Brian how are you liking Church Office Online? We are currently looking for a system and trying to decide between that, Fellowship One (the price is a huge deterrent however it has been recommended the most), Servant Keeper (there's no online access and that is a downer) and Church Community Builder (price is also a huge factor). Thanks in advance.
Dec. 15, 2010 by Rachel Hansen, New Jersey
Rachel,
Church Office Online did a great job of converting our existing data into their format and system. I spent some time working on double checking the data and then turned it loose to our office staff. One great feature that we found is that it allows the members of the church to login and "correct" or "adjust" their contact information if a church would like them to help keep things up to date. Church Office Online will give you a free 60 day trial to test out their system. This is a test without importing your data, but still it is easy to see how it works in that test. After using it for several months, I would recommend it as a top contender for two reasons. One is the price and the ability to try it for a few months at a low cost and the other is the simplicity by which it works. Thanks for asking - let me know if you have any other questions.
Brian Masters
Church Office Online did a great job of converting our existing data into their format and system. I spent some time working on double checking the data and then turned it loose to our office staff. One great feature that we found is that it allows the members of the church to login and "correct" or "adjust" their contact information if a church would like them to help keep things up to date. Church Office Online will give you a free 60 day trial to test out their system. This is a test without importing your data, but still it is easy to see how it works in that test. After using it for several months, I would recommend it as a top contender for two reasons. One is the price and the ability to try it for a few months at a low cost and the other is the simplicity by which it works. Thanks for asking - let me know if you have any other questions.
Brian Masters
Brian, do you know where I can get a list of ALL fields in SK6, not just the variable user controlled ones?
Mar. 21, 2011
Bob,
I don't have access to this version of Servant Keeper, but it would appear that you could create an export of the data (see below), which would give you a list of all the fields in a .csv file that you could open up in Excel. Once you open it in Excel, then select the first column and choose Data, Text to Columns, and go through the wizard to delimit it by the appropriate type. This should give you a list of all the fields (including the data). Since I don't have this software installed, I can't verify that it gives you all the fields in the software.
To export data - (information was copied from http://www.servantpc.com/activekb/questions/1396/How+do+I+export+data+from+Servant+Keeper+to+use+in+another+program%3F)
How do I export data from Servant Keeper to use in another program?
Follow these steps to export data:
1. Open Membership Pro and logon.
2. Open Groups Keeper.
3. Double click the group that you want to export.
4. When viewing the group click select columns to add or remove field from view.
5. Click the Advanced button at the bottom of the screen and click Export Result
and then select ASCII File.
6. You will now see an “Export Results to” dialog box.
7. In the Save in: field, use the drop down arrow to choose the save location for
exported data.
8. In the File name:name the export file.
9.Click the “Save” button to complete the export.
Your export will be saved with the file name you typed plus the .csv extention. This Comma Separated Values (CSV) file is the data source you want to use to import into your Palm or Pocket PC database.
This export can also be used to import into the Outlook Contact List, Microsoft Word's Mail Merge, Microsoft Access as a database table, etc...
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Thanks,
Brian
I don't have access to this version of Servant Keeper, but it would appear that you could create an export of the data (see below), which would give you a list of all the fields in a .csv file that you could open up in Excel. Once you open it in Excel, then select the first column and choose Data, Text to Columns, and go through the wizard to delimit it by the appropriate type. This should give you a list of all the fields (including the data). Since I don't have this software installed, I can't verify that it gives you all the fields in the software.
To export data - (information was copied from http://www.servantpc.com/activekb/questions/1396/How+do+I+export+data+from+Servant+Keeper+to+use+in+another+program%3F)
How do I export data from Servant Keeper to use in another program?
Follow these steps to export data:
1. Open Membership Pro and logon.
2. Open Groups Keeper.
3. Double click the group that you want to export.
4. When viewing the group click select columns to add or remove field from view.
5. Click the Advanced button at the bottom of the screen and click Export Result
and then select ASCII File.
6. You will now see an “Export Results to” dialog box.
7. In the Save in: field, use the drop down arrow to choose the save location for
exported data.
8. In the File name:name the export file.
9.Click the “Save” button to complete the export.
Your export will be saved with the file name you typed plus the .csv extention. This Comma Separated Values (CSV) file is the data source you want to use to import into your Palm or Pocket PC database.
This export can also be used to import into the Outlook Contact List, Microsoft Word's Mail Merge, Microsoft Access as a database table, etc...
