2017 Q3 Posts

By Margy Levine Young
September 2, 2020, 5:22 pm EDT

Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2017 21:29:17 -0000
Hello all,
I am the relatively new office administrator at First Unitarian Church 
of Victoria. We are planning to update our church management database 
software soon, and I have been tasked with gathering information to this 
end.
We are a congregation of around 400 and currently use an older version 
of ACS. We would like something cloud-based that allows multiple user 
login, has different levels of access and a user-friendly interface, is 
able to export info and create reports, and can communicate with other 
programs, namely the Google suite of applications, MailChimp and Quickbooks.
As time permits, could you kindly respond with details of your own 
congregation and experiences with databases, i.e. what you are you 
currently using, how well does it serve your needs, what does it lack, 
etc.? Any input is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
-- 
Nadia Kozak
Office Administrator
First Unitarian Church of Victoria
5575 West Saanich Road
Victoria, BC V9E 2G1
Phone: (250) 744-2665
www.victoriaunitarian.ca

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Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2017 22:49:29 -0000
This is an appropriate question, but if you want more responses you can 
look at the archives for UU Money email list, where there has been 
extensive discussions.
We are using ICON and Quickbooks which are satisfactory.
Art Ungar
Mt Diablo UU Church, Walnut Creek CA 500 members
On 7/20/2017 2:29 PM, Church Management Software, Security and Utilities 
via ChurchMgmtSoftware wrote:

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Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2017 00:59:46 -0000
Nadia,
At First UU Society of Exeter, New Hampshire, we have been using Elvanto (
www.elvanto.com) for two years. It integrates with MailChimp and with
several online giving services, and meets your other basic criteria.
You should also look at Breeze (breezechms.com).
We'd be happy to share more about our experience so far off the list. Email
me at webmaster at exeteruu.org.
Bill Downall
(sent from Moto Z)

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Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2017 12:07:16 -0000
Hi Nadia,
If you are not already a member of the Association of UU Administrators
(AUUA) I encourage you to join. This topic is often discussed on their
listserv and their archives are chock full of references. The list gets
much more participation than this one does. You can join at
http://www.uuadmins.org/benefits-of-membership/ or contact Shaye Gambrell
Matheny, AUUA Administrator, at auuacommunication at gmail.com.
We use Church Windows, which I don't recommend because the cloud-based
version is very expensive. Other administrators seem to like Breeze a lot
and I will be looking into that if and when I can find the time.
Lea Smith
Congregational Administrator
Unitarian Universalist Church
Concord, NH

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Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2017 16:04:15 -0000
Hello -
As someone else mentioned, a good source of information is the AUUA 
listserve.
We moved from Church Windows to Realm (an ACS product) six months ago. 
We have 290 members. I don't know about communicating with Google suite 
or MailChimp, but it does offer the other things you list - and more 
(member online access, online giving, group management). You can get a 
trial version to play around with. We did - and we asked a lot of 
questions before signing up. We tried the Realm Accounting module but 
decided to stay with Church Windows for Accounting. Realm's Accounting 
module is a recent release, and there is still much they need to add to 
make it as robust as Church Windows.
From what I see on the AUUA listserve, Realm and Breeze are the most 
popular software choices.
I have been happy with Realm so far, but still have much to learn.
-- 
des
Darlene Sarkela, Congregational Administrator
Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
2315 Division St NW Olympia WA 98502
360-786-6383 ext 100
"There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia."
~ Kurt Vonnegut

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Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2017 14:26:09 -0000
www.meetup.com
Would be interested in learning if any UU found this avenue helpful in
Outreach.
Charles

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Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2017 15:03:25 -0000
We have a young adult group that uses it. "Successfully" is an interesting
word. We have about 40 young adults who come to some of the events (they
are young adult meet-ups "sponsored" by us) but only about 5 attend the
church. Will others attend some day? Do any of these people contribute to
the congregation in any way yet? Does the number 40 mean we're
successful? You can decide.
*Linda M. Topp, Ph.D., CCA*
*Director of Administration*
*Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville*
*1 Edwin Place*
*Asheville, NC 28801*

