Skimming the Surface of Your Technology Tools
Have you ever purchased a new techie toy, gadget, or Smartphone? Initially you’re excited, marveling at the possibilities and potential it possesses. But then time passes, and you still haven’t taken out the instruction manual. You’re stuck on one perceived “problem.” Or, subconsciously, you find yourself stiffening, overwhelmed at the thought of learning yet one more new process.
Not too long ago, people faced the same obstacles about learning to use the computer, then the Internet, smartphones, etc.… tools that continue to revolutionize the way we work, play, and interact. Today, we know that it’s not enough to skim the surface of functionality in our tools. Diving deep to understand and tap the full potential of our parish technology tools is essential to ministry and absolutely worth our time. The powerful forms and integration of ParishSOFT Giving are no exception.
ParishSOFT Giving Forms
Building on the mountain of critical discoveries and ever-evolving tools before it, ParishSOFT’s second-generation online giving platform, ParishSOFT Giving, is fast, intuitive, and designed to help your parish bridge the crossroads between stewardship and engagement.
But how can an online giving platform impact both stewardship and engagement? Let’s think about where the rough spots might be for parishioners – where might we lose them or create opportunities of disorganization for our parish staff and volunteers? Do we ask people to sign up in one place and pay or donate in another? Do we invite people to amazing opportunities and then make “call the office” our only signup option?
If you answered yes to either of the above, it’s time to understand how your parish can use your ParishSOFT technology to help remove those small but impactful barriers to full participation in parish life. It’s time to smooth out those rough spots!
ParishSOFT Giving’s form builder gives you the flexible, buildable tools you need to provide a secure, streamlined experience that will see parishioners and visitors alike through the processes of registration, payment, and/or donation.
Let’s explore some of the key features our parishes love.
Buildable
Forms are easy and fast to create. Keep them simple or be as creative as you like. Drag and drop form fields, design customization and templates allow an almost endless number of combinations. Flexible enough to meet ever-evolving parish needs, an intuitive form building process means parish staff can explore, modify, and create with ease.
Interested in engaging visitors on your website? Why not embed a quirky, “Which Bible character are you?” quiz on your homepage. Ask quiz takers to provide their email address and name to get the results . . . but make this optional to avoid putting up an unintentional barrier to engagement.
Need to gather registrations for the Men’s Prayer Breakfast? Include the form link in an email to the men of the parish. Linking registrants directly to the form creates a “click-to-sign-up” process, which beats a “go-to-our-website-and-try-to-find-it” process every time. If you’re using ParishSOFT Family Directory, simply filter for the population you’re looking for and send the email directly from your ParishSOFT platform, or export the contact information to a CSV file and send it from the email platform of your choice. This brings us to the next highlight.
Form types: information gathering, event payment, or donation
Does your Men’s Prayer Breakfast include a registration fee? Set your form up to accept secure, on-the-spot payments, in whatever payment methods your parish takes, with the click of a button. Send an automatic email confirmation to the registrant, thanking him for registering with a receipt confirming his payment was received.
Let’s say the Prayer Breakfast is a fundraiser for two urgent causes: critical parish repairs and hurricane relief efforts. With a few clicks, you can set up your registration form with multiple funds and let attendees choose! For parish staff, there’s nothing more to do!
Reporting
Keeping track of where you stand is vital to your parish, both in terms of administration and your ability to support a smooth stewardship and engagement experience. That’s why ParishSOFT Giving’s form manager dashboard lets parish staff filter results, view responses, and check payment statuses in real time. You can also set up notifications, which will send an email to staff (or anyone) that needs to know when a new form is submitted.
Every registrant who uses your online form is one fewer set of details that needs to be handled manually in your parish office. This translates to fewer names that need to be re-keyed from paper signup sheets or phone calls, fewer checks or electronic payments to process individually, and fewer opportunities for mistakes. In addition, not generating paper registratyion forms is good for the environment.
Integration
If you choose to integrate ParishSOFT Giving with ParishSOFT Family Suite, sit back and watch as online payments are automatically deposited into the correct funds. ParishSOFT knows exactly where the dollars should be posted every time, based on the form options that you have defined and what the registrant has selected.
If you are using ParishSOFT Offering & Pledges, payments assigned to a specific fund will be seamlessly integrated into your ParishSOFT Family Suite records! You get hassle-free parish reporting and parishioner giving statements.
Monitor registration progress from your form manager dashboard, and evaluate the fundraiser’s impact with ParishSOFT Giving Form Reports. Givers will have immediate access to their giving/payment history through their ParishSOFT Giving profile.
Like any tool…
ParishSOFT Giving Forms shares this in common with all tools: in order to be effective, it must be used! Learning and exploring you will discover the unique impact ParishSOFT Giving can have on serving your parish’s needs.
Ready to leverage the power of ParishSOFT Giving Forms at your parish? Check out the Form Builder Overview training video! You may also want to pick up a couple of tips and tricks for making the most of your giving software with these short video tutorials.
New to ParishSOFT Giving, but interested in learning more? Contact us at 866.930.4774 x6 or register for a free demo to find out how ParishSOFT Giving can serve your parish!
