Ed has installed Wordpress Mu the Multi-User / Multi-blog version on our DeamHost server/account. Will be moving forward with more WordPress work next week after completing the updating of the member information into ACS.
There is a long list of Plug-ins to install and configure ontop of issues of themes -- plus all the content and how to best organize it. Decision points and tons of cut and paste work will be coming soon.
Showing posts with label Implementation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Implementation. Show all posts
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Meeting with potential Champions
We had a meeting last night -- but I was off my game. I had my day disrupted by overlapping medical appointments in different places once I figured it out it and got them adjusted it was 4 hours of rushing between three buildings multiple times with kids in tow. So I was pretty frazzled. When that happens I'm stuck in "Marine Sargent" mode vs. good listener.
However, I did prepare a Call to Action document and tried to explain what it means and what I am doing now and then where things are at. The what I'm doing now is focusing on the "back office" stuff from the CMS, ChMS, CRM, etc. While learning the process we do stuff. Hopefully we can whip a few things into place in short order.
Then I am looking at deeper issues and come back with some information and choices in regards to improving welcoming on a short time line i.e. Holy Week/Easter Week. This means collecting information, documenting and then coming back with recommendations for process changes, training people and web & software improvements. So that this champions group could reconvene and then have a second meeting with others interested once a direction has been set.
Topics besides welcoming and "back office" came up and I let them know Ed's Survey had been compiled and sent on to the Rector and Sr. Warden. Specifically the music program came up and while I definitely think it needs addressed that issue is outside my personal focus at the present time -- but that I had made a recommendation to Rector & Warden on how & what to survey separately on that.
However, I did prepare a Call to Action document and tried to explain what it means and what I am doing now and then where things are at. The what I'm doing now is focusing on the "back office" stuff from the CMS, ChMS, CRM, etc. While learning the process we do stuff. Hopefully we can whip a few things into place in short order.
Then I am looking at deeper issues and come back with some information and choices in regards to improving welcoming on a short time line i.e. Holy Week/Easter Week. This means collecting information, documenting and then coming back with recommendations for process changes, training people and web & software improvements. So that this champions group could reconvene and then have a second meeting with others interested once a direction has been set.
Topics besides welcoming and "back office" came up and I let them know Ed's Survey had been compiled and sent on to the Rector and Sr. Warden. Specifically the music program came up and while I definitely think it needs addressed that issue is outside my personal focus at the present time -- but that I had made a recommendation to Rector & Warden on how & what to survey separately on that.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Using Pentecost Sunday as a Re-Welcoming Day / Second Push
Besides an early target for using Holy Week for potential kick start to welcoming efforts the next major day in the church Calendar we could sync up and do a second outreach using the lessons learned would be Pentecost.
Pentecost (May 23rd) could be our big push to get Welcoming done right and do a real marketing campaign with follow-up survey. Format could be to focus on that Family Reunion, Re-welcoming / Revitalizing the Church / Raise the Spirits. Not sure if we ar near any specific anniversary year or not but that too could be a theme/message.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Tools: Flow Charting Software
When documenting web sites, user experiences, processes and workflow -- a very good tool to have is Flow Charting software or Online Service. It can go hand and hand integrated in project management software or totally separate. Some tools exist for helping writers scaffold their ideas visually while others are more specialized like manufacturing or software development. A good one can create useful visual representations from a org charts to Venn Diagrams to Mind Maps to standard business planning like SWOT to wire framing user interface. These pieces of software have various names and functionality -- Outliners and Diagrammers also fall into the category.
Representing complex systems visually really helps you find drop outs, dead-ends and bottle necks and give you a much simplified way to explain and keep people who are not process oriented within the logic of a process so you can really discuss and improve it.
Good sites for doing this online are:
Representing complex systems visually really helps you find drop outs, dead-ends and bottle necks and give you a much simplified way to explain and keep people who are not process oriented within the logic of a process so you can really discuss and improve it.