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Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2017 15:05:16 -0000
Pat Landry, Unitarian Universalist Church of Spartanburg, we are former
Power Church users and started with 'Breeze' <https://www.breezechms.com/&gt;
January 2017 -LOVE IT. Our committees are entering calendar events, sending
committee members follow ups. Members are now utilizing for online-current
directory info, the 'giving' for pledges and have capability to view their
donation status online. 
We were gifted with the SE Region Chalice Lighter this summer and giving was
setup thru 'Breeze' - acknowledgement of receipt, thank you to online givers
were automatic as well as posting to 'Breeze' and bank deposit.
'Breeze' is very user friendly as is most of the program It integrates
easily with mailchimp, QuickBooks and most monetary venues.

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Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2017 15:36:27 -0000
We have a playgroup that meets on the first Monday morning of each month.
Early on, we created a Meetup for it so that new families would be able to
find it. The meetup description is very inclusive and welcoming. It also
does not explicitly associate the playgroup with the congregation other
than to list it as the meeting place. Still, almost all attendees will
eventually ask, "What is this place?" which gives us a chance to share our
positive experiences. Many who found us through playgroup have ended up
trying a service, and several have joined the congregation. Some playgroup
regulars already belong to other churches, and that's fine too.
I've thought about creating meetups for some of our other groups (social
justice, book club, music, etc), but I haven't yet.
Cheers,
Erin
BuxMont UU Fellowship
Warrington, PA
235 members

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Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2017 20:29:53 -0000
Here's a church that created a young adult meetup.
Sent from my iPad

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Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2017 16:25:05 -0000
Our meditation groups advertise their regular weekly meetings in MeetUp. It
has resulted in non members joining the meditation group and some of those
people have, over time, joined the church.
I don't have numbers. I do know that they are intentional about making the
Meetup notices welcoming and up to date.
Rich
*Rich Fritzson*
Executive Director
Main Line Unitarian Church
Devon, PA
rich at mluc.org
610-688-8332 x15 <(610)%20688-8332> (o)
610-213-0882 <(610)%20213-0882> (m)

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Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2017 21:00:51 -0000
Hi, I am posting here at the suggestion of Mark Steinwinter, the IT
director at the UUA.
I am writing an article for a business/consumer review website about church
management software. The site is called ValuePenguin.
I'm looking for people who work at a church and could answer a few
questions about the software program your UU congregation uses, why you
chose this specific program, and some of the things you like and don't like
about this software package.
I have a specific list of questions that I can send you. Your responses
will be posted on ValuePenguin in a Q&A format. It will look something
similar to this page:
https://software.valuepenguin.com/interview-dr-bobbi-stanley-owner-stan…-
dentistry-yapi-user
You can respond either by email or I can call you to conduct the interview.
If anyone would like to be interviewed, please let me know.
Thank you!
Andy Peters

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Date: Fri, 04 Aug 2017 22:12:19 -0000
Subject: survey questions on church management software

I can answer questions about church management software. We recently 
changed from Church Windows to ACS Realm.
-- 
des
Darlene Sarkela, Congregational Administrator
Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
2315 Division St NW Olympia WA 98502
360-786-6383 ext 100 dsarkela at ouuc.org
"There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia."
~ Kurt Vonnegut

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Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2017 21:46:13 -0000
Hi, I wanted to show the finished product of the Q&A that I conducted with
a UU member for the ValuePenguin website. I am still looking for more
people to interview, so if you would like to participate in a similar Q&A,
please contact me at anpete1971 at gmail.com
thanks, Andy
here is the link to the interview:
https://software.valuepenguin.com/interview-darlene-sarkela-congregatio…
Security and Utilities)

