10 Church Management Tasks Simplified with Software

Seventy-eight percent of churches use digital tools to automate many of the tasks associated with church management, such as congregation engagement, budgeting, and planning worship meetings. Here are 10 church management tips — and how you can use software to automate everyday tasks.

#1. Fundraising as a Church Management Task

Religious organizations receive 31 percent of all charitable donations in the United States. However, many local places of worship find it difficult to track donations and meet fundraising targets.

The latest donations software like DonorWerx makes it easy for members of your congregation to donate to your church — and it’s a lot more convenient than passing the collection plate around every Sunday morning. Donors can easily set up recurring donations. You’ll also be able to find out where your money is coming from. Finally, you can optimize the donor cycle.

The latest analytics provide you with real-time insights into your fundraising drives, too — auctions, garage sales, ticketed events, you name it — and you can identify areas where your church underperforms.

#2. Accounting to Get Your Ducks in a Row

Many church budgets across the US are decreasing, and you might want to keep a closer eye on your finances. The latest software lets you do exactly that. Accounting programs provide you with valuable financial metrics so you can track your income and expenditure from one centralized system, without relying on several different pieces of software.

Accounting software makes it so much easier to control your finances and identify new sources of income that will benefit your congregation and the local community. Usually, you can store this information in the cloud and access it from any device, anywhere in the world.

#3. Emails for Marketing, Outreach and More

Many members of your congregation have probably signed up to your mailing list, and email is one of the most powerful communication methods in the digital age. With email, you can notify your congregation about church events, service cancellations, and other important information about the church and the local community.

Email automation tools expedite communication between you and your congregation, and you can use this technology to personalize and automate your messages. You can save your content in the cloud, too.

#4. Social Media as a Church Management Task

More churches are using social media than ever before, and websites like Facebook and Twitter are powerful communication tools for raising awareness and increasing engagement.

The latest social media tools update your social media pages automatically, and you can receive the latest insights about which messages resonate the most with followers. You can use this data to fine-tune your future marketing strategies and increase online visibility.

#5. Disaster Recovery and Data Management

Many churches still rely on hardware to save important church information and documents — hard drives, floppy disks, etc. However, natural disasters like fires and floods can render this physical tech unusable, while cyber-criminals can hack these devices and access sensitive information about your church members.

There’s a solution. Using cloud-based tools will let you store data in a virtual environment, away from your church building. This way, you can access information quickly in the event of a natural disaster or emergency.

Utilizing the cloud will boost your security credentials, but that’s not all. It also allows you to access accounting, church membership, and other information from any device. You can even do this when you’re away from your chapel.

Currently, four out of five large churches (with 1,000 weekly members of more) and 55 percent of small churches use the cloud for church management.

#6. Increase Church Membership

Fewer Americans attend church every week than they did in the past, according to a recent study. However, many churches are using the latest technology to increase membership.

Using marketing tools will spread awareness about your services and other church events. These tools make it easier to create and manage digital marketing campaigns that encompass blog posts, social media posts, and other communication methods.

#7. Top Church Management Task: Engagement

Engaging with your congregation is important as it encourages people to attend more services and events at your church.

Church letters can still prove useful. Unfortunately, the information in these documents often becomes out-of-date by the time your members get it. Using digital tools to notify members about community events and church activities is far more useful.

You can use software to send out SMS messages, for example, about upcoming church events. It’s also a great way to announce canceled services related to bad weather.

#8. Inventory Management

It is important you manage an inventory of church supplies and equipment for compliance and insurance purposes. Using digital tools to facilitate this process will save you time and a lot of hassle.

Inventory management tools keep track of all the supplies you order. They can also let you re-order products automatically when stocks are low.

#9. Time Management

Many church leaders are extremely busy — they have hundreds of tasks they need to complete on a daily basis. Church scheduling tools optimize time management, so you can attend appointments and focus your energies on other duties.

This productivity tool will help members of your team carry out their day-to-day tasks and reduce workloads.

#10. Tax Filing

Although the majority of churches in the US have tax-exempt status, you will still need to file annual returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Tax management is, sometimes, complicated and time-consuming, but the latest financial tools make the entire process much easier.

Tax management software will help you file the right forms and meet IRS deadlines. This way, you can budget more effectively and control your finances.

The 10 church management tips above optimize the way you run your place of worship. As a result, you can better control finances, increase membership, improve fundraising, and much more.

Want to grow church donations? DonorWerx lets you collect money from your congregation and the local community in a safe, digital space. Schedule a Discovery Call today to find out more.