For the last number of months I’ve been doing a [...]]]> I’m a huge fan of using technology to augment and expedite whatever we are doing – within and outside of ministry. Obviously, technology is not the answer^[1], but in seeking to be “wise as serpents, innocent as doves” technology can certainly be a tremendous asset.

For the last number of months I’ve been doing a lot of research on Church Management Systems (ChMS). These are the church equivalent of business ERP and/or CRM systems. I’m hoping that the hours I’ve spent pouring over a variety of websites and systems will be of use to others as they consider the options available.

This is a living document, it will grow with time.

• BVCMS (Open Source)
  • Since 2007.
  • Developed initially for the megachurch Bellevue Baptist and still “underwritten” by Bellevue Baptist.
  • Free to download and deploy, or you can have hosted by BVCMS.
  • Web-Based.
  • My Take: This is the ChMS I have chosen to go with. It is extremely robust, utilized by a number of churches from tiny ones to mega-churches, etc. It continues to improve at a rapid pace. Its UI isn’t entirely intuitive, but this is getting better by leaps and bounds.
• Roll Call (Developer: BytheBook)
  • Since 1991.
  • Workstation or Client/Server Deployment.
  • Free Trial
  • Pricing begins at $100 for 100 people capacity, unlimited is $1699.
  • Runs on Windows and Mac OS X.
  • My Take: Seems like a fairly good application and the pricing is reasonable. The help system seems to be for the 4D development environment they used to create the application and not for Roll Call itself. I may be looping back to these folks for a reconsideration if I don’t find anything else.
• ChurchPro (Developer: Database Designs)
  • Since 1994.
  • Workstation.
  • Free Trial.
  • Pricing starts at $299 for a one computer license.
  • Runs on Windows.
  • My Take: Hmmm…the fact that they use Paradox/BDE pushes me away. The UI definitely has that feel to it…still, the pricing is right and the UI appears fairly intuitive.
• Church Helpmate (Developer: Helpmate Technology Solutions)
  • Since 1997.
  • Workstation or Client/Server Deployment.
  • Free Trial.
  • Pricing starts at $297 for 100 people capacity, unlimited is $1197.
  • Runs on Windows.
  • My Take: UI is intuitive and pricing is reasonable. I’m not a fan of their synchronization scheme, which uses a disconnected model which can sometimes result in conflicting data that needs to be merged. That said, I may be looping back around to them.
• PowerChurch
  • Since 1984.
  • Workstation or Web-Based.
  • Free Trial.
  • Pricing starts at $295 (sale price), regularly $595 or the web-based version for $40/mo.
  • Runs on Windows, Mac, Linux.
  • My Take: The longevity of the company is impressive, unfortunately as is usual with older companies, the UI and overall feel carries some legacy characteristics. The web-based version is really just a remote-desktop-type experience to their servers – which is fine – just be aware you are getting the exact same program.
• ACS Technologies
  • Since 1978.
  • One of the largest vendors of ChMS systems.
  • Offers various applications targeted at small / medium / large churches, organizations, schools, daycares, and specifically Catholic institutions.
  • There small church ChMS is Membership Plus which starts at $280 for a single user license or $380 for a multi-user license for the Standard edition and for the Deluxe edition is around $500.
  • My Take: I haven’t tried the software, but the site looks nice, the features look robust. If I need to investigate further, this ChMS would be on my list.
• Other ChMS Options:
  • ChurchLinc (Sciberus)
  • Richmond Software
  • CrowdSpace – I like this site, but the last product from the developer kind of fizzled out after a few years (ChurchRadius) and this one doesn’t seem to be getting regular updates (per Twitter/blog).
  • Donarius – Very old-fashioned UI.
  • ChurchLedger
  • ServantPC
  • Nativity Church Software
  • IgniteCRM (faithHighway)
  • ChurchInfo (Open Source, PHP/MYSQL).
  • Sheepology (Open Source, Django).
  • Church Management Solutions.
  • ChurchTrac (built on MS Access).
  • RDS Advantage.
  • ChurchKeeper (site is unattractive).
  • People Driven Software.
  • Excellerate.
  • Church Office Online.
  • ChurchWatch.
  • MaxPro.
  • ChurchDB.
  • ChurchEquip.
  • ChurchWindows.
  • CCIS.
  • Church Growth Software (“purpose-driven”).
  • ConnectionPower.
  • CongregationBuilder.
  • Churchhand.
  • CDM+.
  • Logos CMS.
  • Church Community Builder (web-based).
  • ChurchMetrics (web-based).

1. ^[1] In my humble opinion, Christ is. ↩

I am continuously encouraging individuals and businesses to make backups of their systems. I am continually shocked by the number of individuals who take no steps to protect their data against a catastrophic failure and repeatedly see clients who ask, “So…can you get my documents off this computer?” Far [...]]]>

I am continuously encouraging individuals and businesses to make backups of their systems. I am continually shocked by the number of individuals who take no steps to protect their data against a catastrophic failure and repeatedly see clients who ask, “So…can you get my documents off this computer?” Far too often I have to tell them that I cannot, that it might be possible to if the drives are sent to a data specialist – but the cost will be steep and even then the results not assured.

