Thanks to COVID-19, hundreds of thousands of churches around the globe are rushing to “get online” so that they can continue to service their membership from a safe distance. Many churches are focused on tools for virtual services: church presentation software and church communication software.
However, data management systems should not be overlooked! I’ll bet you have an online church accounting and finance software. So why would you continue to rely on outdated, pen-and-paper methods for church data management?
With the help of church data management software, churches can engage with members better to retain existing members and attract new ones. This article will tell you about some of the best current church data management systems to help you manage your congregation.
Tool Shortlist
Here’s the list of the best church data management software.
- ChurchTrac
- ACS Suite
- Planning Center
- ChurchSuite
- Elvanto
- Tithe.ly
- Blackbaud Church Management
- Faith Teams
- ChurchTeams
- FellowshipOne
Comparison Criteria
What do I look for when I select the best church data management software solutions? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
- User Interface (UI): Managing a church involves many administrative tasks, and a clean user interface will allow users to find the function they need quickly to save time.
- Usability: Most churches count on volunteers, so I look for user-friendly software that anyone can easily use.
- Integrations: Churches use different tools, so I look for software that will work with other church management tools.
- Value for $: Churches rely on the generosity of members, so I look for software with many features and reasonable pricing.
Church Data Management Solution: Key Features
- Member Directory: This feature allows churches to maintain a comprehensive directory of members.
- Donation Management: This allows users to track and record the donations they receive
- Payment Management: Allows users to receive donations through text messaging, online giving, checks, bank deposits, credit cards, and others.
- Communication Tools: Allows churches to keep in touch with members through text messaging, email, or a website chat feature.
- Event Management: A feature that churches can use to plan and execute church events.
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Overviews Of The 10 Best Church Data Management Systems
Here’s a brief description of each church data management platform to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.
1. ChurchTrac – Church management system for managing church membership
ChurchTrac is a church management software for managing church data like membership and financial data. It also comes with accounting software to track cash inflow and expenses, giving you a clear view of your church’s financial health. If your church has a Sunday school, you can use ChurchTrac to keep young members secure with its child check-in feature. It also has a website builder to create a church app or a complete church website to stay connected with members.
ChurchTrac is the best church management software to manage your membership data effectively because it enables you to create detailed member profiles to keep track of your congregation. You can use the software to create member profiles containing contact information, personal details, interests, and family background. ChurchTrac also lets you attach tags to member profiles for easier grouping and filtering.
ChurchTrac is a free church management software but has a paid plan that starts at $6/month/account. ChurchTrac also offers a 30-day free trial.
2. ACS Suite – Church management system for managing church attendance
ACS Suite is a church management software and church accounting software accessible online through a cloud-based OnDemand service or directly installed on a workstation. This ChMS has a membership management feature to record and manage membership information in a centralized membership database. Its ACS contributions feature lets you track the financial gifts of members and create IRS statements and tax receipts to ensure compliance with federal regulations.
The attendance of church members during events and activities is an excellent way to gauge the effectiveness of your ministry. ACS Suite has an attendance management feature that can help you do so. ACS Suite lets you track worship attendance not just on worship services but on Sunday classes, small groups, and discipleship programs. ACS Suite gives you the option to capture attendance using a barcode scanner to record attendance during events quickly. You can use ACS Suite to print attendance graphs for meetings so other members can easily understand attendance data.
ACS Suite pricing is available upon request.
3. Planning Center – Best for managing worship services
Planning Center is a church management software with different tools to help you organize the data you need to manage your church. It has built-in tools for tracking attendance, donations, volunteers, and resources. Planning Center has an engagement dashboard to help you study different metrics like attendance and donations to implement improvement plans as needed.
Excellent worship services draw more attendees, and Planning Center is an outstanding church data management system if you want to plan and hold successful worship services. You can use Planning Center to create a detailed blueprint of worship services to help employees and volunteers understand their roles. Planning Center lets you maintain a comprehensive song library and distribute music sheets to your volunteers and ministry.
Planning Center integrates with other church management tools like Thryve, ProPresenter, Mailchimp, and Checkr. More integrations can be unlocked using a paid plan through Zapier.
Planning Center pricing starts at $14/month/up to 25 members, and they offer a 30-day free trial.
4. ChurchSuite – Church data management system for managing church resources
ChurchSuite is a church management software for managing different aspects of your church, including membership, donations, and worship planning. You can use ChurchSuite to create a member directory and send mass emails and text messages to church members. ChurchSuite is scalable, making it ideal for churches of any size. You can use the software to manage churches in different locations, making it ideal for multi-site congregations.
ChurchSuite is an excellent option if you need a church management system to manage your church’s resources. You can use the software to maintain a database of all your resources, including facilities, equipment, tools, and volunteers. ChurchSuite lets you check the availability of resources to help prevent double booking and avoid conflicts. It allows you to study data on usage patterns to know which resources are in demand and which ones are underutilized.
ChurchSuite pricing starts at $15.50/month/account, and they offer a 30-day free trial.
