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Why You Should Integrate Your Church Database And Website

June 3rd 2014

If you’re utilizing the right ChMS for your church, you already know what a huge time—and headache—saver you’ve got on your hands. A database that allows you to manage everything from contributions to people to events already cuts your work load in half. But did you know that integrating your church database with your website could save you even more time? And did I mention that it’s simple and will help get your church community involved?

Scratch a few items off your to-do list and let your church community do the following online:

1. Give

Online giving not only makes it quick and easy for your people to make their weekly contributions from home any day of the week, but it can also lead to an increase in giving for your church. Donors can save their payment information—whether it’s a credit card, debit card, or bank account—and set up recurring giving. Allowing them to set up an account online will likely result in more consistent giving for your church. They can even view their giving history online and print their own statements—saving your staff a significant amount of time come tax season!

2. Update personal information

No matter the size of your church, managing the details of each person in your database can be tedious and time-consuming. Remembering to change an address or update a phone number could easily slip your mind while working with so many people. But when your website is integrated with the church database, your people can log into a portal and make those changes on their own in minutes. As an administrator, set controls to monitor who sees these details, and your people can access this information to engage with others in the church family.

3. Find and connect with a small group

One of the best ways to ensure that people don’t just come to your church but they stay is to help them get connected. You can make it easy for your people to find the right small groupwhen it’s convenient for them. They can search for groups based on a variety of criteria and see where those groups meet on a map. Group leaders can share links to online study materials or meeting location details. They can also enter group attendance here rather than keeping a printed record to be entered into the database manually later.

4. Register and pay for events

When you announce an upcoming event on Sunday, you don’t want people to go home to check their calendars and then try to remember to sign up next Sunday for the retreat or conference. They’ll probably forget. You can make it easy for them to register online for an event as soon as they know their availability. They can even pay for those events that have a cost associated with them right away from any device.

Integrating your church database and website will allow your people to take care of these functions and more to lighten the load on the shoulders of your staff.

Sounds great, but how do I get my church to use it?

As with any new system, it may take some time for your church community to adjust. The younger generation will likely be quicker to adopt these changes, but below are some tips for getting your people on board:

  • PROMOTE

Advertise this new tool to your congregation in the bulletin or within a screen announcement and remind them to take advantage of it periodically.

  • SHARE

Share information and links to help your people get started through email and social media.

  • START FROM THE TOP

Are you the pastor? Well, practice what you preach. Log in and make a contribution or update your address. Show them that it’s really that easy.

  • TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOME GREAT RESOURCES

Already an Elexio client? We have plenty of resources to help you communicate these changes with your people.

How has your church benefited from integrating its ChMS and website?

 

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