10 Best Church Event Management Software Reviewed For 2024
10 Church Event Management Tools Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 10 tools reviewed.
Our one-on-one guidance will help you find the perfect fit.
Of the various tasks I take on as a pastor of a growing church, event management is one that can wear me right out, for a variety of reasons:
- Coordinating chaos: We’ve got to juggle schedules, volunteers, and resources (not to mention the curveballs of miscommunications and last-minute changes).
- Time-consuming tasks: Manual tasks like sending reminders, monitoring RSVPs, and updating spreadsheets take up a lot of time.
- Budgeting and reporting: Tracking expenses, generating reports, and organizing feedback is tedious (and prone to errors).
Enter church event management software: like a skilled, high-capacity assistant, it helps balance everything easily, taking the stress out of the equation.
In this article, we'll explore the best tools to simplify your event planning, save you time, and let you focus more on ministry.
Why Trust My Software Review?
My writing team and I have been testing and reviewing church event management software since TheLeadPastor.com launched back in 2019. As pastors and church leaders ourselves, we know how tough it is to pick the right software, and how necessary that software is.
Our team digs deep to help you make better software choices. We've tested over 2,000 tools for various church needs and written more than 1,000 detailed reviews. Learn how we stay transparent and our online church management software review methodology.
The 10 Best Church Event Management Software Solution Summary
| Tools | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| ChMeetings | From $12/month | Website |
| RSVPify | No details | Website |
| Swift Events | No details | Website |
| Smart Church Solutions | No details | Website |
| Realm | Pricing upon request | Website |
| EventPro | Customized pricing upon request | Website |
| Hopin | From $99/event, (minimum purchase of 5 events). | Website |
| PowerChurch Plus | costs from $395 | Website |
| Arlo | From $94/user/month | Website |
| MinistryPlatform | Pricing upon request | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareHow to Choose Church Event Management Software
Selecting the right church event management software can transform how you organize and run events. As you work through your own unique software selection process, keep the following points in mind:
- Ease of Use: If the software is too complicated, your team won't use it. Look for a simple, intuitive interface. For example, some tools offer drag-and-drop features for setting up events.
- Integration with Existing Tools: Make sure the software works well with what you already use, like your church management system or email service. This saves time and reduces headaches.
- Scalability: Your church might grow, so choose software that can grow with you. Look for features that accommodate larger events or multiple locations.
- Support and Training: Good customer support and training resources are crucial. If you run into problems, you need quick, reliable help. Some companies offer 24/7 support or live training sessions.
- Cost: Stewardship is always a concern. Compare prices and check for hidden fees. Some software offers discounts for non-profits or long-term plans.
Overviews Of The 10 Best Church Event Management Software Solution
Here’s a brief description of each church event management system to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.
ChMeetings is a church management software designed to enhance the administrative aspects of church operations, including event management. It caters to churches of all sizes, offering a comprehensive suite of tools for planning, organizing, and executing events. Notable features include event scheduling, automated reminders, and RSVP tracking, which help ensure that all events run smoothly and are well-attended. The software also supports custom event forms and registration, making it easy for members to sign up and participate in various church activities.
Further enhancing its utility, ChMeetings provides robust tools for volunteer management, allowing church leaders to assign roles and coordinate efforts seamlessly. The platform includes features like QR code check-ins for quick and efficient attendance tracking and detailed reporting to evaluate event success and gather insights for future planning. Additionally, ChMeetings integrates with popular communication channels to facilitate event promotion and updates.
The platform integrates with MailChimp, PayPal, Twilio, SMSGlobal, and more.
RSVPify is an events management software for churches, businesses, and non-profit organizations that need software to efficiently plan and execute events. You can use it for event planning and tracking invitees giving you an idea of how many attendees to expect during the actual event. RSVPify also allows you to create customized event registration and online reservation forms to collect attendees’ contact information and get to know your audience before an event.
Generating funds is critical for your church because it can help you provide services to your congregation and initiate outreach programs for your community. Rsvpify can help you sell tickets for events to generate funds. You can use RSVPify to sell ticket variations like VIP tickets so you can maximize the potential of fundraising activities. RSVPify also gives you the option of collecting online donations for specific events, giving church members the freedom to choose the amount they want to give.
RSVPify integrates with other event planning and communication tools, including Facebook, Slack, Salesforce, and Gmail.
Swift Events is a virtual events platform you can use to widen the reach of church events and services using the internet. You can use the platform to conduct live polls, SMS polling, quizzes, and gamification to make your event more interactive. It also allows you to conduct pre-and post-event surveys to help you determine areas you can improve to make future events more successful.
