As COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and our parishes can operate at full capacity, it’s wonderful to once again feel connected to those around us after what seemed like an eternity of isolation.
But with parish life “returning to normal,” can you count on your church management software (ChMS) to keep up?
The truth is, your church tech needs connectedness, too. A robust and integrated ChMS can streamline all aspects of managing your church—from giving and donor engagement to accounting and administrative tasks to livestreaming, social media and mass communications—letting your parish team spend more time on ministry and less on tech issues and to-do tasks.
Here are four improvements you’ll start noticing almost immediately once you “connect the dots” with your church tech:
1. You’ll Be Better Prepared
Having a good ChMS is like hiring a full-time event planner with expertise in everything —from planning services, setting up livestreaming, and making guests feel welcome, to scheduling religious education, holiday programs, small groups, and outreach ministries, as well as managing the finances, accounting, and staffing needed to make it all happen. The better you can plan ahead for every event, big and small, on your parish calendar, the more successful these events will be at spreading the Gospel, engaging your parishioners, and helping those in need.
2. You’ll Be Better Organized
Connecting the dots with your ChMS means you can automate and streamline your member data, so you won’t have to “jump” between platforms to get things done, or repeatedly copy and paste member information. A fully integrated ChMS puts everything in one place—from your contact list to your email list to your giving and accounting solutions. And by using an all-in-one cloud-based platform, you can be confident not only in the security of your data, but also in your ability to run it from any browser, on any device.
3. You’ll Have Better Communications
Whether you’re communicating with your entire congregation, a specific small group, volunteers, or an outreach ministry team, an integrated ChMS makes it easy to send the message you need to get out from one familiar dashboard. Choose between phone calls, texting, and email to communicate in a way that’s best received by any group, and that will quickly get information to those who need it, when they need it.
4. You’ll See Your Offertory Grow
There’s no doubt about it: An integrated ChMS can increase giving, by over 30 percent or more according to some studies. When your parishioners have more opportunities to give, with more options for giving—one-time gifts, recurring giving, text-to-give, and kiosks—they’ll give more. And when your parish staff doesn’t have as many checks, envelopes, and cash donations to process and deposit, the time savings can be significant. Some churches have found that a ChMS quickly pays for itself by providing online giving and streamlining church accounting practices.
Take the Next Step
Ready to connect the dots with your ChMS and make it work better for your parish? Get in touch with us here for a free test-drive of ParishSOFT—an integrated suite of software solutions purpose-built for Catholic organizations by Catholics. More than 9,000 parishes and 185 arch/dioceses trust ParishSOFT to help them improve church operations and put time back on their side, and we’re eager to talk to you about how we can help you expand your ministries.