Specialized computer systems used by church administrators to effectively manage a church’s physical resources and facilities are referred to as church facility management software. They can supervise many facets of facility management using this all-inclusive platform, such as planning events, assigning resources, handling maintenance, and promoting staff and volunteer communication.
This software should have the following features:
- Calendar and scheduling tools for events and activities
- Facility usage tracking for resource allocation and availability
- Maintenance management functionalities for scheduling and tracking maintenance tasks and repairs
- Communication tools for staff and volunteer coordination
- Reporting tools for usage pattern analysis
Key Features of Church Facility Management Software
There are many different use cases covered by the church management software packages on our list. Some have basic features that are appropriate for tiny churches. Others offer sophisticated features made for big businesses.
Whatever type of church facilities software you use, keep an eye out for these features:
- Booking: Select a mechanism that lets members of your congregation reserve rooms, spaces, or equipment if you decide to make your facilities available to them.
- Calendars: All reservations made using the program are automatically reflected in tools that have calendars, making it easy for others to see what is scheduled when.
- Payments: For facility use, upgrades, or repairs, you might need to receive, send, or keep track of payments. An electronic payment system can assist in monitoring this.
- Maintenance: You can arrange facility maintenance with a few of the tools on this list.
- Lights and doors: Take into account a technology that enables you to remotely control entry to your building and illumination if you oversee several locations.
Why Do I Need a Tool for Maintaining Church Facilities?
This news may surprise you, or it doesn’t. Even though I’m a great fan of technology, it shouldn’t be applied carelessly to every issue. You might consider asking yourself the following questions before researching church facility management software:
- Do I have a maintenance technician or groundskeeper?
- Is there more than one service per week at my Church?
- Is the average number of members present more significant than 25?
If any of these questions have a yes response, check into a tool to assist you in keeping up with maintenance and repairs.
Evaluation Standards
Looking at these programs, yourself is the best approach to find out if any of them are suitable for you. Having said that, as I move through this list, you might notice a few trends: frequently, the most crucial characteristics a team might take into account when searching for the ideal tool are:
- A group of essential characteristics
- Cost and availability (via a free sample, demo, or other means)
- How the application feels or appears
Features can range from sophisticated asset monitoring, connection and dependency management, and vendor and payment administration to simple spreadsheet-type functions. In all honesty, you start to move out of the church facility management software area and into the field of computerized maintenance management software, or CMMS, as you approach the more sophisticated end of the feature spectrum.
Accessibility and price are frequently correlated with two factors:
Numerous resources on this list can be found in more than one category, so it’s easy to figure out which platform is best for your particular congregation. The term user experience can also refer to how an application feels or looks. This is crucial because how can you expect your team to accept something if you don’t like the way it feels or looks? Any of these tools will ultimately succeed or fail, depending on how successfully you can integrate them into your daily operations. Now, let’s examine the top facilities management applications for places of worship.
Advantages
- Although alternative software has all the features of this software, it does not respond as well as Church Windows does.
- Every issue I’ve ever had has been resolved patiently and clearly in less than twenty minutes.
- The 20-minute online sessions are my favourite. They are instrumental, concise, and engaging.
Disadvantages
- The fact that the software does not automatically enter the information when the data is placed on my desk is what I like least about it.
Emergency Preparedness
Emergency training is necessary for everyone who assists with building upkeep, be they volunteers, staff members, or members of the Church. By teaching kids what to do in the event of a fire or earthquake, the likelihood of fatal events is reduced. To guarantee a safe event free from mishaps, safety training is particularly vital for handling dangerous chemicals for cleaning, heavy machinery, or power equipment.
10 Software Applications for Church Facilities Management
1. Efacility
Enterprise CMMS software is called eFacility. It offers strong qualities that surpass those found in solutions tailored to a particular church. These offer you fine-grained control over every one of your assets.
By tracking asset utilization, the asset and inventory management toolkit helps you prevent unplanned and expensive breakdowns. Make use of the application to plan out routine maintenance activities, schedule inspections for every asset in your Church, and establish preventative maintenance programs. Robust work order management features in the program come in handy when repairs are needed. Robust space management features are also included. You can use this to schedule, oversee, and track space in your Church. You are always aware of what is happening in your buildings since you can watch an overview in real-time. You can even hire particular seats within a room using the floorplan feature. Your desired access to particular software modules will determine the cost of your facility. Although the team doesn’t disclose its prices, you can get in touch with them via the website to request an estimate.
2. Church Member link
Church Member Link is an online church bulletin board that includes outreach monitoring, calendars, and attendance. It contains a facility management tool as well. This enables you to schedule and create profiles for all of your resources, including your facilities. The tool provides an overview of who is expected to use resources and when.
One element that appeals to me is the ability to establish requirements for every resource. This implies that when people hire spaces or equipment, they are well aware of the expectations placed on them. The basic pricing plan for Church Member Link is $50 per month or $500 per year if purchased annually. There aren’t any perks or hidden fees. For a trial period of 14 days, you can register to test the software.
3. Church Office Online
Church Office Online offers a comprehensive church management solution, including the ability to create personalized registration forms for event planning, equipment leases, and facility upkeep. You can arrange the spaces and furnishings of your Church using the calendar. Add an item for each facility and include the necessary details so that users are aware of how to use the resource correctly.
Every reservation appears on the calendar, providing a comprehensive view of who is using what and when. Additionally, the calendar is integrated with your website, allowing reservations and events to be added to it instantly from there. You can avoid manually entering details by doing this. All of these capabilities are available through the desktop or mobile app whether you’re on the go.
The cost of Church Office Online varies based on the size of your congregation; it begins at $35.13 per month for one person and increases by an extra $0.12 per person after that. The program provides a lengthy two-month free trial.
