I do agree that two of the main functions of ChMS is to allow for the communication between a church and it’s congregation as well as tracking tithes and offerings. However, there is so much more that a ChMS can provide that Google Apps alone can not.

For example:
-tracking relationships between people in the congregation
-recording attendance for worship services or group events. Then finding folks who haven’t attended in a certain time frame.
-recognizing 1st, 2nd , 3rd, etc time visitors
-checking students into their class and providing security tags for the parents
-keeping up with background checks
-connecting folks with certain “giftings” with appropriate volunteer opportunities

I also agree that Quickbooks is a great accounting package. However, the end of the year statement generated by Quickbooks looks more like an invoice. A good ChMS package will give you lots of options for printing those statements. Quickbooks also falls short when it comes to tracking pledges. Again the ChMS will allow you to track those pledges and how folks are progressing against those pledges.

Regarding the issue of online vs software based systems, I believe software based systems still have their place.
-They give the church control over their data and when updates occur
-No recurring fees
-Data can still be accessed through the internet via remote desktop software like logmein.com, VPN or port forwarding options.

We also believe that software should not cost the church an arm and a leg. You have your ministry to fulfill. Most churches that use our software pay between $99 and $499 based on their size. Check out the benefits of Roll Call church software at http://www.bythebook.com.

I'm not posting a reply to sway your opinion away from Google Apps. I’m very supportive of Google Apps as a replacement for Microsoft Office but, respectfully, I do not think it’s an adequate replacement for even a basic ChMS. I simply want to add some dialogue as to what I feel are some critical advantages of church management software (ChMS) over any generic CRM system such as Google Apps or even a fee-based system like HighRise.

Before I enter into the feature fray let me briefly address Fellowship One pricing. Yes, like others in the ChMS world we charge a monthly fee for our services – that includes our full feature set, security, software upgrades, support and best practices. We believe our prices accurately reflect the value we offer. Keep in mind that 94% of the churches in the U.S. have less than 500 adults and children in attendance. We’ve recently simplified our editions (our website still needs to be updated) to just 3 editions – Core, Select, and Premier and are priced by the average attendance. The prices for less than 500 in attendance range from just $20 per month to a few hundred dollars per month.

As to the differences between Google Apps and a ChMS. First, I'm not sure the comparison chart you're referring to is the best tool for evaluation. Many of the modern, web-based, ChMS systems do not fill well into the categories in that particular chart.

A full featured ChMS, such as Fellowship One, offers many advantages over a generic solution. I can’t speak for the other vendors but I can tell you that these are just a few things I believe are critical advantages. In actuality, I think the list is much longer, I just put together a quick list.

-We can provide a complete overview of the individuals and families of the church in a single view, this includes basic information you might store in Google Apps but many things it does not such as confidential notes, attendance and volunteer history, background checks , event registration history, and many, many other church specific details. We also automatically verify the addresses with the USPS
-Fellowship One has customizable processes and data entry forms built specifically for churches for visitor follow-up and assimilation
-We allow for robust queries of the data for segmentation, reporting and targeted messaging
-We now send over 10 million emails per month on behalf of our church clients, and yes, by law you must include an unsubscribe feature with a documented record of their opt-in status
-The integrated event management cannot be understated. The seamless integration allows you to know who is attending, who paid, who failed to show up, etc.
-Volunteer management is huge, scheduling who is set to show up for what event at what time in what role. Then tracking who actually did show. We also run automated background checks seamlessly within the application. In addition, we can store and match up volunteers to jobs based on their gifts / talents.
-The Multi-purpose Check-in system is a must for churches to track children and volunteers
-For a General Ledger I agree that QuickBooks should suffice but for Pledge and donation tracking of individual members / families, tax statements, etc. then you really need a ChMS
-Rapid entry of checks, check image capture and bank deposits
-Integrated online giving and kiosk giving
-Small Groups and community engagement is a really big one, too many things to outline here.

You can learn more about these and other advantage by attending a free webinar about Fellowship One at our website, http://www.FellowshipTech.com. However, if you disagree, that’s fine too. A ChMS such as Fellowship One may not be suitable for every church. I welcome other ChMS providers to weigh in as well. Regardless, we are praying for the success of all churches in fulfilling the Great Commission.

God bless,

Curtis Simmons

If so, how does one store relationship info? E.g. – Bob is married to Mary and the father of Sam?

Further, how does one control privacy issues? For example, if Bob doesn't want his birth year displayed to all users or if Mary doesn't want everybody to know her home address?

One nice thing is that volunteers can have a church email address and work on their communication from home – or wherever. Its working rather well. So many people have a Gmail account, many are already familiar with the interface and get up to speed quickly.

What COULDN'T you do with Googel Apps – you mentioned "rolling it out to a church-wide scale doesn't seem doable" – can you elaborate?