I'm excited about going to
ACS Technologies' and
Shelby Systems' user group meetings this spring! What excites me most about them is the great opportunities they are for church and ministry team members to grow in their knowledge of these very popular church management systems and for team members to be encouraged by meeting others who do similar work for like-minded organizations. I feel fortunate to be involved in the process.
Most churches and ministries don't recognize the wisdom in the opportunity to help their team members grow in their understanding and proficiency in these important tools. Taking advantage of these training events is an effective way to help accomplish the mission better, and to do so for less. It is a terrific investment!
Here's a Real World Example
As a ChMS authority (due to my writing and consulting in this area), I get calls throughout the year from churches and ministries that are thinking of making a change. One of the common reasons they call is that no one on staff knows how to use the system currently in use. I often ask them how long it's been since they had any training on their ChMS, and the response is usually that it's been a
very long time-- maybe even before any current staff were on the team!
I explain to them that training would be much less expensive and much less disruptive to their ministry than changing their ChMS would be, and I encourage them to get some training. Doing so costs so little and yields such a great return on investment!
If your church or ministry uses one of these two systems, please consider sending at least one person to their annual event. I know you'll thank me later!
A church staff person emailed me this week asking about changing their ChMS (Church Management Software solution). Their team has some dissatisfaction with their current solution-- even though it is one of the top solutions available. Following is an excerpt from my response that may be helpful.
There's been a spirited discussion in one of the church Yahoo groups about a church whose team wants to change ChMS software for what appears to be all the wrong reasons. The IT Director voiced opposition to the change, and sought the advice of other church IT people.
I just published a new article that's my attempt to put my finger on the reason so many churches and ministries are dissatisfied with their church management software. The blame rests on the CMS providers and on the churches and ministries; and I offer suggestions on how each can help improve the situation.
I get the privilege of publishing an annual article listing those leading the field of church and donor management software and their product's features. We found 62 software companies focusing on the church and ministry management market this year, but only 34 qualified to be included in the article (remember, these are supposed to be market leaders, so we qualify them three ways: actively marketing, minimum growth, and an update released in the last two years).
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