Parish leaders like you are constantly seeking ways to help parishioners grow in faith while also maintaining the operations of the parish. You need the information to know if parishioners are active in parish life and community, and to accompany those who are disengaged or have fallen away.
You have likely sought out software packages to help some aspects of your ministry and may be considering more. When doing so, comparing how each system outputs data is crucial.
Navigating between multiple systems and reports to assemble a picture of your parishioners’ experiences is quite challenging.
If you are using more than two or three systems and updating data across systems, then you are using time that could be more focused on ministry. Do a quick assessment and ask yourself how many of the following tools are being used to accomplish ministry.
- Google Forms
- Google Calendar
- Jot Forms
- Sign Up Genius
- Airtable
- Spreadsheets
- Remind
- Custom Databases
- Constant Contact
- Flocknote
- Mailchimp
- Online Giving
- Event Payments
- Galaxy Digital
- CaringBridge
- Church Management System (ChMS)
Now, ask yourself: Are these tools designed to work together? If not, how much time do you spend updating information across multiple systems that don’t sync?
The more tools you use and the less they work together, the more you will benefit from an integrated platform that acts as a single source of information. It’s time to upgrade to a system that provides you with reporting and relationship management in one place, so you don’t have to extract or update data from multiple systems.
Daunting? It’s not that difficult! ACST Catholic offers a free guide and companion resources to walk you through selecting a new system.
Whether you’ve been through this process many times or this is your first time choosing a new platform, the guide will walk you through the steps of identifying your stakeholders, assessing their needs, defining requirements, establishing your budget, choosing a selection team, and evaluating various solutions. It also explores how to conduct demonstrations/trials, compare options, offer guidance on making your final decision, and describe how best to present your recommendation.
ACS Technologies offers various solutions, including MinistryPlatform and Realm, the modern successors to the Parish Data System line of products. For a complimentary consultation, contact us at solutions@acst.com or 1-844-467-3256.
Paul Goldsworthy
Paul Goldsworthy is a cradle Catholic who has been helping parishes and dioceses understand how technology relates to ministry for over 35 years. He is a Senior Sales Engineer for the ACS Technologies Catholic team. Paul and his wife of 30+ years, Cheryl, live in Arizona.