Good sites for doing this online are:
Traditional Software:
There are also several iPhone/iPod Touch apps that mostly fall into organizer or mind mapper.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Looking for Champions
On a process level to actually get something done we need some internal champions. These would be people on the the Vestry as well as long term key members. The champions would be the ones if in agreement to help pursue the resources including financial to support the effort and sometimes more importantly to provide air cover and support for the disruption/change that needs to occur.
I'm starting that process to reach out facilitated by another key champion in our case the Rector.
Refining and wording of goals, objectives and solutions -- as well as presentation materials for the rest of the Vestry & Congregation are another critical area for champion support.
I'm starting that process to reach out facilitated by another key champion in our case the Rector.
Refining and wording of goals, objectives and solutions -- as well as presentation materials for the rest of the Vestry & Congregation are another critical area for champion support.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Tools: Closing the Phone and Voice Mail Loop
Incoming Voice Mail Transcription and call routing: Using Google Voice and linked email account to suck data into the system and route to a user record and into workflow. There are some other providers out there but for the time being Google Voice is free.
Outgoing Voice Mail Forwarding: Record automated messages with a key response from live user to connect to church/volunteer. "Offline" version of an email campaign/blast. Notation of each call out could ideally be batch recorded to user record. (OneCallNow, Phonevite, etc.)
Possible Outgoing VM/Automated Calls:
Possible Outgoing VM/Automated Calls:
- Event reminders
- Cancellation of events/services
- Weekly/Monthly Pastoral message
- Missed service call - do you need any help (illness, etc.)
Tools: Online Project Management
Project Management / Tracking
One of the areas that we might think we can do without is some kind of project management tracking -- especially if the software purchased looks fully functional. Problem even in that case is one of the goals is to document the steps and experience so that they can be shared and replicated. Gannt charts to block moving/missed deadlines is also key when so many of the moving pieces are being done by volunteers.
Tools: Online Learning
Online courses / learning - (Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE))
Screencasting:
- GoToMeeting.com has a multi-user login/demo that can be used to run a slide deck in combination with a call-in phone #.
- Camtasia.com is good for recording slide/audio presentation
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Using technology to enable communication and deeper relationships
I guess you could call this the case for modern customer service but I call it the 20th century. There is an awful lot you can do as a church to meet each others needs in a one-on-one way but it takes those "pesky" welcoming, caring and knowledgeable people to do so. Unfortunately those welcoming people tend to usually be at least as busy as we are and things can fall through the cracks.
So that is where technology should meet process and limit the loss of information, enable communication and strengthen relationships in the process. Contact management with sales lead processing, pipelining and forecasting is a pretty well practiced science in a lot of big businesses. There are a number of good tools out there some that reside on one PC, a local network of computers or served on the internet. Some are web enabled letting anyone with the proper security credentials log-in while others require specialized software to access. Some automate multi-step processes while others simply are task lists. Some embrace the move to mobile access to data while some can't even synch with a PDA, let alone a cell phone. A lot of the software is frozen code that is seldom patched while some can be customized and updated in seconds.
From Salesforce.com to SAP to Act to Outlook -- there are a number of options for contact management and sales management. Then there are "vertical" applications for solving business needs for specific industries or solving business problems for certain roles. There are a very large and diverse set of software some commercial and a few open source that serve as Church Management Systems (ChMS). The quality and feature set is diverse as is the market they are targeting from small to giga-churches.
Many of the solutions are modular but the needs we are considering most now are in Contact Management, Data Management and Business Automation. Donation management is a nice feature as it can help track the involvement on that level and show warning signs. Group, Volunteer and Event management are in the next tier for us with Facilities Management an Check-In/Out being last. Separately some providers have Content Management Systems (CMS) to help delegate and manage portions or all of a churches web site. Some light CMS can be done in blog software or third-party apps. The positive of integration is one user name/password/permission set. Another feature in some software is the addition of online communities - some are a inelegant mix of freeware and others have a minimal feature set. For online communication and marketing it may be best to look for a CMS that supports automatically posting information out / syndicating to Facebook and Twitter vs. expecting that a ChMS will move to solve that problem over time.