Online events are getting more popular among churches, and if you want to start hosting online events, then Swift Events is the best church event management software for you. Swift Events allows you to customize your online event using your font, color, and layout style to make your event stand out while promoting your church. You can use Swift Events to Livestream in-person events on your church website, or social media account so you can reach members who cannot attend in-person anywhere they are in the globe.
Swift Events integrates with other communication and video conferencing tools like Webex, Zoom, and GoToMeeting.
Smart Church Solutions is software for all the facilities requirements of your church. You can use it to design facilities that can serve the needs of your congregation. It is a system that church leaders can use to maintain facilities and ensure proper working order. Smart Church Solutions’ event scheduler allows users to design and create custom forms for events like registration forms or consent forms.
Smart Church Solutions is a church facilities management software to ensure proper utilization of church facilities during events. It allows users to reserve rooms, venues, sound systems, multimedia devices, and others critical to the success of any event. Smart Church Solutions is a useful software because it can help prevent conflicts and double booking, resulting in the disruption of events and discord among church members.
Realm is a church management platform that facilitates an all-in-one approach to event management, ministry planning, donor management, volunteer management, accounting, and other operations. As an event management software, Realm features tools for scheduling events, managing registrations, and collecting payments. It also includes capabilities for setting up recurring events, tracking attendance, and managing RSVPs. Realm enables churches to coordinate event-related tasks such as assigning volunteers, conducting background checks, and customizing check-in kiosks.
The software also facilitates communication with event registrants and allows for the sharing of events on church websites and social media. You can view the event registrant list at any time to contact or follow up with a person directly. Additionally, Realm offers a mobile app that supports event check-in and provides access to event details for the church community.
The platform integrates with Growth Method, Constant Contact, Nelco, Go Method, Verified First, Vanco, and more.
EventPro is an event management software for churches of all sizes, businesses, and nonprofits to help them plan and execute events. It has different modules to help you manage your events, including attendance tracking, email marketing, child check-in, etc. You can also use EventPro to create custom event webpages to market your event and act as an online registration form.
Mounting an event means utilizing resources, and EventPro is the best event management software for you if you want one that allows you to manage the resources you need during the event. You can use EventPro to allocate resources like tables and chairs, audio-visual equipment, tents, and others to ensure the comfort of attendees and avoid double-booking equipment. If you have to source equipment, you can use EventPro to maintain a record of hired equipment and their costs for accounting purposes.
Hopin is a management software for handling not just in-person events but online events and hybrid events too. You can use it as a planning center to manage your event in its entirety, from planning to post-event evaluation. It has an analytics feature to help you analyze critical data like attendee statistics, chat transcripts, and event recordings so you can use event data to plan future events.
No matter how amazing your event is, it can turn into a disaster if you cannot market it properly, which is why Hopin’s event marketing feature is a vital feature. You can use Hopin to create an amazing landing page that can help promote your event and drive attendance or launch an email marketing campaign. It also has an attendee management feature for resending tickets, creating promo codes, issuing refunds, and others that can help increase attendance at your events.
Hopin integrates with other amazing event management tools like Twitter, Mailchimp, GoFundMe, Figma, and Slack.
PowerChurch Plus is a church management software solution with different modules to help you manage your church and its activities. It has a membership management feature for maintaining a record of your members, their contact details, and other critical information. PowerChurch Plus’ donation management feature can help you manage member contributions whether from checking accounts, credit card, text giving, or online giving. This donor management feature also allows you to keep donors' financial information secure while ensuring that records of donations are available for fund accounting.
Small churches and large churches rely on the generosity of volunteers when it comes to manning events, and PowerChurch Plus is the best church management software for you if you want to ensure that volunteers know what to do during events. PowerChurch Plus has a volunteer management feature to assign tasks to people giving you a better idea of who is responsible for a task and which tasks need more resources. You can use the software to automate the sending of notifications whenever a new task gets assigned to help you save time from sending a text message to each volunteer.
Arlo is a training management software with an event management feature to help you conduct recurring events successfully. It allows you to create customized registration forms ensuring you capture all the details of participants for easier group management during the actual event. Arlo can help you create tasks and assign them to volunteers or church employees. Arlo also helps streamline task management by automatically sending a task checklist whenever you assign a task.
Part of ministering to a flock is helping them improve themselves by gaining new skills or maximizing the ones they possess and Arlo is the best event management software for you if you hold recurring events or educational ones. With Arlo, you can easily plan and execute educational events like a series of seminars about how to minister to the community or how to manage Sunday schools effectively. You can use Arlo to create multi-session courses that allow participants to choose the sessions they want to take. Arlo lets you automate workflows to help you save time, like sending feedback surveys to help you gauge the success of your events.
MinistryPlatform is a versatile church management software designed to streamline operations for large churches. It excels in event management with features tailored to handle the complexities of organizing and executing church events. The platform's comprehensive calendar and events tool allows for efficient scheduling, promoting, and managing of events. It supports various event types, from small group meetings to large conferences, ensuring that all logistical details are covered.
