Questions to ask about a ChMS

April 23, 2011 in ChMS, leadership, ministry, technology with 3 Comments

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Anyone can create software, right? And some people can create great software. So how do you make a decision that ensures it’s a right fit for you? When a church begins asking the question, “Where do I begin?” I suggest they work through four important questions.

  • Question #1. What is the story behind the software?

This question confuses many people because they are not sure why it matters. To them Church Management Software (ChMS) is simply a set of tools to get something done. While that is valid, it is also true that when you select a software solution as comprehensive as a church management system (ChMS), you are hitching your wagon to a train which is headed somewhere. This is especially true with cloud-based software, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS).

Your ChMS should ultimately be an assemblage of solutions to key ministry problems you are trying to solve and opportunities you want to leverage. Those problems and opportunities are not static and unless it came in a box, neither is your software! It will go in a certain direction as it evolves. Do you know what direction that is? Does it align with the direction you are going? What is the “heartbeat” of the company? Who has the ultimate say in what they do, who they serve, how they serve and what it takes to keep the doors open? If you don’t think these questions are important, don’t be surprised when your software provider ends up someplace you weren’t sure you wanted to go.

  • Question #2. Who designed the software?

This is important. Yes, anyone can create software. But software that is designed for your niche is most likely going to be a better fit. I’ve been in software for a long time. Some of that time was spent outside the church space. Transportation companies buys software designed for transportation companies. Manufacturing buys software designed for manufacturing. It seems like a simple concept, right? You would ask the guy who mows your lawn to fix your roof, would you?

Churches sometimes think that “any old software” will do or the other extreme is that if it works in this industry then it will work for you. It’s important to know that the people who designed the software understand you, how you operate, your needs, so they can provide a unique fit for you.

  • Question #3. What other churches — like us — are using their software and services?

I encourage every church we work with to talk with other churches already using CCB that are similar in size and how they approach doing church. This is incredibly valuable. Whatever you “think might work,” shouldn’t be the basis of your decision. Don’t say “well Super Hip Mega Church” is using Acme ChMS so it must be awesome”. Find someone who is similar to you and understand their experience and how they use the system. This will give you an unbelievable confidence in your decision making.

  • Question #4. Will the software fit us, or will we have to fit the software?

You’ll probably hear words like “customizable” and “flexible” as you investigate your options. These are words that mean different things to different people. You never want to invest in a system that forces you to change core systems and processes. Any new system, unless you build it from scratch, has limitations. Often the changes our churches make are because they see a new, better, and more efficient way to do something.

When a solution as complex as a ChMS isn’t able to mold and mend itself to how you do church, that’s a red flag that you shouldn’t overlook. Even if the church you dream of being one day uses it, that doesn’t justify it as a perfect fit for your church.

I hope these questions have been helpful to you. Software can be scary. What gets me excited is when I see churches use technology to accelerate how they build community and make a Kingdom impact.

What questions do you ask when you evaluate software for your church?


  • http://twitter.com/criscran Cris Crannigan

    We’ve been using CCB at @rivercookeville for some time. I’m very happy with it. I continue to roll-out new features to the staff to encourage them to dive into it. Things we are especially happy with:

    - Financial. Giving statements, etc.
    - Check-in. Kids check-in (and security) on Sundays. Adult check-in for events.
    - Email blasts. Sending email newsletters and prayer requests to the body.

    We also tie a number of aspects of the cloud-based CMS to our website:

    - Give online.
    - Find a life group.
    - Public church-wide calendar.
    - Forms to sign up for events, to fill needs, etc

    We are a church of about 1,300 TWA over two campuses. About 9 years old we are growing at a rate of about 20% annually. We needed a system that fit our current size, and would also fit us years down the road.

    The one aspect we struggle with is in getting our body to use CCB too. Any suggestions would be gratefully received!

    • http://www.churchcommunitymatters.com Steve

      Thanks for sharing your feedback and experience Cris. It’s great to hear that you are seeing traction with some of the administrative benefits of the CCB solution.

      Your struggle with congregational adoption is not uncommon. There are a lot of ways to get some initial traction with a community-facing tool like CCB. However, it takes a leadership-driven approach to sustain it. This is where CCB can really shine but, like many things, not in the absence of some strategic thought and planning. At the end of the day, your congregation will adopt almost anything that adds value to their experience and engagement with your church. The trick is to find those things which add value in terms of how you do ministry. Once you identify them, find some early adopters who can develop the success stories which others will be inspired by and emulate in their unique way.

      Are you a member of the CCB Tribe? There are some terrific examples of this concept in that online community. While every church is unique, I believe you can glean some thoughts and ideas from some of your peers who are seeing great success in congregational adoption. If you aren’t in the Tribe, let me know and I will send you a link to sign up.

  • http://www.synergema.com Brandon Steiger

    It really goes along with your question #4, but basically as an Internet Communication Firm, we are assisting churches in looking at both what we call the short-term and long-term communication strategy.

    If you think about it, the heart of everything we do in the church is some form of communication – from our sermons, small groups, volunteering, managing an event, and even offering is a form of a communications and it says something about you and the church at large.

    So when examining the various ChMS platforms its important to understand the short-term and long-term.

    Your short-term is what are you doing today as a church and in your communications. Chances are, even if you don’t like it, this is a part of your culture and your culture is probably one of the most challenging things to change for a number of different reasons (another blog, another day). So go into any ChMS platform knowing there is a good chance your culture will not shift greatly (although you have great intentions). Go into any ChMS platform understanding how your teams work, how your staff works, how your volunteers work, how your members work, and even how your guests work. Write down these processes, flow-chart them. For example – understand how an event gets on the calendar, who does it, what tools does this person use, who approves it, etc. This needs to happen for every process in the church.

    When looking at long-term, its addressing where you want to be in the next 3-5 years. For most in the church, this seems like an exhausting idea. However, if you don’t know where you are going, how are you supposed to get there? Once you know what the next 3-5 years looks like, who is going to champion that future, what is the church doing to actively get there, is your staff on-board, are you members on-board? What do those processes also look like? Once you have all of this, then you can identify the gaps between what you are doing today and what you want to do tomorrow.

    This is where the ChMS platform can come into play, because it needs to support what the church is doing today and where the church is going in the future. Unfortunately, this does take some time, but talk with any ChMS company and you would be their biggest fan if you came to the table with this type of information. Then they could truly outline how their ChMS platform works with both your short and long term strategy. Then the church and the ChMS truly become partnered together, versus just being another product on the shelf.