So what are the things I think an ideal modern church needs:
0) Web based interface to allow remote access
1) Mobile access via iPhone / Droid or at least Synch of significant chunks of contact data
2) Capture and track attendees (visitors, attendees and members) including sourcing & scraping from emails
3) Contact information and preferences for everyone in the system
4) Self service so that members can log-in and update personal information
5) Ability to track and document all communication with an individual and household
6) Ability to have private fields or notes whose access is limited
7) Ability to have custom forms with custom fields and reporting on those to track unique data
8) Ability to mail merge both emails and letters & post cards saving and sharing templates
9) Ability to send email campaigns and track receipt, open and response
10) Inclusion of an RSVP/Reg button as well as Send to a Friend capture contact in campaign email
11) Texting gateway to send texts directly or through 3rd party provider
12) Integration with Voice mail gateway to send out pre-recorded blasts to specified groups, sub groups
13) Integration with Google Voice to take in transcribed voice mails and post to user records based on phone numbers
14) Integration with Chat server to allow based on rules access to chat online with a member/person.
15) Automated workflows to help pipeline people into and through the church
16) Email and/or additional outgoing notification to users on the work/follow ups in their pipeline - "tickler"
17) Integrated min-survey to send out automatically or as a link in email templates
18) Ability to reassign tasks in the pipeline manually but ideally automatically based on rules
19) Ability to control user security to who has access to what information on a granular/functional level
20) Significant security and at least 99.9% scheduled uptime and limit of scheduled downtime to 10 hours/year.
21) Integration with Google Maps to easily plot and see locations, nearby members, get directions.
22) Search engine friendly URLs
23-1billion) Reporting and analytics - flexible, responsive near real time, key metrics reporting of the data --- plus analytics for web traffic if they have a built-in CMS.
For ChMS:
I am actively researching Fellowship One, Connect.Power, Ascribe and possibly Kingdom Tools.
For CMS:
I've also been talking with Ed the web master on the CMS choices -- WordPress, Perch and Unify are all on the table. There are a very large number of options -- one consideration is the time and cost to develop a template. I'm biased toward WordPress as it has syndication tools/plug-ins to post content out to Facebook and Twitter automatically. Ideally the CMS would allow for multiple CSS stylizations so a site could be more mobile phone friendly but remain semi-dynamic.
Outside tools:
1) Email Campaign Management: If we can't find all the email campaign functionality we may have to look at outside options to supplement. We'd possibly needs a gateway to get the mailing list out and hopefully a gateway to get the results pulled back in. There are a number of major, minor and open source options here. (Constant Contact, etc.)
2) Survey system: Preferably integrated to ask mini-surveys and give opportunities for more feedback points. Results could then be quantified and individual responses if it was not anonymous could be attached to the user record as a note. Outside survey software may still be preferable for advanced features. (Survey Monkey, etc)
3) Incoming Voice Mail Transcription and call routing: Using Google Voice and linked email account to suck data into the system and route to a user record and into workflow.
4) Outgoing Voice Mail Forwarding: Record automated messages with a key response from live user to connect to church/volunteer. "Offline" version of an email campaign/blast. Notation of being on list sent out to be batch recorded to user record. (OneCallNow, Phonevite, etc.)
5) Website Based Chat: Option on the web site to have a user launch a chat and be connected to a member/office for more information/follow-up. Standard scripts/replies available for response as well as user can customize. Transcripts can be attached to user account in CMS. (ZopIM, etc.)
6) Information scraping tools: Contact Capture or LinkedIn that scans the emails and addresses in your account and automatically batch adds them to the system. (Broadlook Technologies - Contact Capture, Eclipse, etc)
So that is where technology should meet process and limit the loss of information, enable communication and strengthen relationships in the process. Contact management with sales lead processing, pipelining and forecasting is a pretty well practiced science in a lot of big businesses. There are a number of good tools out there some that reside on one PC, a local network of computers or served on the internet. Some are web enabled letting anyone with the proper security credentials log-in while others require specialized software to access. Some automate multi-step processes while others simply are task lists. Some embrace the move to mobile access to data while some can't even synch with a PDA, let alone a cell phone. A lot of the software is frozen code that is seldom patched while some can be customized and updated in seconds.
