The best ChMS is…

(If only it were that easy.) 

Picture it: for five easy payments of $19.95, I can provide you with the best Church Management Software (ChMS) on the planet. It does everything your ministry needs, and it does it how your ministry needs it done. The look and feel are perfect. All the reporting you need is already built in. The product is fully mature with a roadmap of features that are delivered early — and bug-free.

But wait! 

If you act now, we will take off one entire payment! So, for only four easy payments of $19.95, this miracle software platform can be yours.

If you’re ready for the toll-free number or the website where you can enter your credit card number, then I’d encourage you to keep reading.

A little perspective, please

It seems the discussion of which ChMS is “the best” is a lot more emotionally charged than it should be. Although we’re talking about software that impacts our ability to accomplish our eternal mission, we’re still just talking about … software.

The Bible is full of references where ministry happened on a supernatural level, all without any software (or any technology at all, for that matter). While it’s a valuable tool, the Holy Spirit doesn’t need it. If your discussions about church management software tend to get emotionally charged or contentious, it might be a good idea to stop, take a step back, and…

Evaluate theology before evaluating technology

I believe that if you can remove all the bias and emotion from the discussion and look at objective metrics, there’s a clear winner. But, to determine a winner, you need objective metrics, which too often are left out of the discussion.

Why church leaders take on any software migration without clear, objective metrics baffles me. The financial expense, let alone the cost in time and ministry effectiveness, should cause any ministry leader to want objective metrics in order to validate the expense and show the value.

Objective metrics are data points that can be empirically proven; they’re not subjective. Here are some subjective phrases I hear all the time when folks want to justify switching software:

• “It’s easier.”
• “It’s more user-friendly.”
• “It’s better.”
• “It has a more modern look and feel.”
• “I used it at my last ministry, and everything was great.”

None of these reasons can be proven, as they’re all subjective to the individual. What’s “easiest” for me might not be easiest for you. What “feels modern” to me might not feel modern to you.

I also struggle when new employees come into a ministry and, without taking much time to learn, quickly propose changes. Meanwhile, the ministry they just joined somehow existed long enough to hire them. But I digress.

Many ministries don’t like setting objective metrics because that means they can fail. The target is fixed, and there can be fear if the target is missed, whereas a subjective metric target can be moved so success is guaranteed.

Here are some examples of objective metrics:

• Attendance increases by a specific percentage.
• Giving increases by a specific dollar amount.
• A process that once took 20 minutes now takes five minutes.
• Data is more easily shared among leaders, so a single follow-up with a first-time guest that used to take 30 minutes is now a 10-minute process wherein the guest is contacted four times by ministries relevant to his or her needs.
• Servant retention grows by a specific percentage.

If those pushing for new software cannot provide objective metrics, perhaps you don’t need new software? Or maybe those pushing don’t want you to see their current processes and inefficiencies.

Is the best solution right under your nose?

I’m also amazed at how many churches don’t know what their current solution can offer. Often, those pushing for new software haven’t been trained on existing software and tools. In the rush for something new, what they need might already exist. It seems wise to invest in what you already have, especially if — due to staff turnover — no one on the church staff knows much about the current solution.

Leaders should be leading; if the church starts bouncing between software providers, that accountability ultimately rests with leadership. Leaders should be asking objective questions and ensuring that the staff knows about existing tools. Many churches get pushed towards changing software every couple of years due to a leadership failure to properly train and onboard new staff.

I’m not saying a church should never switch software, whether it’s financial, non-financial or anything else; I’m saying these decisions should be made strategically. You can’t be strategic if you don’t know what you already have, and if you don’t use objective metrics.

As I help churches with software studies, I’m amazed at the priority feature lists I get for what a church wants their new software to do because I know their existing software can do all that already. Then, the challenge goes back to establishing objective metrics. I’m not sure how church leaders can decide that new is better when they don’t know that their existing package already has the features they want.

There’s also the matter of overlapping features. Because leadership allows it to happen, many churches have five programs that all do the same thing. Aside from the cost, there are obvious operational inefficiencies in having multiple programs doing the same thing on different datasets. It’s important to step back, review all software in use, all features in demand, and make objective determinations.

It’s also important to be realistic 

There is no perfect solution that does everything, and you might end up with several pieces of software. Worship planning is a good example.

We also recommend evaluating your ministry’s needs with the operating model of any software you are assessing, whether it’s existing or new:

• Does the provider offer support on the weekends?
• Does that support cost extra?
• Do they have (and do you need) phone support?
• What is the turnaround time for customization?
• Do they have a roadmap, and is it attainable?
• Are they constantly promising that a feature you need is ‘coming soon’?

Bear in mind the 80/20 rule.: no matter what you pick, you will only get 80 percent of what you want. Do you know what is required in the 80 percent for a solution to be a success? Likewise, what is in the 20 percent that you can do without, knowing you have an integrated platform and not a lot of data silos? Perhaps you can find another solution to fit the 20 percent, provided you objectively know what the 20 percent contains.

Don’t be a “software schizophrenic”

Now that your four easy payments of $19.95 have cleared, here is the answer for which you’ve been patiently waiting; the best ChMS is probably the one you already own.

As I do studies with churches, more than 65 percent of the time the existing software is the one that objectively wins out. Financially, it’s far cheaper to get training on what you already have than to migrate to something new.

If, however, you’re still considering new software — whether for your productivity suite, church management, finances, or anything else — here are some steps to help you objectively evaluate if you really need to start the process of migrating to something else:

• What are the objective “pain points” you contend with today, that you’re looking to solve with new software?
• What are the specific objectives you seek to accomplish with the software?
• What are all the different software applications and platforms you use now to accomplish those objectives?
• How does your current solution address your specific needs?
• How does a potential new solution address your specific needs?

All that said, guidance for this process is available from my firm and others; sometimes you need outside expertise to help lead your team to a conclusion.

Whichever way you proceed, don’t be software schizophrenic. Spend your ministry time and funds building the Kingdom, not moving around buttons on a screen.

Originally published at https://churchexecutive.com/archives/technologies-for-smart-church-leadership