Church Office Online on UserVoice

customize member type field

2012-05-16T16:32:39-04:00

Garth Mitchell suggested:
The current member type field list doesn't fully meet the needs of our congregation so having option to customize/add to this field would be great. It is understood that fields needed for account status such as "Archive" would be non-customizable.

Add date field when creating a new individual to when first time or returning visitor type is selected

2012-05-16T16:23:48-04:00

Garth Mitchell suggested:
When entering a new individual form for first time visitor it would be great if a date field is enabled to allow me to immediately take attendance for that visitor. Currently, when a first time visitor arrives at our service, we have to first create an individual record for them, then we have to go to the attendance area to mark them present for the service. The fact that person is first time visitor means that we need to mark present for service so would be great if process was streamlined.

absentee & attendence [updated]

2012-05-03T16:28:24-04:00

In the current absentee report, it seems that you are given the names of those absent at least once during the time period of the report. I would like to know the dates a person was absent or at least the number of times a person was absent. For example, I like to easily determine if a person has been absent 2 or 3 weeks in a row versus just absent one of the last 3 services. What about adding a chart to help pastor easily see individual attendance trends so that we can more easily spot people who might need help.

John Williams said:

This idea is very important to us for shepherding our flock. We currently print out a report of all who've been absent 3 Sundays for our Pastors to follow up.

% of giving

2012-05-03T13:17:53-04:00

Cathy suggested:
Is there a way that I can get a percentage of families that consistently give????

Verifying monies

2012-04-23T10:20:46-04:00

Cathy suggested:
It would be nice to verify my money count with all my contributions. Total cash received (including the # of bills received for each demonimation & coins) and total checks with the report. When my totals don't match it's easier to isolate the error to a paticular payment method. If my checks match the contribution check amount then I don't have to mess with them. Focusing only on the cash & my entries in it.

Attendance Report

2012-04-23T10:14:37-04:00

Cathy suggested:
Having a total number of attenders included at the top of the report would be very beneficial. I can recall the report & instantly see who was there with the actual head count and not have to go to another report to get the total number

Contact Management System for Visiting [updated]

2012-04-22T01:15:21-04:00

I believe that the church as whole becomes a whole lot more efficient when they can easily have accountability in its visitation system. . It's important that you I as a pastor and others work on managing people since they are all importnat. If I want to participate in God's means of expanding his kingdom, it is essential that I gain the competency to provide world class care for every visitor to our church. I would like a system that would assign visitors to connection partners and track their progress in connecting them to the church.

garyc said:

agreed. Visitor management that is a separate module that would allow visitor tracking and follow cup progress would be great. Currently we enter visitors and have to filter them in or out based on what report we need. It would be great to have a separate area just to manage visitors and facilitate follow and help with outreach.

It would be nice if the attendance report would show the number of adults and the number of children in attendance. [updated]

2012-04-20T16:24:43-04:00

Since the number of adults provides a more accurate picture of church attendance, it would great if attendance report would break down the total to reflect the number of adults and the number of children in attendance.

Mike Smith (admin) responded:

We already have a counsel calendar which many pastors use for that very purpose. It could be that you have an administrative access rather than a Pastor access. If you change your Access Level in ADMIN using Manage Users you will note that when you view Calendars afterwards only you will be able to edit and view it. mike@churchofficeonline.com

Pastor's calendar

2012-04-20T16:00:28-04:00

Daiva suggested:
From church administrator's standpoint, I would love to see a separate Pastor's calendar just for church administrative purposes (i.e. it shouldn't be visible to church membership) where I could track and schedule Pastor's speaking engagements, counseling sessions, places to attend, etc. and he could always be able to check his schedule from wherever he is. It would make so much easier to coordinate and keep his busy schedule on track.

Measure to prevent duplicate entries needed

2012-04-20T15:51:25-04:00

Daiva suggested:
It would be great if the system recognized and warned about duplicate entry or would have some kind of other built in measure that would prevent possibility of entering the same individual/household multiple times.

It would be nice if the attendance report would show the number of adults and the number of children in attendance.

2012-04-20T15:38:54-04:00

Daiva suggested:
Since the number of adults provides a more accurate picture of church attendance, it would great if attendance report would break down the total to reflect the number of adults and the number of children in attendance.

able to switch a person from individual to household when needed.

2012-04-16T13:53:34-04:00

When adding a household, allow editing of all the properties of each individual such as Ministries, Spiritual Dev, Custom Fields...