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Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2017 01:07:45 -0000
Hi Andy,
Thank you for your message and offer.
This list is primarily for discussions by members and/or staff of UU congregations.In the interest of gaining additional knowledge of various applications, we also allow vendor representatives to join and participate in the list.? However, all vendors must clearly identify their company connection(s) when posting to the list, including full name and contact information.
Naturally, we have a few folks who are congregational members and also employed by relevant vendors.? In these situations, we appreciate a note in their postings indicating that they have a dual role.
Please provide clarity of your role(s) in your future postings.
Thank you for your participation in this list.
Larry Long, List Administrator, Church Management Software, Security and Utilities

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Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2017 18:20:06 -0000
I'd like to find a UU-friendly church management system to review.
Thanks
*Kindness is the new cool,*
*Carol Pranschke*,* Office Manager* [image: ?]
*officemanager at bvuuf.org <officemanager at bvuuf.org> 303.665.4280x100
*Blog: http://www.bvuuf.org/posts/category/notesfromtheoffice/
<http://www.bvuuf.org/posts/category/notesfromtheoffice/&gt;*

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Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2017 19:49:09 -0000
Take a look at IconCMO. It's web-based, reasonably priced, and nice to
work with. The tech support people are outstanding
Allen Armstrong
First Parish in Portland UU

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Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2017 20:37:24 -0000
When I was researching, I found this one the most appealing: https://www.elvanto.com
Our chairperson is a very corporate type, however, so I doubt that was selected. As usual, I am being treated as a mushroom.
Sally G.
(typing for myself alone; affiliation known or irrelevant for this post)

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Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2017 20:41:07 -0000
Popular choices right now are Breeze, Realm, Elvanto and Planning Center 
Online.
In peace,
des
Darlene Sarkela, Congregational Administrator
Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
2315 Division St NW Olympia WA 98502
360-786-6383 ext 100
"There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia."
~ Kurt Vonnegut

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Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2017 20:51:02 -0000
We use Fellowship One, and are generally happy with it - but some things are rather obtuse. At the time we did our analysis it was the only one that satisfied our entire list of must-haves.
I'm interested in Breeze though, but at this point I don't think we are switching horses.

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Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2017 14:55:46 -0000
You may want to check out www.capterra.com They list and review many software options. Some are for a large church, others for smaller churches.
We are currently converting to Breeze. Our membership is about 215.
Joyce Adams, Treasurer
First Universalist Society
Franklin, MA

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Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2017 15:02:32 -0000
We use PowerChurch. I'm very happy with it. I've used a lot of different systems throughout my career and this is one of the easiest ones to work with that I've used. Their manual is very good and I never found it necessary to get any formal training. Their phone and email support is very good too. They are based in Asheville NC.
Al Gundlach
Finance and Database Director
First Unitarian Church of Rochester
220 Winton Road South
Rochester NY 14610
(585) 271-9070 x103

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Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2017 14:43:40 -0000
We are in the process of moving to PowerChurch. The integrates membership, stewardship and finance. Reports look good. There is a custom report feature I have not used yet but sure I will as we all have our own unique reports we need
Web based so they back up and we can access from anywhere.
Recommend looking at it
Winnie McDonagh
UU Cong of York
220 members
Sent from my iPhone

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Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2017 14:58:00 -0000
Yes, I like the custom report feature. It's easy to dump anything you want out of the database into an Excel file.
Al Gundlach
Finance and Database Director
First Unitarian Church of Rochester
220 Winton Road South
Rochester NY 14610
(585) 271-9070 x103

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Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2017 15:10:05 -0000
We've been using ChurchWindows for 2 years now and just moved from the
desktop version to the cloud version. We've been very happy with it and the
technical support is outstanding. We have about 100 members.
Feel free to email me for more info or with questions.
Katie Traxel
Volunteer-Bradford Community Church Unitarian Universalist
Kenosha, WI
ktraxel at wi.rr.com