What We’re Seeing – Trends in the CMS World
- New web-based products – It’s finally happening on a larger scale, as people within congregations become more comfortable with using the Internet for a variety of services. A few new companies are offering completely web-based solutions for congregation management software.
- Web-based services for traditional products - Current providers are adding services such as hosting (their CMS product kept on their network, accessed by your congregation using the internet and programs such as Terminal Services or Citrix), viewing of some membership data on-line, interaction between the CMS and a congregation’s website, and on-line contributions.
- Security both for people, particularly children, and information is a growing issue. Congregations are concerned about the safety and security of children left within their care, and are turning to their CMS to help provide a check-in / check-out system for young children. Offsite data backup is being offered by the new web-based products and several of the traditional product vendors.
ACS (Automated Church System) - ACS is possibly the most feature-rich, versatile and powerful traditional CMS on the market today. It offers many different modules, which may be purchased individually or in combination to create a full-function palate of computer database tools for your congregation. Although training is a must for any module, we find the system to be quite intuitive. Highlights include a very powerful Activities section, which helps keep track of all the ways a person is connected to the life of your congregation, search/query functions and varied output options. Detailed Contribution and Accounting information may be retained for as many years as you care to keep track. The company recently added a Growth Suite, which is anchored by two modules - Ministry Scheduler and Volunteer Manager. We find these modules to be less intuitive than those in either the People or Financial suites, and probably more than needed for many congregations. A separate product for congregation-related schools, Headmaster, is also available. Two new products, Access ACS (for viewing your membership data on the Web), and LiveStor (offsite backup for your ACS database and/or other network files) have recently been released. ACS Technologies also offers a hosting service, where both a congregation’s data and their ACS programs are housed on ACS’s network and accessed through Terminal Services. More information about this option or any ACS Technologies product may be found through their website: www.acstechnologies.com
LOGOS - Often a good choice for congregations, LOGOS has two major components: Church/Donor Management and Accounting. The Church Management section combines membership, contributions and attendance functions, with a small area for visitations. The Financial module provides a nice balance of power and ease-of-use needed by congregations of many sizes. Other modules include a Facility Scheduler, Ministry Scheduler and Sacramental Register. The newest of these, Ministry Scheduler, helps to schedule volunteers who serve in rotating schedules – ushers, child care workers, liturgists, etc. LOGOS also now offers an Online Management service, which enables a congregation to take online contributions or payments or have direct deposit services. And they’re adding an automated data backup. Want to know more? Their website is: www.logoslbe.com
Servant Keeper - Servant Keeper offers Membership, Contributions and Attendance functions in one package, and is a great basic CMS. It is easy to learn, easy to use, and offers many features usually found only in more expensive systems. No accounting functions are included, but links to Quickbooks and Quicken are built-in. Contributions data may also be exported to other accounting software. The search/query functions have a clear and simple format. Basic reporting is only a matter of choosing which columns to display from a list. Both Attendance and Contributions entry are fast and easy. Several formats are offered for printing church directories and contribution statements, and a library of over fifty new report formats is now available at an additional charge. Servant PC Resources makes this product: www.servantpc.com
One Web-based CMS Product
Fellowship One – Originally created for use only by the Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, this new application has received a lot of attention in the CMS world. Fellowship One is a web-based ASP (application service provider) solution, not software to be purchased and installed on a congregation’s resident computers. The service is accessed through the web browser on any computer connected to the Internet (given the proper user ID and password). The ‘star’ module of this product has been a children’s check-in system, which uses touch screen and bar code scanning capability to quickly and safely process children arriving and leaving a congregation’s activities. The check-in module may be used independently or as a part of Fellowship One’s larger offerings, which include People, Contributions, Contact, Volunteer, Small Group, Activity and Event Management. Online giving, online registration and payment for any congregational event, check scanning and imaging are a few of the additional features available. No accounting applications are offered or planned. Reporting may become an issue as the customer base grows. Although over 400 reports exist in the Report Central section now, new reports are created by request to Fellowship Tech staff instead of by the user. For some users this is a great relief, but those more experienced in generating queries and reports may find it limiting. The complete report listing screen looks cumbersome to us, although frequently-used reports can appear on an individual’s screen as ‘favorites’. Several Editions (groupings of modules, features and access) are available, from Growth to Enterprise. Pricing varies by congregation size and Edition. More information may be found at www.fellowshiptech.com