2012-04-15T16:27:37-04:00

Lewellynn suggested:
This would simply adding individuals when adding households.

Child Check-In System

2012-04-10T12:26:24-04:00

Aaron Schnieder suggested:
A full featured check-in system would be a great addition to Church Membership Online. High level features would include: - Ability to quickly check in children for Sunday School classes - Ability to look up children and families by name or last 4 digits of phone numbers - Ability to print out check-in labels for children, with matching labels for the parents to use to drop off/pick up children securely - Ability to add new families / children quickly during check in process - Automatic generation of unique three character code each week for children so alerts can be displayed during service if parents are needed - Tablet and touchscreen friendly interface

absentee & attendence

2012-04-05T13:57:01-04:00

Mark suggested:
In the current absentee report, it seems that you are given the names of those absent at least once during the time period of the report. I would like to know the dates a person was absent or at least the number of times a person was absent. For example, I like to easily determine if a person has been absent 2 or 3 weeks in a row versus just absent one of the last 3 services. What about adding a chart to help pastor easily see individual attendance trends so that we can more easily spot people who might need help.

Church Office Online Calendar Sync with iPhone Calendar

2012-04-05T12:57:13-04:00

Clarence suggested:
It would be great if church office online calendars can sync with the calendar in iphone which would make it possible for users to review, update, receive reminders along with other calendars such as Outlook, Google Calendars, Hotmail Calendars, etc. simultaneously using the iPhone.

Contact Management System for Visiting [updated]

2012-04-03T12:52:02-04:00

Brandon Cox said:

This would be great, and I hope it is added to the program soon!!!!!

Service Attendance Unique Attenders MonthlyTotal

2012-04-03T11:14:41-04:00

Mike Smith suggested:
I noticed that the service attendance numbers for the month are totaling the number for each week, and giving the inflated number, not the individual attenders. For example if, on March 18th, 220 people attend and March 25th, 214 people attend, it give a total attendance for March as 434. This is not a true picture of attendance, and it would be better to have unique attenders totaled for the month, instead a total number week after week.

When adding a household, allow the options 'exclude from directory' and 'anniversary date' in the section for adding individuals. [is now completed]

2012-04-01T22:48:56-04:00

When adding a household, allow the options 'exclude from directory' and 'anniversary date' in the section for adding individuals. [updated]

2012-04-01T22:48:56-04:00

Aaron Schnieder (admin) responded:

http://blog.churchofficeonline.com/post/New-Feature-Release-March-2012.aspx

Boxes to tick when creating new groups [updated]

2012-04-01T14:15:47-04:00

Hi there - I think it would be really helpful, for when creating new ministries and adding people from the database to that ministry, that if you had boxes down the side of the names that you could tick, and select to put into that ministry. Rather than having to go into each individual and assign a ministry to that person. This would save A LOT of time and would make the use of the database a lot more efficient. Would also be handy if you could flick through the list and it tells you what ministry they have been assigned to without having to go into each individual when updating the minsistry lists. so you know you havent missed someone off. You could also use this tick the box function when creating a directory, as we have people on our database, who dont want to be in the church directory when it comes to printing, And as there isnt an option to unselect people with the print directory option, then we cant use it. so we pretty much have to copy and paste all the info into a publisher document, but would be WAY better if you could just do it from the database. Some thoughts to ponder!? Many thanks! Charlene PA to Colin and Anne Chitty CauseWay Church, Mangawhai

Anonymous said:

This is similar request to "a quick way to change" idea above.

When adding a household, allow the options 'exclude from directory' and 'anniversary date' in the section for adding individuals. [is now started]

2012-03-24T01:40:36-04:00

Mass Text Messaging [updated]

2012-03-19T16:06:59-04:00

Since you offer mass emailing, is it possible to incorporate mass text messages, too. Pastor wants to use this company http://mobile-text-alerts.com; however, I would like to encourage the use of one all-inclusive church management system.

Lewellynn said:

Companies such as bulksms.com allow email-to-text services. If an email is sent to 0811231234@bulksms.com, an sms with the first 160 characters of the email body is sent the the number in the address. Maybe a system like this can be used to send text messages. Bulk SMS companies also offer API's for direct integration into programs.

If a bulk SMS system is implemented it should have the ability to add in info such as the recipients name automatically and the ability to store message templates.