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Thanks,
Brian
Brian, do you know where I can get a list of all the fields in SK6, not just ones with variable (drop down) content?
Mar. 21, 2011 by Bob Wheat, CO
Bob,
I'm not 100% sure. What I have done in the past is do an export of the data to a CSV file and open the file in Excel to see what the fields are titled. Perhaps that might work for you. Here's Servant Keeper's export instructions - http://www.servantpc.com/support_training/activekb/questions.php?questionid=1396
By the way, I really apologize for the extremely late response. Please forgive me. I’ve been working to launch and grow a ministry / business called HOPE Coffee (http://www.hopecoffee.org) where we provide shelter and water through the sale of high quality Honduran coffee. My time has been consumed with helping getting it off the ground which has led me to neglect my time on this site helping churches. I'm sorry that I let you down.
Brian
I'm not 100% sure. What I have done in the past is do an export of the data to a CSV file and open the file in Excel to see what the fields are titled. Perhaps that might work for you. Here's Servant Keeper's export instructions - http://www.servantpc.com/support_training/activekb/questions.php?questionid=1396
By the way, I really apologize for the extremely late response. Please forgive me. I’ve been working to launch and grow a ministry / business called HOPE Coffee (http://www.hopecoffee.org) where we provide shelter and water through the sale of high quality Honduran coffee. My time has been consumed with helping getting it off the ground which has led me to neglect my time on this site helping churches. I'm sorry that I let you down.
Brian
Did you ever do the follow up post mentioned in "Oh, No! The church computer died! Uhh… were the files backed up?" posted 5 July, 2010? I'm really interested in a comparison of the on-line backup companies you mentioned, Carbonite and Mozy to mention two.
Dec. 30, 2010
Jan,
God has a way of teaching lessons that is rather remarkable. I did a comparison of these systems, but not out of leisure. It was out of desperation because one of our computers was dying at home. :-) Here is what I learned in a nutshell:
(br)
Part One: To make the comparison more useful to me, I had to determine the amount of data I needed to backup. In our case it was around 30 GB. In comparing prices with that amount of data Carbonite came out to be the better option for us personally. We have used it and like the simplicity of it. Download it, install it, and forget about it. It works in the background without any interaction from the user. It is simple and low cost.
(br)
Part Two: My parents on the other hand wanted to backup two computers and share the data between each computer. This allows them to take one computer with them, and it will have 100% of the data files from both computers. To accomplish this task both DropBox and JungleDisk were options. However, when I looked at the pricing for the amount of data they needed to share, JungleDisk turned out to be less expensive. However, it is a bit more complicated to setup and took me a couple of hours of reading their FAQ's on how to set it up for data sharing. Dropbox is simple to use but does require one to "put things in the box" to be shared.
(br)
Part Three: For our church, we have a small amount of data (under 10GB) and the automatic backup system from JungleDisk is working well for them. To use a simple backup system, JungleDisk does well, but still requires some technical know-how to set it up.
(br)
All that to say, I need to write a post on this so people can see the comparison. :-) This fall, I've been focused on helping CAM International start a coffee company called www.hopecoffee.org to help fund missions. Thanks for sending in your question. Let me know if you have any more questions. Have a wonderful New Year!
God has a way of teaching lessons that is rather remarkable. I did a comparison of these systems, but not out of leisure. It was out of desperation because one of our computers was dying at home. :-) Here is what I learned in a nutshell:
(br)
Part One: To make the comparison more useful to me, I had to determine the amount of data I needed to backup. In our case it was around 30 GB. In comparing prices with that amount of data Carbonite came out to be the better option for us personally. We have used it and like the simplicity of it. Download it, install it, and forget about it. It works in the background without any interaction from the user. It is simple and low cost.
(br)
Part Two: My parents on the other hand wanted to backup two computers and share the data between each computer. This allows them to take one computer with them, and it will have 100% of the data files from both computers. To accomplish this task both DropBox and JungleDisk were options. However, when I looked at the pricing for the amount of data they needed to share, JungleDisk turned out to be less expensive. However, it is a bit more complicated to setup and took me a couple of hours of reading their FAQ's on how to set it up for data sharing. Dropbox is simple to use but does require one to "put things in the box" to be shared.
(br)
Part Three: For our church, we have a small amount of data (under 10GB) and the automatic backup system from JungleDisk is working well for them. To use a simple backup system, JungleDisk does well, but still requires some technical know-how to set it up.
