leadership

Every client I serve employs some form of internal church management system - Church Management Software, or ChMS. Some are dedicated to tracking financial information while others do that and much more. From simple systems (Excel spreadsheets - yikes! and/or Quickbooks) to complex models, there are many choices in the landscape from which to choose. 

One of the best I have seen is Church Community Builder (CCB), a web-based solution that offers a vital component that others don’t - the ability for not only staff, but ministry team leaders and volunteers to access the system at any time from any place. To better understand the system and it’s advantages, I recently sat down with my friend Steve Caton, Vice President of Sales and Marketing to discuss what to look for in a ChMS solution.

I see a lot of things happening in the church database arena. What are the advantages of the online system CCB provides?

Now that you have a solid list of reasons to produce an annual report, what does an effective report look like? 

Here are links to three reports that are easily accessible through the church’s respective websites. You will note in all three that the reports are colorful and engaging. They contain images reflecting changed lives, and graphs that reflect a growth in ministry impact. 

Example 1 - Community Christian Church

Example 2 - Elevation Church

Example 3 - New Spring Church

Hopefully 2012 is off to an outstanding start for you and your ministry. And as exciting as it is to look ahead to 2012, it is vital that you review with your people the ministry successes of 2011. 

January and February are the months companies are required to release to their investors annual reports on the previous year. You will note that many non-profits and churches have learned the value and are doing the same. But rather than the staid format of spreadsheets and statistics, it is imperative to tell the success story of your ministry through compelling images, stories and graphics.

Why should you invest the time and energy to compile such a report? Here are 7 reasons to do so:

The importance of people understanding your ministry vision and mission can never be understated. Prior to asking for any kind of support (prayer support, volunteer support, financial support) you must help people grasp the enormity of your vision, and how the funding of that vision will make a difference in the lives of those you are trying to reach.

I was with a faith-based non-profit client this past weekend, leading a group of their high capacity givers (and potential givers) through a retreat experience designed to build ownership around the ministry’s mission. Many of those in attendance were already supporters of the ministry, but greater giving potential was still untapped. A few in attendance were new to the non-profit and this was to be their first exposure to the mission.

Recently I had the opportunity to connect with members of the Dave Ramsey Organization, The Lampo Group. I believe strongly in what this team is about as I personally lead Financial Peace classes in my church. Not only is the training excellent for those who attend, it has been excellent for me personally as a facilitator. 

Andrea and I just celebrated becoming debt free this month! FPU has been instrumental in motivating us to that goal. 

On a subsequent visit to the Lampo Group offices, Jim Sheppard, CEO of Generis and I sat down with members of their team to discuss generosity. Here is a link to an article on the Dave Ramsey website that recaps that conversation.