Our church currently exports our database and import into a bulk SMS app to achieve these functions.

Custom User Account

2012-03-19T15:55:39-04:00

Lewellynn suggested:
Add a user acc. that only allows that user to view the ministry area, ie. they can view the ministries, view the individuals in each ministry and view the info of those individuals however they must not be able to edit any info? This will be great for our leaders and department heads to view the individuals under their care.

Check Number / Donation Type as a contribution field [is now completed]

2012-03-18T22:50:48-04:00

Please add a field for Contributions - separate from the Note Field that would be Donation Type / Check No.

Check Number / Donation Type as a contribution field [updated]

2012-03-18T22:50:48-04:00

Please add a field for Contributions - separate from the Note Field that would be Donation Type / Check No.

Aaron Schnieder (admin) responded:

Contribution Method and Check Number are now available as part of the Contributions features in Church Membership Online. Thanks for the suggestion!

Ministry Overview Custom Report

2012-03-14T16:59:51-04:00

Daniel Whitworth suggested:
In one view, I can see the entire list of individuals with ministries they are in or not in. Each row is one individual and contains ALL points of data possible organized in columns (address, phone, email, member type, birthday, ministries, etc). At the top you would be able to select which columns to show/hide using simple check boxes and you can also sort the list by any column by clicking the column header. So, basically, with a few clicks I could create any kind of custom report I want just by showing the columns I want and then sorting however I want.

It would be great if this program had a online giving solution. [updated]

2012-03-07T16:51:55-05:00

Some of the members in my church would like to give online. Would it be possible to integrate a online giving solution into CMO and on the Me.Church page and a Website plugin.

Kim said:

I was using Paypal and for non-profits, it was 1.95%. However, in other experiences with Paypal, more specifically Ebay, which Paypal now owns, I have found them to be not so pleasant to work with. I had a customer from ebay dispute a item they purchased and since it went through Paypal, paypal was the merchant responsible for it and didn't even consider my side of the transaction, and sided with the buyer. After looking up this issue online, I found out there are many people out there not so happy with paypal because of this same issue... siding with the buyer and not really investigating the disputed claim. With that being said, although contributions have never been reclaimed or disputed by anyone, I don't want to deal with a merchant like Paypal that simply sides with the buyer, or in this case the contributor. I am now with Authorize.net and using my merchant company, Global Processing. The rate is 2.25%.
What would be really nice is if #1 that CMO would allow us to enter the donations we receive from tithing envelopes of folks wanting to us to charge their credit cards, if we could enter that one time into the CMO system which would update that individuals contributions and also get the authorization at the same time, eliminating the need to do the work twice. And #2 if CMO would allow individuals to also be allowed to sign into their account and make that same kind of request on their own under their profile.

Contact Management System for Visiting [updated]

2012-03-07T16:24:33-05:00

Anonymous said:

It would really be great to have a CMS integrated with this. I know there are "counseling notes," but a real CMS where you could set follow-up reminders etc. would be fantastic! Couple that with a mobile-friendly site and you are golden! (Although, I use your software on my smartphone now and it's not too bad overall)

Check Number / Donation Type as a contribution field [is now started]

2012-03-06T22:40:00-05:00

Please add a field for Contributions - separate from the Note Field that would be Donation Type / Check No.

It would be great if this program had a online giving solution. [is now started]

2012-03-06T22:39:16-05:00

Some of the members in my church would like to give online. Would it be possible to integrate a online giving solution into CMO and on the Me.Church page and a Website plugin.

ungroup active email addresses in household directory

2012-02-25T09:18:37-05:00

Linda suggested:
Currently individual email addresses in the household directory are active allowing users to send emails when using the directory. This works well when there is only one email listed. When there is more than one, it's impossible to select the address you want. The email ends up being populated with all of them--it then becomes a group email. In data entry, email addresses are linked to individuals, not households. While some household data is shared, like home home phone, some is not, like email addresses. So from a user perspective it would be very helpful if the email addresses were included in such a way that they could be accessed individually. The work around is to delete the addresses you don't want from the email after it is populated, but that's not a long-term user friendly solution. Thank you.

We need a printable pledge report.

