If you have been around here awhile, then you know that several months ago, I did some research on the many different church management systems that are available in today’s world. I had a list of specific criteria that was necessary for my church and looked objectively at each CMS available. If you have looked into this at all you understand how overwhelming a task like this can be, there is a ton of CMS packages available.
As I progressed, certain ones rose to the top and I was able to narrow it down to 2 or 3 or 4. These were the ones that met all of our requirements. However, even in this elite group, there was one that exceeded our expectations in every category and that was FellowshipOne.
One of our main goals is secure child check-in and in this area, F1 rocks! There is no comparison.
If you are in the process of looking for a new solution, do a search on this blog for cms or church management systems and you can see how I came to the conclusion which I did.
So now, many months down the road, the wheels are in motion and we are ready to rock and roll. It’s about a 60 day process once you commit and that’s about where we are at. There’s a lot of work to do in preparation and a lot of decisions to be made.
I have watched in the wings as some of you have gone live with F1, taking mental notes and absorbing the iterations you have gone through. The meetings with Fellowship have begun for us, the information is beginning to flow and over the next several weeks, I will probably be asking some specific questions, mainly, ‘what has worked best for you?’ kind of questions, but at this point, I’m just wondering:
- Is there anything we should know early in this process?
- Is there anything we should pay particular attention to early in this process
- Is there anything you wish you would have done differently, now that you are looking back?
We will have 6 check-in stations throughout the church, actually 5 locations are defined and the 6th is still up in the air. If we don’t figure that out by the time we go live, I think we will see where the need is, just naturally. If nothing else, we will have a floater because at different times throughout the morning, I’m sure the traffic patterns vary.
I appreciate any insight you can offer.
Jim,
I appreciate your blog. It is one that is pushed to me every morning via RSS.
I think these are outstanding questions as you approach implementation. My answers for these are:
Process is key. As you move to a new system, what processes need to be re-evaluated. Also, data is key. Many churches using traditional church management software do not have the mechanisms in place to keep their data clean. Moving to a system where the congregation members have more connection to their data via check-in and WebLink provides for a mechanism to help the church have better data. However, initially, because such a mechanism is typically not historically available, the data conversion can be eye-opening.
Also, many times a church allows its ministries to do church as they seem fit with no uniformity or commonality. Some of our customers comment about how a common system provides some structure that was previously unattainable. Yet, the change management aspect of that needs to be considered.
The comment that we hear sometimes after an implementation is around training not just on the system, but also on procedures and processes.
I hope others chime in for added insights.
Grace to you,
jhook
Jim,
I am excited for you and your church as you begin this journey. FellowshipOneâ„¢ (F1) will revolutionize the way you do everything. Some things I would recommend….
1) Be sure the senior leadership is committed to reaping the benefits of the system. Because F1 will allow you to more comprehensively handle data for ministry than other CMS solutions, I think every church will need to re-evaluate its internal processes. That said; sowing what you reap is a big principle here. That means senior leadership needs to not only be on board, but they also need to be committed to the process of re-evaluating and implementing more efficient processes and facilitating buy-in by everyone on staff. This is not just an IT ministry project.
2) Include key support staff in the entire transition process. Start now, if you have not already. The more excited the support staff is and the more input they have, the more committed they will be throughout the entire transition. The entire staff will not only be learning a new, albeit very user-friendly, CMS solution, but they will also be learning new processes. Input leads to ownership, which leads to commitment throughout the transition.
3) Enlist your child care security team leaders ASAP. Preferably, you will include people who are already a part of the security check-in process that is currently in place. The benefits here will include: a) buy-in and excitement for these leaders who will be able to pass their excitement along to the members of their teams as well as the teachers; c) trained team leaders — these would be similar to the customer service managers at a store who oversee the check-out lines and provide assistance to the cashiers.
4) If you are doing any wireless check-in stations and you are going to purchase new Dell computers, you may want to look at the Optiplex GX280 instead of the Optiplex SX280. There is not enough room in the SX280 for an internal wireless NIC. If you have your wireless network locked down by MAC address, someone could run off with the external wireless NIC and plug it into their computer to gain access. You can read Jason Powell’s post on this at http://jpowell.blogs.com/jason_powell_church_it/2005/06/f1_checkin_wifi.html.
5) The Zebra printers are great. However, there is a top side and bottom side to the labels. If they are not printing, they may be in up-side-down.
6) Provide trash cans for the label peeling near each check-in station.
7) A smiling, friendly person running the check-in station can make the day of a parent who is frazzled after getting their kids ready and rushing to church. It is more than security. It is a ministry of encouragement.
Have a check-in station dedicated to first-time guests. First impressions are key here. This not only prevents your regular check-in stations from being backed up, but it also allows you to give extra TLC to the new guests.
9) Start small. We implemented the check-in system at our lighted possible meeting time on a Wednesday night. This allowed us to identify any potential traffic flow issues and other things we had not thought of that were unique to our building.
F1 is a great solution, and you will enjoy reaping the benefits it has to offer. The F1 solution and the hardware will not be an issue in the transition: the people involved will. Including them in the process now as much as possible will pay great dividends to their commitment throughout the transition. Once you get through the transition, they will thank you for this great new tool.
Jim,
You are diving into quite an adventure in which I firmly believe you and your ministry will benefit from a lot.
Here are 5 thoughts that we learned along the way:
1. “This is how we’ve always done it”
There are 3 areas involved in organizational change – People, Process or Systems, and Technologies. Paying attention to the People on your ministry teams and reengineering some of your procedures can help allow this (and other) software to exceed expectations.
2. “One size fits all”
The system out of the box is highly configurable to meet your ministry needs – with time & effort. Be cautious of expectations that F1 saves the day but it can help become an incredible catalyst for your ministry once implemented.
3. Q:How do you eat an elephant?
A: One bite at a time. The transition of your financials & member data is extremely critical and time sensitive in comparison to attendance or event registrations. Focus on your core data elements first (+ Financials) and you can minimize your data entry efforts.
Likewise, there will be some data that won’t make the cut. Have a gameplan to evaluate what matters most. For example, who attended the square dance seminar in 1973 might not be as important (data) as who received Baptism last year.
4. Boot Camp
Begin building your training game plan right now! Your paid staff & unpaid staff will enjoy the benefits of this system if they are equipped. We incorporated a Train-the-trainer model that started with a core group of people from each primary ministr department. They quickly became proficient in the fundamentals and were able to help support the training demands of an army of volunteers.
5. Think Globally, Act Locally
I am thankful that our leadership team believes that every individual ministry at Granger Community Church (http://www.gccwired.com) is less important than the ENTIRE ministry of Granger Community Church. You have to continually think cross-department, cross-ministry, cross-dynamic leader & look at your entire organization as a filter for your decision making process at the ministry or team level.
5 1/2 (Bonus) The meeting before the meeting.
Begin today meeting with smaller groups of people (including volunteers) to talk about what you have seen during product demos & paint vision of where your organization is going. This early buy-in will be very helpful during the change process. Nobody likes change, but people get excited if they see that situation normal is going to get better.
Jim – we are all working towards the same goal – to equip & enable ministry leaders to touch people for Jesus’ sake. If we can help along the way, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
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We are evaluating F1 against several other Chms – and I was wondering if you had come across Ezra – and if so, what your thoughts are?