My Church Members Hate My Church App?

So many churches are in the dilemma of trying to figure out what to do with their church app.  Yes, donations have increased and some people use the app, but others in the church are completely frustrated with the experience and won’t use it at all. 

While there are many church apps out there creating these issues, the root cause typically boils down to one main problem: The church app you’re using was never designed for your church members.

One case in point is the frustration of getting an email from your church only to find out that you have to log on to the app to read the entire email. Are you kidding me (this is what a church member thinks)?  Why would a church app (or any app for that matter) force it’s users to do that? Most likely it’s because the church is trying to track and store all of these responses.  While that may make sense to paid staff, your members aren’t having it.

Churches need to rethink their apps. Why have an app? What features do they have on their app? Are these features built for our members or only for our staff? Shouldn’t we be focused on our members?

Instead of trying to build useless reports you’ll never use for your church. Focus instead on connectivity, interactions, and speed. Most churches can store and chart enormous amounts of data while still watching their church attendance and church giving shrink. Yet, an effective church app can have the opposite impact. As people share the things happening at your church, the attendance grows. As the app makes it easier for your members to give, your church giving improves. And as communication through the app, community is built.

Rethink your church app and find one that focuses on your members first.

Church Communication is Broken

How Leaders Fix the Frustration of Bad Systems

Churches have, for a long time, tried to figure out the best ways to communicate. It used to be through the mail. Later, the phone was added and in the last two decades, email has come to the rescue with free and instant delivery. Now social media seems to be the thing to do. The problem is that social media really doesn’t work.

Social media isn’t like snail mail. You can’t just post something on Facebook or Twitter to everyone in your church and expect them to see it. Don’t believe me? Just get the person who manages your church’s Facebook page to show you how many people actually see each post. You’re likely to discover that somewhere between 5% and 15% of your church are actually seeing your posts.

But wait, there’s email. Email gets viewed 100% of the time. Right? Wrong! Many email programs like MailChimp, (mailchimp.com) Constant Contact (constantcontact.com) or Emma (myemma.com) will actually tell you how many people opened your email and even clicked on things inside your email. Bottom line, if 30% of your church are even opening your emails, you’re doing well these days. That means 70% of your church is disconnected and that’s a huge problem.

So what other options do you have? Surprisingly, a church app is a great way to improve people seeing your newsletters, reading your emails, and staying aware of what’s going on in your church. To find the right church app for communication, you will want to make sure it has the following features:

1.    A Wall Section - This is a place where conversations happen similar to Facebook.  Every well-used social media app in the world has one and it will not only get read, it will increase engagement and involvement in the matters of your church.

2.    Push Notifications - Need to get the word out to your entire church that youth group is cancelled or there’s an urgent prayer need? Than make sure your church app offers push notifications so that church leaders can get messages to everyone immediately.

3.    A Member Directory - Getting to know one another strengthens community and improves communication. If your church still has a printed member directory, than I guarantee there are people in it that are no longer at your church and new members who have not yet been added.  A church app solves this and puts contact information right where people need it: on their phones.

4.    An Event Calendar - People’s lives are busy and a weekly reminder at church is not enough. They need a simple place to go that is a click away on their phone to remind them of the dates, times, and what to bring to key events at your church.

Bottom line is if you want better communication, you should get your church a church app. My recommendation for an excellent and affordable church app is SmartChurch which you’ll find at SmartChurch.com.

How Leaders Fix the Frustration of Bad Systems

Churches have, for a long time, tried to figure out the best ways to communicate. It used to be through the mail. Later, the phone was added and in the last two decades, email has come to the rescue with free and instant delivery. Now social media seems to be the thing to do. The problem is that social media really doesn’t work.

Social media isn’t like snail mail. You can’t just post something on Facebook or Twitter to everyone in your church and expect them to see it. Don’t believe me? Just get the person who manages your church’s Facebook page to show you how many people actually see each post. You’re likely to discover that somewhere between 5% and 15% of your church are actually seeing your posts.

But wait, there’s email. Email gets viewed 100% of the time. Right? Wrong! Many email programs like MailChimp, (mailchimp.com) Constant Contact (constantcontact.com) or Emma (myemma.com) will actually tell you how many people opened your email and even clicked on things inside your email. Bottom line, if 30% of your church are even opening your emails, you’re doing well these days. That means 70% of your church is disconnected and that’s a huge problem.