From Salesforce.com to SAP to Act to Outlook -- there are a number of options for contact management and sales management. Then there are "vertical" applications for solving business needs for specific industries or solving business problems for certain roles. There are a very large and diverse set of software some commercial and a few open source that serve as Church Management Systems (ChMS). The quality and feature set is diverse as is the market they are targeting from small to giga-churches.
Many of the solutions are modular but the needs we are considering most now are in Contact Management, Data Management and Business Automation. Donation management is a nice feature as it can help track the involvement on that level and show warning signs. Group, Volunteer and Event management are in the next tier for us with Facilities Management an Check-In/Out being last. Separately some providers have Content Management Systems (CMS) to help delegate and manage portions or all of a churches web site. Some light CMS can be done in blog software or third-party apps. The positive of integration is one user name/password/permission set. Another feature in some software is the addition of online communities - some are a inelegant mix of freeware and others have a minimal feature set. For online communication and marketing it may be best to look for a CMS that supports automatically posting information out / syndicating to Facebook and Twitter vs. expecting that a ChMS will move to solve that problem over time.
So what are the things I think an ideal modern church needs:
0) Web based interface to allow remote access
1) Mobile access via iPhone / Droid or at least Synch of significant chunks of contact data
2) Capture and track attendees (visitors, attendees and members) including sourcing & scraping from emails
3) Contact information and preferences for everyone in the system
4) Self service so that members can log-in and update personal information
5) Ability to track and document all communication with an individual and household
6) Ability to have private fields or notes whose access is limited
7) Ability to have custom forms with custom fields and reporting on those to track unique data
8) Ability to mail merge both emails and letters & post cards saving and sharing templates
9) Ability to send email campaigns and track receipt, open and response
10) Inclusion of an RSVP/Reg button as well as Send to a Friend capture contact in campaign email
11) Texting gateway to send texts directly or through 3rd party provider
12) Integration with Voice mail gateway to send out pre-recorded blasts to specified groups, sub groups
13) Integration with Google Voice to take in transcribed voice mails and post to user records based on phone numbers
14) Integration with Chat server to allow based on rules access to chat online with a member/person.
15) Automated workflows to help pipeline people into and through the church
16) Email and/or additional outgoing notification to users on the work/follow ups in their pipeline - "tickler"
17) Integrated min-survey to send out automatically or as a link in email templates
18) Ability to reassign tasks in the pipeline manually but ideally automatically based on rules
19) Ability to control user security to who has access to what information on a granular/functional level
20) Significant security and at least 99.9% scheduled uptime and limit of scheduled downtime to 10 hours/year.
21) Integration with Google Maps to easily plot and see locations, nearby members, get directions.
22) Search engine friendly URLs
23-1billion) Reporting and analytics - flexible, responsive near real time, key metrics reporting of the data --- plus analytics for web traffic if they have a built-in CMS.
For ChMS:
I am actively researching Fellowship One, Connect.Power, Ascribe and possibly Kingdom Tools.
For CMS:
I've also been talking with Ed the web master on the CMS choices -- WordPress, Perch and Unify are all on the table. There are a very large number of options -- one consideration is the time and cost to develop a template. I'm biased toward WordPress as it has syndication tools/plug-ins to post content out to Facebook and Twitter automatically. Ideally the CMS would allow for multiple CSS stylizations so a site could be more mobile phone friendly but remain semi-dynamic.
Outside tools:
1) Email Campaign Management: If we can't find all the email campaign functionality we may have to look at outside options to supplement. We'd possibly needs a gateway to get the mailing list out and hopefully a gateway to get the results pulled back in. There are a number of major, minor and open source options here. (Constant Contact, etc.)
2) Survey system: Preferably integrated to ask mini-surveys and give opportunities for more feedback points. Results could then be quantified and individual responses if it was not anonymous could be attached to the user record as a note. Outside survey software may still be preferable for advanced features. (Survey Monkey, etc)
3) Incoming Voice Mail Transcription and call routing: Using Google Voice and linked email account to suck data into the system and route to a user record and into workflow.