(br)
All that to say, I need to write a post on this so people can see the comparison. :-) This fall, I've been focused on helping CAM International start a coffee company called www.hopecoffee.org to help fund missions. Thanks for sending in your question. Let me know if you have any more questions. Have a wonderful New Year!
I have an affordable (on sale right now for $29.99) church membership database (Shepherdbase) that is simple and easy to use if your visitors would like to check it out at http://www.freechurchforms.com/churchmembershipdatabase.html
Jan. 21, 2011 by Terressa Pierce, OK
Thanks Terressa for the tip!
I wanted to inform you of Aplos Software. Aplos is the simplest and most affordable fund accounting solution on the market for churches and non profits. I'd like to communicate with someone about being mentioned/reviewed/featured on your website.
May. 17, 2012 by Alex Acree, CA
Thank you Alex. I had not heard of Aplos Software, but I'll check it out.
By the way, I really apologize for the extremely late response. Please forgive me. I’ve been working to launch and grow a ministry / business called HOPE Coffee (http://www.hopecoffee.org) where we provide shelter and water through the sale of high quality Honduran coffee. My time has been consumed with helping getting it off the ground which has led me to neglect my time on this site helping churches. I'm sorry that I let you down.
Brian
By the way, I really apologize for the extremely late response. Please forgive me. I’ve been working to launch and grow a ministry / business called HOPE Coffee (http://www.hopecoffee.org) where we provide shelter and water through the sale of high quality Honduran coffee. My time has been consumed with helping getting it off the ground which has led me to neglect my time on this site helping churches. I'm sorry that I let you down.
Brian
Mac vs. PC what's the best option for a new church computer?
Mar. 9, 2011 by Danielle, Oregon
Ah, this is the age old question. :-) I have personal preferences, but the best option often is the one that people in the church can support or help you with any questions or needs. Each church is different in their needs and in the attenders skills / abilities to volunteer to help the church staff. I know this is answer is a non-answer, but it has value of checking with your members to see who could help if a need arises.
Now I would say that PC's are often less expensive, but MAC's will allow some higher-end features to be done easier. So if you are looking for design or video capabilities, a MAC may be your best option. Otherwise a PC may work just fine for less money.
But in the end, choose whichever one the user will be most comfortable with and the one in which others can help or support it.
Now I would say that PC's are often less expensive, but MAC's will allow some higher-end features to be done easier. So if you are looking for design or video capabilities, a MAC may be your best option. Otherwise a PC may work just fine for less money.
But in the end, choose whichever one the user will be most comfortable with and the one in which others can help or support it.
So you could take all the computers in the church and back them up on a server and then use like Carbonite to back up just the server?
Jan. 6, 2012 by James Rogers, TN
Yes, that would work. Although I believe Carbonite has a different pricing scheme for servers. - http://www.carbonite.com/en/business/data-backup-faqs
By the way, I really apologize for the extremely late response. Please forgive me. I’ve been working to launch and grow a ministry / business called HOPE Coffee (http://www.hopecoffee.org) where we provide shelter and water through the sale of high quality Honduran coffee. My time has been consumed with helping getting it off the ground which has led me to neglect my time on this site helping churches. I'm sorry that I let you down.
Brian
By the way, I really apologize for the extremely late response. Please forgive me. I’ve been working to launch and grow a ministry / business called HOPE Coffee (http://www.hopecoffee.org) where we provide shelter and water through the sale of high quality Honduran coffee. My time has been consumed with helping getting it off the ground which has led me to neglect my time on this site helping churches. I'm sorry that I let you down.
Brian
You indicate your software is for small churches. What do you consider small?
Mar. 1, 2012 by Gaylord Crum
Gaylord,
In answer to your question, my original intent was to help churches who didn't have their own dedicated IT or computer support person. Sometimes this means under 400 - 1,000 depending on the church.
By the way, I really apologize for the extremely late response. Please forgive me. I’ve been working to launch and grow a ministry / business called HOPE Coffee where we provide shelter and water through the sale of high quality Honduran coffee. My time has been consumed with helping getting it off the ground which has led me to neglect my time on this site helping churches. I'm sorry....
In answer to your question, my original intent was to help churches who didn't have their own dedicated IT or computer support person. Sometimes this means under 400 - 1,000 depending on the church.
By the way, I really apologize for the extremely late response. Please forgive me. I’ve been working to launch and grow a ministry / business called HOPE Coffee where we provide shelter and water through the sale of high quality Honduran coffee. My time has been consumed with helping getting it off the ground which has led me to neglect my time on this site helping churches. I'm sorry....
