We have contracted a Project Manager, Amy Frisby with Xpanxion, to help move us forward with our search for a new church management system. Amy has already been pivotal in helping us define exactly what we’re looking for and keeping us on track with this project.
As opposed to just replacing our current database system, we decided to look at products that would give us the flexibility to replace several systems at once. We knew we wanted a web based system this time around. This will give out staff increased ability to do their job from ________________. (Fill in the blank: home, Starbucks, their car etc…) This will be a huge “win” for our staff as they travel between campuses and meet with leaders in areas convenient to those leaders.
Another key factor was finding a product with that would allow our Groups Department to grow more rapidly through advanced on line group locators. This enables our members to locate a group in their area or neighborhood that meets on a specific night of the week.
We were also looking for a product that would give us a streamlined approach to event registration, event tracking and payment. We are very excited at how we will be able to handle student camps and special events in the near future!
As you can see we are very excited about our upcoming changes and hope to announce our final decision within the next few weeks. Stay tuned!
June 29th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Hey Gidget,
How do you mesh the ability to find groups online with your closed group model? I would think that function wouldn’t be useful unless it was an open group model, where people could join any group they want.
July 1st, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Hi Nick,
Great question! As you know we do have a “closed” group model. However, we regularly hold events called “Group Links” where attenders gather at the church in order to form a group with people in their area and age range. As you can imagine holding these events regularly at 3 campuses can become quite time consuming. With an on line group locator we would be able to facilitate the same event, but just do it on line. We would post open groups on line for a period of time and allow people to register. As the group fills to capacity the group will automatically close.
We also have college and singles groups that are always open. These groups would remain on the group locator without closing.
September 4th, 2009 at 10:46 am
We are currently evaluating CMS to replace on older system with small groups being a big focus. I’d be interested to know how your search is progressing.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Hi Tim,
We have chosen to pursue ARENA. We are in the process of building out structure for groups and classes and are looking forward to having the Arena team here to finalize that structure with us.
gidge