4) Outgoing Voice Mail Forwarding: Record automated messages with a key response from live user to connect to church/volunteer. "Offline" version of an email campaign/blast. Notation of being on list sent out to be batch recorded to user record. (OneCallNow, Phonevite, etc.)
5) Website Based Chat: Option on the web site to have a user launch a chat and be connected to a member/office for more information/follow-up. Standard scripts/replies available for response as well as user can customize. Transcripts can be attached to user account in CMS. (ZopIM, etc.)
6) Information scraping tools: Contact Capture or LinkedIn that scans the emails and addresses in your account and automatically batch adds them to the system. (Broadlook Technologies - Contact Capture, Eclipse, etc)
Steps to Growth – Piece 1: Catch, Tra...
Initial Draft of 1/2 of the Plan....
Steps to Growth – Piece 1: Catch, Track, Engage &
Re-Engage
Re-Engage
- Agree on goals and first steps <Timeline 4 weeks>
- Set Goals
- Set Objectives
- Set Timeline
- Set Initial Budget
- Set Funding Source / Possible “Renewal and Growth” Fund
- Define terms / vocabulary
- Define Key Metrics
- Survey existing members, those who rolled off the rolls,
visitors, etc. - Adjust Goals, Strategy, Objects, Timeline, etc. based on survey
and feedback - Get Buy-In
- Get Approval
- Buy the Boat – Purchase & Develop the Tools & Processes <Timeline
3 weeks - can run concurrent>
- Assess the options for web based Church Management Software
- Define the objectives for software vs. human empowerment
- Outline basic processes we want an immediate impact
- Weight the priorities vs. options on all top tier vendors
- Review complimentary Technology (Broadcast Voice Mail, Google Voice
for Call Routing, Online Chat) to engage. - Review options for integrating inbound/outbound communication
with Social Networking (Twitter & Facebook) - Ensure our key metrics are tracking or reporting in software
and/or auto-survey - Negotiate if possible any software changes/customizations
into the price - Set Final Budget
- Sign the agreement
- Build the Net – Install and Import <Timeline 2 – 3 Weeks Phase 1, 4
– 6 Weeks Total> - Set Milestones
- Configure software
- Import or enter all current and previous year existing data
(Phase 1) - Define and adjust business & ministry processes to the
software to meet goals - Define and adjust software to meet business & ministry
needs (MINIMIZE as this can be costly) - Develop initial print materials, letters, forms, etc.
- <Ongoing> Import or enter at least 10 years worth of
“people data” however list must be scrubbed and verified to not send to the
deceased or moved (Phase 2) - Train a small circle of early software users (Ministry,
Office Staff,etc.) - <Ongoing> Refine print material, letters, reporting
- In depth software training for key stakeholders
- Integrate forms and feeder systems into the website and
office life - Work out kinks
- Teach the Fishers – Training the Flock <Timeline – 1 Month
but can be concurrent> - Written procedures / best practices manual
- In depth software training for Ministry & Staff
- Refine and adjust processes based on feedback of ministry
& staff - Training for corps of “Welcome Volunteers” and “Engagement
Volunteers” - Refine and adjust processes based on feedback of volunteer
corps - Go Fishing – Implement People and Process <Timeline 3-6
Months> - Begin pilot project/trial period
- Follow through on procedures and best practices
- Accountability for following procedures and best practices
- Survey those impacted ministry, staff, volunteers, and most importantly
members and customers after a set deadline. - Analyze / Reflect / Adjust <Timeline 1 Month after
initial Trial Period, many concurrent/ongoing> - <Ongoing> Regular weekly checkpoints on if processes are
being followed during pilot project - In depth retraining/cross training of all Ministry and
Staffers on Software & Features after the first 45 days. - <Ongoing> Monthly reporting to Vestry of Key Metrics
- Quarterly review of the project with feedback for the
quarterly meeting - Adjust the processes based on Quarterly or Annual Reviews
not on a daily or monthly level unless all key stake holders agree in an
emergency changes
DATE: 2/9/10
REVISION: 0.1
PRIMARY: Peter Leahy
STATUS: DRAFT
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