What Tools Does a Modern Church Need to Succeed?

While community support and faith in the Almighty can help a church establish itself, you need more than that if you want to make a meaningful impact in the lives of people who seek your place of worship out. You will need resources to help those who are less fortunate and tools to better connect with parishioners seeking advice and spiritual guidance.

A church is a business as much as it is a place of worship. When it’s run well, you can grow your impact in your area and measure your success in the number of lives improved. Consider these five tools for improving your church to increase its chances of success.

Asset Management Tools

Have you ever turned your supply closet upside down for a table or tent that you needed for an event? Has your youth leader ever wondered who walked off with the giant box of markers you just bought for VBS? As your church grows, you are going to attract more volunteers to spread your message, but also more assets that could get lost or damaged. These assets range from large investments (like a church van) to small purchases like bright vests for volunteers to help as parking attendants.

Instead of muddling through a dense spreadsheet or mentally keeping track of everything you own, consider using asset tracking software to manage your key purchases so you know where they are at all times.

With asset management, your volunteers can “check out,” an item for a specific date and time. This helps you know who last had an item and what they used it for. This also prevents problems like double-booking, where two people might need the church van at the same time. You can also use an asset track service to keep up with the quality of items, so you know if something is damaged or no longer working.

You have bigger problems with running a church than knowing where everything is. Let your asset track tool do that for you.

A Digital Marketing Plan

You might associate marketing with businesses looking to grow customers and for-profit companies trying to increase sales. However, you need to treat your church like you are a business owner. A digital marketing and SEO plan can help you attract people from all walks of life to support your church, reaching more of God’s flock and connecting with people who need to hear your message.

There are several ways digital marketing services can help your church and attendees. A few examples include:

• Local SEO can make it easier for people to find your church on search engines like Google. You can bring new people who are looking for a church home to your parish.
• You can keep an active social media page to let people know about upcoming sermons and fundraisers. This can increase event turnout and help you reach your income goals easier.
• You can tap into content marketing to rank better in search, but also to create meaningful messages and advice for your attendees.

Look for a PPC and SEO firm in your area that has experience marketing for church organizations. There are many quality SEO companies in Denver that you can choose from to promote your brand.

Church Supplies

While asset management is important, you need assets first. The first year or two in operation will likely create a learning curve for what your church needs and how much you need to keep in stock. For example, you might find that you go through church candles much faster than you realize, leaving you to increase your votive candle order so you have enough for your whole congregation.

Make sure you take a clear inventory of the supplies you use throughout the year. Some churches even put barcodes or QR codes on items or assign them unique tags so they know when they are running out. With this organization, you might be able to save money by not over-ordering items while ensuring you never run out of other supplies.

Solar Panels

As a church leader, you aren’t just in charge of the people in your community, but also the environment you live in. The Bible is clear that we are meant to be stewards of God’s creation, taking steps to protect the Earth that he worked to create for us. Genesis 2:15 says “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” While man was created in God’s image, he was meant to care for Earth and protect it where he can.

This is why investing in clean energy and other clean resources is important for a church. Installing solar panels can save your church money in the long run while eliminating your dependency on fossil fuels and reducing your carbon footprint.

Consider setting up an appointment with some of the top Denver roofers in your area. A quality roofing company can evaluate your current situation — from your structural integrity to your shingles- to make sure your sanctuary can support solar lighting. They can also put together a plan for if a roof replacement is necessary. A well-built roof can support your solar panels for years to come.

There are other steps you can take to set up your church as a leader of environmental stewardship. Set up carpool pods to reduce dependency on cars, recycle and collect recycling from parishioners who need somewhere to drop off their cans and bottles. Show your love of God by how much you care for His creation.

Volunteer Management Apps

Your volunteers are the life-blood that can help your church thrive. These people arrive at the church at all hours of the day, from early-risers making coffee from the morning service to late-night workers helping to clean up. As a manager and organizer within your church, you need to know where these people are and what they are doing — while creating new opportunities for eager parishioners.

Look into a volunteer management system that you can install on your website. With this system, you can post tasks that you need volunteers to help with (like setting up for a bake sale or bringing food to a family that just had a baby) and let people sign up virtually. You can even post detailed descriptions of what needs to get done through the software tool, limiting how much time you need to spend explaining tasks to eager volunteers.

There are a variety of volunteer management tools on the market, many of which are free or affordable for churches. This is just one way to automate certain processes within your church so you can focus on big-picture goals. Plus, your volunteers will appreciate having a clear site to go to when they want to help out.

Running a church means balancing your faith in others with the checks and balances to keep your organization going. Adding barcodes and tags to your assets can help you better keep track of what you need. Investing in volunteer management can guide your “people assets.” You want to see your church succeed and these tools can help you achieve that. If you haven’t looked into search engine optimization or solar technology on your roof, take steps today to grow your church and operate your organization more effectively.