4. Pushpay’s ChurchStaq
With ChurchStaq by Pushpay, you can build engagement-boosting, optimized journeys for your congregation. Every member of your Church makes a profile with important contact information, information about events, and contributions. Urging your congregation to participate in activities is a component of the engagement approach.
Group leaders can easily rent a location for meetings with the help of the program. After that, they are able to interact with other group members and add new ones. All members of the congregation can download the tool’s user-friendly app to stay in touch. It’s a simple method to establish personal connections and guarantee that everyone remains attentive.
There are three plans available on ChurchStaq that grant access to various features. The company does not advertise pricing, but you can reach the team online.
5. Hello Club
A tool called Hello Club was created for club management. Its several features assist pastors in the stewardship of their facilities. It assists you in managing reservations and events, just like the other tools on this list. When your Church needs facilities, renting them is simple. The bookings all sync with your calendar, providing you with a detailed insight into how the facilities are being used.
The gadget for managing doors and lights drew my attention. This enables you to program automated door and light rules for various facilities and reservations. The tool offers many integrations as well. For instance, you can use Xerox to handle your Church’s finances and Stripe to accept credit card payments.
The cost is determined by the total number of members in your Church. For up to 300 members, the most popular plan is $50 per month. On the website, you can register for a free trial.
6. Church Social
Church Social is management software meant to foster community within your Church. It can assist with scheduling routine building maintenance, reserving venues for events, and sending out notices of events happening within the building. In order to make sure that local events are visible, members can add to the calendar.
The option to create recurring events is a beautiful feature. This makes sure that regular meeting groups don’t have to make reservations for space in advance of each meeting. The calendar may be seen within the app, and connecting to the tool’s API or utilizing the Church Social WordPress plugin makes it simple to show on your church website.
The monthly fee for up to 200 members is $50. Get a complimentary 30-day trial of the software to check it out.
7. Blackbaud System
Blackbaud Church Management is the church solution offered by Blackbaud, a team management software provider that focuses on grant administration tools and fundraising for charitable purposes. You receive all of the company’s software and team management know-how in addition to capabilities explicitly designed for churches, such as congregation communication and fundraising.
Adding all of your spaces to the software is simple. Each listing can have further details added to it, and you can then determine an appropriate price. You can quickly see when your Church’s facilities are in use because all reservations and activities are synchronized with the calendar. Although Blackbaud doesn’t disclose prices, you can use the website to seek further details.
8. One Church
With its robust facilities management capabilities, One Church is an all-inclusive church platform that makes space management simple for your congregation. This is centred around the robust booking platform. Make reservations for your rooms and resources using the tool. The individuals in charge can promptly check if the facilities they require are available before submitting a request. Add facility managers who can approve bookings to each listing to streamline the booking process.
The cloud-based app One Church is accessible across all of your devices. Using your smartphone, you may oversee the facilities of your Church whether you’re at home, in the place of worship, or on the go. It also boasts an intuitive user interface that you won’t have any trouble using. The cost is determined by how many profiles you plan to track. $24 per month for 250 profiles is the most affordable package. Before committing, you can test the software for free for 14 days.
9. Mazevo
Software called Mazevo was created especially for churches that need an event management system to assist in allocating facility resources. There are robust booking features in the software. Displaying rooms as available exclusively on the dates selected by the scheduler automatically prevents schedule conflicts.
You can include comprehensive details about each room, such as its nature and the number of people it can accommodate when listing space. The tool’s calendar is synchronized with all events. This allows you to get a summary of occurrences in a variety of ways on a daily and monthly basis. The tool is easy to use on desktop and mobile devices, and it has an app for convenient phone access. The company doesn’t disclose pricing, but you can use the website to request a demo.
10. PerfectMind
PerfectMind manages memberships for companies in local communities. Although not explicitly made for churches, a lot of its features work well in this context. The program’s facility management software is capable of managing various booking formats, including recurring contracts. You can offer add-ons for sale throughout the reservation process, which is a great way to make more money and give your guests more options.
The program for automated lighting is another aspect I enjoy. This allows you to customize the hours you want lights on and modify your charges accordingly. In order to streamline your business and save time, other features include contracts, waivers, maintenance management, and a ton of automation. PerfectMind keeps the cost of its community tool a secret. For a product demo and quote, get in touch with the team. User counts are unlimited for all plans.
Conclusion: Streamline Your Church Operations with Facility Management Software
Managing your church facility can be complex, especially with diverse needs and limited resources. Church facility management software simplifies operations, empowering you to:
- Focus on ministry, not maintenance: Automate tasks, track resources, and optimize workflow for greater efficiency.
- Enhance communication and collaboration: Establish a central hub for facility information, fostering collaboration between staff and volunteers.
- Maximize resources and save costs: Gain insights into expenses, identify cost-saving opportunities, and make informed decisions.
- Improve safety and security: Manage access control, track incidents, and proactively mitigate risks.
FAQs
1. What is church facility management software?
It’s software designed to help churches manage their physical facilities and resources.
2. What size churches benefit most?
All sizes, but especially larger churches with multiple buildings and staff.
3. What are the key features?
Maintenance, reservations, inventory, expenses, access control, safety/security.
Benefits:
- Improved efficiency: Automates tasks, saves time, reduces errors.
- Better communication: Centralized information, facilitates communication.
- Reduced costs: Tracks expenses, identifies savings opportunities.
- Increased safety & security: Manages access control, reports incidents.
4. What features are most important?
Consider your specific needs and priorities.
5. What are the different options?
Research popular platforms like eSPACE, FMX, Hippo CMMS, Church Community Builder, and Planning Center.