You didn’t go into ministry to manage spreadsheets. But somewhere along the way, a tangle of disconnected tools—separate systems for giving, check-in, volunteer scheduling, email, and texting—started eating your staff’s time and energy. One complete church management software is the answer.
Whether you’re looking to combine all your different systems into one package, jumping into church management software for the first time, or considering a switch to save money, this guide can help you make a confident decision. We will walk you through the must-have features, share what questions to ask vendors, and give you a look at how Churchteams compares to other systems.
What is Church Management Software?
Church Management Software (ChMS) is a centralized platform designed to manage the people, processes, administrative and relational data of a church. While the term “management” may sound a bit corporate, in a ministry context, it focuses on stewardship. ChMS is the tool that ensures a first-time guest receives a follow-up text, a donor gets an accurate contribution statement, a volunteer is aware of their scheduled service time, and the pastor knows who is in the hospital.
Why does your church need church management software?
Many churches assume they don’t need a software system. They don’t consider the time cost of a spreadsheet and handful of task-specific apps. That might work for a season, but as a church grows, the cracks start showing, and the data becomes unreliable.
An effective Church Management Software (ChMS) acts as a single, secure source of information that scales easily with your church as it grows. This means no more conflicting phone numbers and email addresses across multiple lists. You can have peace of mind knowing that sensitive data is not scattered across various spreadsheets but is instead protected with a focus on privacy and child safety, and that your communications are delivered to the right person at the right time.
“We couldn’t be happier with Churchteams for Church Management Software! The functionality is superb and has truly streamlined our interaction with our church members. Beyond a great product, the Churchteams team is exceptional. They consistently go above and beyond to ensure we have everything we need, providing outstanding support.”
– Juanice Wengerd, Rivertown Community Church
What features should I look for in a church management software?
Not all ChMS systems are equal. When evaluating what you are using now or shopping for a new platform, look for these pillars of functionality.
1. Relational and Discipleship Tracking
A great ChMS doesn’t just store names, it tracks journeys. Churchteams allows you to customize the unique fields that make up your people records in the database. This means you can track so much more than name and phone number. Track relationships, discipleship progress, spiritual gifts, and more to give you a more complete picture of your congregation.
Take this information a step further with automated reports and workflows. Workflow automations trigger record updates based on classes people attend and other discipleship markers. Scheduled reports alert your church leadership of discipleship progress, attendance, giving, and volunteer habits.
2. Integrated Communication Tools
Lists, templates, scheduled delivery, and email and text tracking are all key parts of a robust Church Management Software. These should never be a separate tool from the database where your member information lives. Siloing email addresses and text numbers creates room for communication errors and mismatched data. Instead, keep your communications in your ChMS so that automated texts and emails can be triggered at the right time and to the right people.
Churchteams pioneered “Text-to-Church,” allowing not only mass and 2-way texting but also Keyword texts. Custom keywords can be set up for people to give, register for events, or check in their kids, all via a simple text message.
3. Financial Stewardship and Online Giving
Your Church Management Software should make generosity seamless and easy. Check for low transaction fees and options for recurring giving and donor-covered fees. Financial reporting is equally as important as ease of use. Ensure that your ChMS offers reports to facilitate reconciliations, alert you to changes in recurring donations, and enable year-over-year comparisons.
4. Check-In, Security, and Attendance Tracking
Security is a non-negotiable for families. You need a system that prints or texts security-coded labels, tracks allergies, and alerts parents instantly when needed. With Churchteams Text-to-Church, the whole family can check into their individual classes and/or worship services with a single text message. For churches that don’t want or need a check-in system, Churchteams also sends attendance reminders to your leaders so you can continue tracking attendance.
What is the point of tracking attendance if you aren’t able to see and use the resulting metrics? A great ChMS, like Churchteams, reports attendance trends and alerts leaders when members are missing for several weeks.
5. Small Group, Event, and Volunteer Management
Ministry happens in circles, not just rows. Your ChMS should help group, event, and volunteer leaders take attendance, schedule, share prayer requests, and manage their own groups or teams without needing “Admin” access to the whole system.
6. Access on the Go
We know that ministry doesn’t just happen inside the church walls, so Churchteams gives you access anywhere. Our mobile app is the answer to ministry-on-the-go. But our app isn’t just for leadership. It’s for your members, too. The app gives your church community access to give, check in, see, and sign up for upcoming events and volunteer opportunities, view sermon resources, and update their information.
Churchteams includes all of the above features in one platform with no need for third-party integrations. Every tool is housed in one system, so data captured once flows everywhere automatically.
How do you choose the right church management software?
Step 1: Identify your pain points
Before looking at demos, ask your staff where they need help or what tasks take up most of their time each week. If it’s data entry, you might need better automations. If it is tracking down volunteers, a better scheduling tool with automated reminders is a good solution.
Step 2: Evaluate your needs vs. what is offered
ChMS Evaluation Checklist
Ease of use: Can your volunteers figure it out with little to no training? Ask to see the volunteer-facing experience during your demo.
All-in-one vs. integration-dependent: Does it handle giving, check-in, and communication natively, or does it require paid add-ons?
Data import: Will they import your existing member data and help you clean it up, or are you starting from scratch?
Support quality: Is support available by phone and email? What are typical response times? Ask for a reference from a church your size.
Contract terms: Month-to-month or annual commitment? What happens to your data if you cancel?
Scalability: Will the pricing and features still make sense when your church is 3× its current size?
Ongoing Training resources: Are there video tutorials, webinars, and live onboarding support included?
Step 3: Evaluate the Implementation and Support
Many “big” software companies rely on a limited do-it-yourself import portal and automated bots. In ministry, you often need a human. Ensure your provider offers real-time support from people who actually understand how a church functions. At Churchteams, our team is made up of people with real-world ministry experience. We listen to your needs, move your data into a new system, and continue to support you in the years to come as ministry tools evolve.
Step 4: Get a Live Demo (Not a Typical Sales Call)
Any ChMS worth considering should offer a live demo where you can ask your specific questions in real time. Because we know ministry time is precious, Churchteams offers quick demos on specific feature tools. We’ll show you how a feature (or 2) of your choice works and answer your questions. If you want to check out all the features and dig deeper into the capabilities, we host a regular live tour led by co-founder Boyd Pelley, a church leader himself. You can see exactly how the platform works and ask questions from someone who understands ministry, not just software sales.
Why Churches Choose Churchteams?
- Support: Our Support Team is made up of people with ministry experience. We’ve walked in your shoes and understand that you want the efficiency of technology, with the benefits of being relational. We endeavor to answer your calls personally and respond to your emails the same day, typically within an hour or two.
- Everything in One Place: We specialize in being the “All-in-One” solution that replaces 3 or 4 different subscriptions (like Mailchimp, Calendly, and separate Giving apps).
- Innovation: We are constantly listening to and acting on feedback on our software. We want you to have the most efficient and insightful tools in the industry.
“Churchteams does it all. If you are looking for a one-stop shop for everything related to Church Management, you will find it with Churchteams. Their system is great for managing the personal profiles of your people, church communication (email and text), managing groups, children’s ministry check-in, event registrations, volunteer schedules, workflows and automations, and giving. And, they are constantly adding new features and upgrades.” – Reid Hopkins, XPMinistry.com