So what other options do you have? Surprisingly, a church app is a great way to improve people seeing your newsletters, reading your emails, and staying aware of what’s going on in your church. To find the right church app for communication, you will want to make sure it has the following features:

1. A Wall Section - This is a place where conversations happen similar to Facebook. Every well-used social media app in the world has one and it will not only get read, it will increase engagement and involvement in the matters of your church.
2. Push Notifications - Need to get the word out to your entire church that youth group is cancelled or there’s an urgent prayer need? Than make sure your church app offers push notifications so that church leaders can get messages to everyone immediately.
3. A Member Directory - Getting to know one another strengthens community and improves communication. If your church still has a printed member directory, than I guarantee there are people in it that are no longer at your church and new members who have not yet been added. A church app solves this and puts contact information right where people need it: on their phones.
4. An Event Calendar - People’s lives are busy and a weekly reminder at church is not enough. They need a simple place to go that is a click away on their phone to remind them of the dates, times, and what to bring to key events at your church.

Bottom line is if you want better communication, you should get your church a church app. My recommendation for an excellent and affordable church app is SmartChurch which you’ll find at SmartChurch.com.

How SmartChurch Began Franklin, TN

The legend surrounding the humble beginnings of SmartChurch, a church app that is free for churches to use for life, continues to dissipate through technology circles. I’ve heard it all. Some believe SmartChurch is run by a wealthy benefactor while others have asserted that their goal will be to keep the church app free for now but charge people once they are fully “hooked” on their services. There is also a fear that they have started with the plan to sell advertising in the near future.

As one of the founding members of Lockeland, the parent company of SmartChurch, I can dispel all of these rumors. SmartChurch was created in 2013 to serve church planters and missionary churches all over the world. It was and remains a simple concept: a free church app to help churches grow. And it’s funding comes from the revolutionary concept of “giving” a percentage of income from the parent company to the sustainment and future development of SmartChurch.

Today, this goal remains the same. The team at SmartChurch have a conservative and steady growth plan that they believe is sustainable for at least the next few decades. As they build, they are careful to build things the right way in a “native” environment. This approach ensures the app is less dependent on other technologies going out of business or changing their systems which can add time and cost to other church apps.

Other than new development, the costs are very low for SmartChurch. Almost everything in SmartChurch is automated giving the control to the church which reduces the need for large numbers of Smartchurch staff to run the app. In fact, SmartChurch continues to build new features in direct correlation with the biggest concerns or issues facing their customers today. This process has greatly reduced the cost and burden on their customer service department.

SmartChurch also welcomes third party apps to build off of their API or to fund our costs to integrate with their services. When these integrations make sense to the overall strategy and when the outside third parties are willing to financially contribute to this integration, SmartChurch will do this.

Church Giving - smartchurch

Get your own Church Giving app. Personalize your app with images, logo, and fundraising campaigns. Check out our website right now for more information!

SmartChurch Adds Push Notifications Nashville, TN - September 1, 2016

SmartChurch, makers of the world’s first free church app, have announced the launch of ANY-TIME PUSH NOTIFICATIONS on their SmartChurch Premium church app.  Beginning today, church leaders using SmartChurch Premium will be able to send out push notifications anytime they want to everyone following their church on the app for no additional charge.

 

SmartChurch already provides “automatic” push notifications whenever a new event, new need, or new media gets added or when a Follower gets a comment on their post, a new connection request, or an event that they’ve RSVP’d to is changed.  However, this is the first time in their almost three year history that Church Leaders can send out notifications whenever they need to.

“Pastors have shared with us all year that they want to send out emergency prayer requests, event reminders, and other alerts without a limit and without extra charges,” states Gresham Hill, CEO at Lockeland (lockeland.org), the company that develops and runs SmartChurch.  “We are happy to respond quickly and continue to build a reputation as a company who is constantly improving and expanding our church app to meet the needs of every church.

What’s the Catch?

Can SmartChurch’s Free Church App Really Be Free?

I get asked this question all the time. What’s the catch? Can SmartChurch really provide any church in the world a free church app for life?  And the answer is 100% yes.  There is no catch.  There are no strings attached. It’s really free for life.

So how do we do it? Well, first of all, SmartChurch was always intended to be free. We currently have a Premium version of our app but that was not the plan in the beginning. We wanted to give church planters, small churches, and missionaries a free church app so that their churches could grow. Our whole mission was just that: a mission. So how is that sustainable?

Well, believe it or not, SmartChurch does make money. We have several sources of income.  Our main source is an entirely separate company that gives us a generous gift every month.  That’s really nice. Second, we are owned by a larger company called Lockeland that builds cus-tom software and mobile apps. They love us and have a longterm commitment to us. And finally, SmartChurch Premium, the feature-rich, costlier version of our church app brings in a little money too (although many churches pay less than $10 per month for it).

All in all, there is no catch. Please support SmartChurch by getting Premium for your church or by hiring Lockeland to build your business an app. Your investment is helping thousands of churches worldwide.