5. Elvanto – Best for maintaining a database of online giving and contributions
Elvanto is a management software for churches of all sizes to streamline admin duties and serve members better. You can use it as a centralized system for maintaining records of members, contact information, reports, files, and other critical data. It has an attendance tracking feature to track and record attendance so you can communicate with members who may need ministering to. Elvanto has a volunteer management feature to maintain a record of volunteers for easier volunteer scheduling and communication.
Churches rely on the generosity of members and sponsors, and Elvanto can help you maintain a database of online giving and contributions to promote accountability. With an accurate record of donations and expenses, you can keep tabs on your church’s financial health. You can generate reports on pledges so you can send follow-up emails and provide donors with receipts or statements. Elvanto has an integrated giving app to accept payments and donations through debit or credit cards.
You can integrate Elvanto with other church management tools like Tithe.ly, SongSelect, PayPal, Pushpay, and Mogiv.
Elvanto pricing starts at $50/month/account, and they offer a 30-day free trial.
6. Tithe.ly – Free church data management system for accepting and managing donations
Tithe.ly is a church management software solution to help you maintain a database of member records. It has SMS and email features to help you engage church members. You can use Tithe.ly to build a church mobile app enabling you to connect with a broader audience. It has an event management feature for event planning, event registration, and payment acceptance.
If you want to ensure that church members can donate to your church using their preferred donation method, then Tithe.ly is the best software for you because it allows members to contribute to your church using six different methods. Members can send their donations via text giving, online donations, direct deposits, checks, or gifts. You can also use this contribution management system to turn tablets into kiosks so you can accept donations during events.
Tithe.ly has a financial reporting feature to generate shareable giving summary reports for easier budget tracking.
Tithe.ly integrates with Engiven, STS Consulting, Boxcast, and others.
Tithe.ly is free software for religious organizations and non-profit organizations. However, there is a charge of 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction.
7. Blackbaud Church Management – Best for managing small churches & groups
Blackbaud Church Management is a church management software that allows church administration to manage church members, events, and ministries in one place. This church management solution has communication tools to help you stay connected with church members. It has a volunteer management feature to track requirements for volunteer positions and conduct and store background checks.
Small groups are critical for churches, and if you need church management software to manage small groups in your church, then Blackbaud Church Management is the best software for you. You can use it to maintain a database of the small groups in your church so you can provide support easily. Blackbaud has SMS and email features to communicate with small groups quickly. You can also use Blackbaud’s small group management feature to track the attendance of small groups to know which small groups church members find more engaging. Church leaders can customize group leader permissions giving them control over what group leaders can do.
Blackbaud Church Management pricing is available upon customer request.
8. Faith Teams – Church data management system with integrated form builder for data gathering
Faith Teams is an all-in-one church management system for creating a database of church members. You can use it to automate guest follow-ups to help you convert visitors to your church website or social media accounts. It has a donation management feature for easier fund accounting and to ensure donors and supporters of fundraising events that their donations went to their intended projects.
If you want to capture critical membership data, then Faith Teams is a fantastic option for your church because it has customizable forms and templates you can use for varied uses and events. You can use Faith Teams to create digital forms and embed them on your church website to make event registration easier. The software allows you to share forms on your social media accounts to reach more members. You can use your church’s font, colors, and logo to ensure branding on the forms you use.
Faith Teams is available at a flat rate of $40/month/account, and they offer a 10-day free trial.
9. ChurchTeams – Church data management system for automating workflows
ChurchTeams is a church management software with different modules for managing your congregation like group management, event check-in, and volunteer management. It has an email marketing feature to help you promote fundraising activities to church members. ChurchTeams has a text-from-church functionality for sending notifications to church members to remind them of their group’s schedule or of classes they signed up for.
ChurchTeam’s workflow automation feature is what you need if administrative tasks take up too much time and if you want to devote more time ministering to your congregation. You can use it to automate simple admin tasks like sending a welcome email or text to new members or sending a reminder about upcoming worship services. You can also use it to automate sending schedules to volunteers, ensuring that everyone is aware of their schedules and responsibilities.
ChurchTeams’s pricing starts at $37/month/up to 200 people. They offer a free 30-day trial upon request.
10. FellowshipOne – Church data management system for creating church websites
FellowshipOne is a church management software with a CRM module to help you manage your members and their data. It has a mobile app version that works on iOS and Android devices. FellowshipOne has an online giving platform to make donating more convenient for members so you can raise funds for your outreach programs. It has a worship planning feature to plan and execute in-person and live streaming events.
A church needs an excellent website to reach church members easily, and FellowshipOne is a superb church data management software if you want to create a church website that can serve all your church members’ needs. This SaaS provides you with a user-friendly website editing feature to help you customize your church website. You can use different templates to create a website that reflects your church and its ideals.
FellowshipOne integrates with Mailchimp, EasyTithe, Clover Sites, and others.
FellowshipOne provides customized pricing upon request, and they offer a 30-day free trial.
What do you think about this list?
A church data management software is a critical tool to help you maintain an accurate record of your members, donations, resources, and events. It can help you manage your church effectively and improve engagement with members.
On top of church data management software, your church can use other software to grow your church and minister to more members, and you can subscribe to The Lead Pastor if you want to know more about them.
Related Lists of Tools:
- Church Volunteer Management Software
- Online Church Management Software
- Free Church Presentation Software
- Church Administration Software For Church Management
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