There is no reason for anyone to be without a backup of their sensitive and important data. In the past this was a time consuming and costly endeavor – now it is simple and inexpensive. One service (amongst many) that can assist in this area is SugarSync. SugarSync provides you with 2 GB of free storage – no strings attached. This is enough to cover your critical documents – but won’t be enough for those thousands of pictures you’ve taken with your digital camera. But for $5 a month you can get yourself 30 GB (this is what I have) – which should be enough for most enthusiasts – though probably not enough for those with large music collections (they have even larger subscriptions for you – still at reasonable prices).

Let me highlight just a few of the reasons I love SugarSync:

• Versioning: SugarSync backs up your files – but what happens if you have a Word document and you make an edit to it and then save it? Does your old file get overwritten on SugarSync? No! SugarSync keeps the old version and the new version – and allows you to roll back to older versions. This is a huge feature – extremely useful.
• Syncing: SugarSync allows you to install the client on multiple computers/devices that then synchronize files between the systems – in my case this includes my home laptop, home desktop, and work desktop. Now you can access your files from anywhere – make edits from anywhere – and know you are always using the latest copy of your file.
• Simple Web-Based Editing: You can access your files via a web browser on any computer and SugarSync automatically handles syncing the changes back to SugarSync – no need to download the file, open the file, save the file, upload the file – now SugarSync compresses all of these steps into a smooth operation.
• Sharing: You can share your files with others. This is a great feature – and can be done on a strictly controlled basis so only those you want to can access your files.
• Platforms: SugarSync supports not only Windows but Mac and Linux. Further SugarSync provides extensive mobile device support including the iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry!

That said – I do have a complaint (and will add more as they arise):

• I use SugarSync for my personal files but also for my church. Unfortunately, I cannot tell my SugarSync to sync files from my church account. I have to use the web-based interface. This is a significant nuisance and there is no reason I shouldn’t be able to download the church files as long as I authenticate. This has been a long-standing issue and SugarSync has done little to resolve it.

to post about one of the hosts I utilize. This host is great for beginners and advanced users alike. That said, [...]]]> Its not uncommon for me to get asked, “What web host would you recommend for me to use when building a new website?” I figured now would be as good a time as any

Image via CrunchBase

to post about one of the hosts I utilize. This host is great for beginners and advanced users alike. That said, I’ll also note right at the beginning that the instigator of this post was actually a server outage on Bluehost‘s part. Yesterday I was writing a review of the movie Amazing Grace (don’t worry, I’ll rewrite it soon) when the Bluehost server went down. But no host is perfect and this is one of only a few times I have experienced any performance problems from Bluehost‘s service.

First, lets talk about Bluehost from a beginner’s perspective. If you are looking to create a website or start a blog there are a few easy ways to get started. One is to hire someone to assist you in doing so (you can always hire me). Another is to utilize any of a number of free services that allow you to create sites/blogs easily – for example in the blogging arena one can get free accounts from blogger and wordpress. The third option, and the one I personally prefer, is utilizing a shared host. This scenario gives you the most flexibility. When determining what sort of host you should utilize ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I enjoy technology? (If no, hire someone).
2. Do I want to learn more about web-based technologies? (If yes, utilize a shared host).
3. Do I have time to expend on learning new technologies? (If no, hire someone or utilize a free account).
4. Do I want a professional presence? (If yes, either hire someone or use a shared host and expect to spend a significant amount of time learning and experimenting).

Should you decide to go with a shared host you face one additional large question: Do I want a Windows or a Linux environment? If you are new to technology generally, I recommend Linux. In fact, unless you already utilize web-based technologies that are Windows specific I recommend Linux. Why? Because its built around a nice word – free. There is one exception. If you want to do custom product development rather than just building a straight-up site, you may want to consider using Windows for your development environment. Microsoft’s Visual Studio is pretty kick-butt. I really enjoy ASP.NET and think it is great for developing applications in.

Okay…So we’ve decided to go with a Linux host. In that case, open an account with Bluehost. Here’s the main factors I consider killer about Bluehost:

• $6.95/mo. What? Yes. $6.95/mo. We eat that at McDonald’s in one lunch! That includes a free domain name (e.g. yourname.com), which is pretty huge since these usually cost around $10 in and of themselves.
• Unlimited Hosting/File Transfer. You can store as much data as you want on their servers (okay, there are some exceptions, but generally…you’ll never run out of space) and you can also transfer as much information to and from the server as you want (again, some exceptions…but mainly apply to people who are trying to abuse the service).
• Free MySQL Databases. MySQL Databases (or PostgreSQL) are the backbone of most modern web applications. They store data in a way that makes it extremely easy and quick to retrieve.
• SimpleScripts. Allows you to within two minutes deploy popular web applications including WordPress (blogging), Joomla (cms), Drupal (cms), phpBB (forums), Zenphoto (photo gallery), Roundcube (webmail), and WikkaWiki (wiki) amongst many others. Seriously – two minutes.
• Bluehost includes lots of other standard features like FTP, email, free advertising credits (Google, Yahoo, Miva), and automatic backups.

So what are you waiting for? There are no contracts. Even if you just want to familiarize yourself with some web-based technologies – open an account, use it for a few months, and then cancel. Its a great learning tool. No, it won’t run the next Google, but once you grow big enough and learn enough you can move to a larger host (we’ll talk about them in another post) who can handle your highest demands.