Specific features that enhance its event management capabilities include detailed volunteer management tools, which help coordinate and track volunteer activities for events. This ensures that the right people are in the right places, and tasks are efficiently managed. Additionally, the platform offers robust communication tools that allow for targeted messaging to event participants, reminders, and follow-ups.
The platform offers many integrations, including PCO Connect, BIS, Checkr, MinistrySafe, Twilio, Message Metrics, SendGrid, Generosity, OnlineGiving, and Vanco, Tithe.ly.
Related Software Tools:
- 10 Best Church Volunteer Management Software
- 10 Best Church Data Management Systems
- Guide To Church Conflict And Crisis Management
- Our Cutting-Edge Church Management Software Picks
Selection Criteria for Church Event Management Software
When selecting church event management software, I focus on functionality and specific use cases that matter most to users. Features like scheduling, communication tools, and volunteer management are crucial for reducing operational burden and allowing pastors to focus on ministry.
I've personally tried and researched these tools to ensure they meet the needs of church leaders. Here's how I measure them against each other:
Core Church Event Management Software Functionality - 25% of total weighting score
Common features for church event management software typically include event scheduling, attendee registration, volunteer management, communication tools, task assignment, budget tracking, reporting, analytics, mobile access, and integration with existing systems.
To be considered for inclusion on my list of the best church event management software, the solution had to support the ability to fulfill common use cases.
- Setting up and managing events
- Registering and tracking attendees
- Coordinating and scheduling volunteers
- Communicating with attendees and volunteers
- Generating reports and analytics
Additional Standout Features - 25% of total weighting score
- Unique communication tools like automated reminders and notifications
- Advanced integration capabilities with existing church management systems
- Mobile access allowing management from any device
- Comprehensive reporting and analytics for in-depth event insights
- Scalability to support growing churches and large events
Usability - 10% of total weighting score
- Intuitive interface with drag-and-drop functionality
- Easy navigation with clear menus and options
- Minimal learning curve for new users
- Consistent design aesthetic for a seamless user experience
Onboarding - 10% of total weighting score
- Availability of training videos and templates
- Interactive product tours to guide new users
- Chatbots for instant assistance
- Webinars and live training sessions
Customer Support - 10% of total weighting score
- 24/7 support availability
- Multiple support channels, including live chat and phone support
- Detailed help center with guides and FAQs
- Quick response times for issue resolution
Value For Money - 10% of total weighting score
- Transparent pricing with no hidden fees
- Discounts for non-profits and long-term plans
- Comprehensive features for the price
- Flexible pricing plans to accommodate different church sizes
Customer Reviews - 10% of total weighting score
- Positive feedback on ease of use and functionality
- High ratings for customer support and responsiveness
- Users reporting improved event management efficiency
- Consistent praise for integration capabilities
Choosing the right church event management software means focusing on these criteria to ensure the tool meets your needs and helps you spend more time on ministry and less on operations.
Trends in Church Event Management Software for 2024
Our team is on the lookout for 2024's most significant trends. To that end, we're keeping our ears to the ground of our industry, monitoring product updates, press releases, and release logs from top software providers. Here's what we're seeing:
Boundaries Being Pushed:
- Integration Capabilities: Many tools are now offering enhanced integration with church management systems, email platforms, and social media. This allows for a more seamless experience and reduces manual data entry.
- Mobile Access and Usability: There is a noticeable push towards mobile-friendly interfaces and apps. Churches can now manage events on the go, making it easier for busy pastors and staff.
- Automated Communication Tools: Automated reminders, notifications, and follow-up messages are becoming standard. This reduces the time spent on manual communication and ensures no important details are missed.
- Advanced Analytics and Reporting: Tools are now providing more detailed analytics and reporting features. These help churches understand event performance and make data-driven decisions for future planning.
- Volunteer Management Enhancements: New features for volunteer scheduling, tracking, and communication are being added. This simplifies the process of coordinating volunteers and ensures better event support.
- Customization and Flexibility: There is a growing trend towards customizable templates and flexible event setups. Churches can now tailor the software to their specific needs, improving user experience.
- Scalability: Many tools are focusing on scalability to accommodate both small and large events. This ensures that the software can grow with the church's needs.
- Cost-Effectiveness: More pricing options and discounts for non-profits are being introduced. This makes advanced features accessible to churches with limited budgets.
In Decline...
- Simplistic Registration: Basic attendee registration features are becoming less prominent as more comprehensive event management solutions emerge. Users now expect tools that offer much more than just registration.
As we read it, church event management software is evolving to meet the complex needs of modern churches, providing more integrated, user-friendly, and data-driven solutions.
What is Church Event Management Software?
