With ShelbyNext

We love that it is cloud based and accessible through our phones, laptops and tablets. Once we got through the conversion and learning curve, we all really like the functionality of Shelby!

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Value for money

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

For me the connection between Membership & Financials makes my work seemless!

Cons:

Changing from another software to Shelby had it's challenges but I think all conversions do! The way Shelby does not really 'track' visitors for reporting or historical purposes has also been a challenging change for us.

Reasons for choosing ShelbyNext Membership

Our database was too large for Church Windows

Reasons for switching to ShelbyNext Membership

Our database was too large for Church Windows

Christina R.

Verified reviewer

Non-Profit Organization Management

11-50 employees

Used daily for less than 12 months

Review source

Reviewed August 2019

Shelby Next Membership

We've cleaned up our database during the migration from Shelby V5 and Realm, so that has been a plus. It's been easy to teach other employees how to use Shelby Next. I like that I can work from home since it's web based.

Ratings Breakdown

Ease of use

Customer support

Functionality

Pros:

I like the ease of use. It is similar enough to Shelby V5 that the learning curve was not as steep in learning the new software. I like the help sections for each area. The videos and step by steps are very helpful. Like that ShelbyNext is web based so I can work from home when needed.

Cons:

The Check-in part of this software is very limited in what it does compare to what was available in Shelby V5. Configuring the printed tickets to include the information needed is not easily accomplished.

Reasons for choosing ShelbyNext Membership

Because the integration with the Shelby Financial software was what we needed.

Reasons for switching to ShelbyNext Membership

The Finance part of Realm was not where we needed it to be for the migration of data.

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