2012-02-15T10:47:35-05:00

Mike Smith suggested:
We need an individual or household report available showing the following information: Member pledge, contributions towards pledge, and pledge balance remaining?" Also add Name, Address and make it similar to our individual contribution report. Our church mails out quarterly updates regarding member pledges.

attendance access in me.churcholine

2012-02-11T10:33:30-05:00

Anonymous suggested:
it would be great if our members could see their attendance and then they could make a self correction as needed. sometimes seeing is believing

Places

2012-02-07T12:50:08-05:00

megan suggested:
Would love to see a "Room" or location feature when scheduling. We have several things going on and rent certain rooms or the whole church for events & this would be great to have so I can see what is available.

Additional User Field

2012-02-01T18:14:01-05:00

Sharon suggested:
If you can we would like to have a user field with the function to view individual/household info (phone, address, attendance, calendar, ministries) without being able to edit existing info.

Check Number / Donation Type as a contribution field [updated]

2012-01-31T10:50:15-05:00

Please add a field for Contributions - separate from the Note Field that would be Donation Type / Check No.

Dana Flinck said:

Being able to track donations by check number is important for the year end giving statement. We currently use the notes field for this purpose, but a separate field dedicated to entering a check number or the word "cash" would be nice.

Photo Directory [updated]

2012-01-31T10:44:23-05:00

What happened to the quality of our photos - they are all blurry?

Dana Flinck said:

Can we delete this item? It is no longer applicable.

DATE for when first time visitors attend [is now completed]

2012-01-29T01:20:33-05:00

It would be good to track when our first time visitors actually attended a service.

DATE for when first time visitors attend [updated]

2012-01-29T01:20:33-05:00

It would be good to track when our first time visitors actually attended a service.

Aaron Schnieder (admin) responded:

Thanks for the great idea! We just released an improved version of our Visitors report. You can now see the service and service date that First Time Visitors or Return Visitors attended within the date range you specify.

Add edit option to new individual contribution table

2012-01-28T12:02:04-05:00

Chris Bayer suggested:
When adding individual contributions, the information is listed below in a table. Please add an 'Edit' link next to each entry to quickly fix an error.

Contributions

2012-01-25T14:16:35-05:00

Rob McQueary suggested:
I would love to be able to enter contributions by Household instead of Individual. This makes more sense in terms of how giving us tallied and does not require me to add individuals in addition to households.

Picture directory online for members [is now completed]

2012-01-24T01:06:19-05:00

We would love for our members to be able to view the picture directory online.

Picture directory online for members [updated]

2012-01-24T01:06:19-05:00

We would love for our members to be able to view the picture directory online.

Aaron Schnieder (admin) responded:

Individuals are now able to download a Picture Directory in me.churchmembershiponline. Thanks for submitting the great idea Joy!

Mailing Labels - sort/print alphabetically by last name

2012-01-18T13:41:25-05:00

Walter Haisler suggested:
At present, mailing labels are sorted and printed out by zip code. It would be very useful to have the option of printing out mailing labels alphabetically by last name. Alphabetical arrangement would make the matching of mailing labels for envelopes with the correct year-end contribution reports much easier (assuming window envelopes cannot be used).

Picture directory online for members [is now planned]

2012-01-16T00:30:52-05:00

We would love for our members to be able to view the picture directory online.

Picture directory online for members [updated]

2012-01-16T00:30:52-05:00

We would love for our members to be able to view the picture directory online.

Aaron Schnieder (admin) responded:

Great idea. We will add the ability to download a picture directory from Me.ChurchMembershipOnline soon.

Sync WIth Gmail Or Outlook... [is now completed]

2012-01-16T00:27:35-05:00

To be able to sync contacts with Gmail or Outlook would be HUGE for our staff and leaders.

Sync WIth Gmail Or Outlook... [updated]

2012-01-16T00:27:35-05:00

To be able to sync contacts with Gmail or Outlook would be HUGE for our staff and leaders.

Aaron Schnieder (admin) responded:

You can now easily import your Church Office Online individual information into GMail or Outlook. Check out the tutorials below to find out how.

How to Import Your Church Office Online Contacts into Gmail
http://youtu.be/BReA5B9hyxw

How to Import Your Church Office Online Contacts into Outlook
http://youtu.be/wbJZO-h5ECc

It would be great if this program had a online giving solution. [updated]

2012-01-13T06:35:58-05:00

Some of the members in my church would like to give online. Would it be possible to integrate a online giving solution into CMO and on the Me.Church page and a Website plugin.

Anonymous said:

We use paypal on our web site and it works pretty good. Bear in mind that any online solution is going to cost approx. 3% of the total contributed.