Church Event Management Software is a tool designed to simplify the planning and execution of church events. It helps you schedule events, manage registrations, coordinate volunteers, and communicate with attendees all in one place.
Think of it like a digital assistant that handles the details, so you don't have to juggle spreadsheets, emails, and phone calls. This software makes organizing church events easier and lets you focus more on your ministry.
Features of Church Event Management Software
When choosing church event management software, it's important to focus on features that help streamline operations so pastors can focus more on ministry. Here are the key features to look for:
- Automated Scheduling: Helps set up events without manual input, saving time.
- Communication Tools: Sends updates and reminders automatically, reducing the need for manual contact.
- Volunteer Management: Organizes volunteer information and schedules in one place, making it easier to manage.
- Online Registration: Allows attendees to sign up online, reducing paperwork.
- Centralized Database: Keeps all event details in one location for easy access.
- Task Management: Assigns and tracks tasks to ensure nothing is overlooked.
- Reporting and Analytics: Provides insights into event performance, helping to plan better future events.
- Mobile Access: Lets you manage events from anywhere, increasing flexibility.
- Budgeting Tools: Tracks expenses and income, ensuring financial transparency.
- Integration with Existing Systems: Works with your current tools to streamline operations.
These features make event planning and management smoother, freeing up time for ministry work. By choosing software with these capabilities, you can reduce the operational burden and focus on what's most important: your ministry.
Benefits of Church Event Management Software
Church event management software offers numerous advantages for users and organizations. Understanding these benefits can help potential buyers see the value in adopting such tools. Here are five primary benefits:
- Streamlined Event Planning: Simplifies the planning process, saving time and reducing stress for staff and volunteers.
- Improved Communication: Ensures clear and consistent communication with attendees and volunteers, leading to better event coordination.
- Efficient Volunteer Management: Helps organize and manage volunteer schedules, making it easier to coordinate and utilize help effectively.
- Centralized Data Management: Stores all event-related information in one place, making it easy to access and manage.
- Financial Transparency: Tracks all expenses and incomes related to events, providing clear financial oversight.
Using church event management software makes organizing events smoother and more efficient. These tools free up valuable time and resources, allowing church leaders to focus more on ministry and less on operational tasks. Adopting such software can significantly improve event coordination, communication, and overall management for churches and similar organizations.
Costs & Pricing for Church Event Management Software
When considering church event management software, understanding the available plans and pricing is crucial for making the right choice. Here are the common plan options, their average prices, and features to help you decide which one best fits your needs.
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features | Best For |
| Free | $0 | Basic event scheduling, attendee registration, limited communication tools | Small churches, church plants |
| Basic | $10/month | Event scheduling, attendee registration, email reminders, basic reporting | Small to medium churches |
| Standard | $30/month | All Basic features, volunteer management, mobile access, advanced reporting | Medium churches |
| Premium | $60/month | All Standard features, custom templates, automated workflows, integration with other tools | Large churches, multi-site churches |
| Enterprise | Custom Pricing | All Premium features, dedicated support, unlimited users, advanced customization | Very large churches, complex needs |
Each plan offers different features tailored to the size and needs of your church. Consider what features are essential for your operations and choose the plan that best supports those needs.
Church Event Management Software Frequently Asked Questions
Can church event management software handle multiple events at once?
Yes, most church event management software can handle multiple events simultaneously. These tools typically offer features like separate dashboards for each event, allowing you to manage and track each one without confusion.
How secure is the data stored in church event management software?
Data security is a top priority for most church event management software providers. They usually employ encryption, regular backups, and secure access controls to protect your data. It's always good to check the specific security measures of the software you choose.
Can we customize the event registration forms to fit our needs?
Many church event management software solutions offer customizable registration forms. These forms allow you to tailor fields to gather specific information from attendees, making it easier to manage event-specific requirements.
Does church event management software support online payments?
Yes, many church event management tools support online payments. They integrate with payment processors to allow attendees to pay for events directly through the software, making the process smooth and efficient for both organizers and attendees.
Is there training available for church staff to learn how to use the software?
Most providers offer various training resources, including video tutorials, webinars, and help articles. Some even provide live training sessions or dedicated support to help your team get up to speed quickly.
These questions cover important aspects of church event management software not previously discussed, helping pastors make more informed decisions.
Haven't Found the Right Info Yet?
My SEO team tells me that when someone scrolls THIS far down the page, they haven't found the information they're looking for. If that's you, here are some additional articles to widen and deepen your knowledge on this stuff:
- The Top 5 Benefits of a Great Church Management System
- How to Choose Church Management Software You (and Your Team) Will Love
- Complete Guide To Church Event Management & Planning
HOWEVER... maybe you've read this far down because I'm a brilliant writer (hey, it could happen!)
In that case, I have one recommendation:
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