Communications Configuration

As the communications systems are either very ridged or very loose at this church it makes it tough to implement tools like email distribution lists, web site and configure things like the phone system.  Sometimes there are very ridged lines and committee/s oversight that only a few people know about, other times it is adhoc or the Vestry who oversee but they only meet once per month normally.  In developing a communications plan and simplifying the process for certain things like approving use of Church facilities by groups inside the church --  we need an online system that can function and handle facilities scheduling.

I created an org chart to try and make sure organizations fell under the right hierarchy but really need to have it blessed and get some additional feedback so I can help make sure I configure things to help facilitate better communications.

I did create a distribution "Action List" that send to the Vestry Ex-Com, Judy and for the short term myself so that we can clear out and take to a point of resolution long standing complaints/issues/ideas people in the church have so we can track them to resolution which in many cases will be the "why" we can't or are not able to move forward but in an official response.  My hope is that this will help clear the deck of baggage so that we can help people begin to move forward.

Oakland Business Development Corp

OBDC is an option for financing under certain programs they have -- we might qualify for financing especially for service oriented efforts like a daycare, after school, summer camps, food program/cafe, etc.

http://www.obdc.com

iPhone Fun

Current cost to get 2 iphones 3GS 32GB hardware $299 + $36 activation for first phone, $299 + $26 activation for each additional.  Tax & shipping from online order is estimated at $136.  For a total of $734.30 for the hardware and setup fees.

Monthly service fees are:
* $119.99 for first 2 lines for unlimited talk
* $30 for unlimited family texting
* $30 per line for unlimited data
= $209.99 for 2 iphones with unlimited talk, text and data

* 49.99 for each additional unlimited talk line + $30 per line data charge
3 Phones = 289.98
4 Phones = 369.97
5 Phones = 449.96

More time researching streaming

Cheapest and easiest solution appears to be UStream.  Created an account and it links to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.  Besides streaming does a record so you can easily post to FB and You Tube.  That might be too much in our case vs. sermon only recording and later video podcast.

You can broadcast with an iphone or Android phone recording locally then uploading or streaming live.

You can have password protected streams in addition to your scheduled "worship" streaming.

One possible cheap Camera & mic that people are "raving" about is the PS3 camera and a custom driver that works on the PC.
http://unitedtechguys.com/2010/02/09/how-to-use-the-ps3-eye-camera-as-a-pc-webcam/

IP Telephony (Office and Mobile) & Online Meeting

http://www.get8x8.com/virtualmeeting_demo/

http://www.get8x8.com/virtualofficeonline_demo/

The integrations with iPhone, SalesForce and Outlook are really important. Cost is actually cheaper than what we are paying now.

Moving towards an ideal solution - longer term

Currently reviewing several Church Management Solutions (ChMS), CRMs, Broadcast Email/Campaign Marketing Provider, Broadcast Voicemail, Google Apps, Workflow Automation, Automated Customer Service, Survey Solution, etc. to develop an integrated solution for a denomination of churches to handle day-to-day process management of their offices, develop automated or standard work flows, etc.

Specifically preparing them to handle an increase of contacts directly or funneled through a separate web site/phone system that will be backed by a sizable and ongoing community outreach & advertising campaign.  Goal of the campaign is to develop interest and feed/assign prospective members/leads out to local congregations and have them be able to route, process, follow up and be accountable – all online enabled.  This includes tracking and follow up with people with both fall out of the process as well as people who then are transitioned to attendees and later members.

We may specifically need assistance in integrating one of the online SaaS Church Management Solutions (Fellowship One, Community Church Builder, etc) with a CRM and Google Hosted Email apps to track communication/touches out to members and record that to their record.

We are potentially looking for a partner to handle development work to bridge a possible ChMS with a more functional CRM and then automate some workflows in between.

Gbridge: Free instant VPN w/Google Apps

Google Solutions Marketplace - Gbridge: Free instant VPN for everyone!:

"Gbridge lets you sync folders, share files, chat and VNC securely and easily between friends or your own computers. Google Apps users can create their own free VPN within the organization instantly!
DesktopShare: Technical support made easy.
EasyBackup: Backup to remote computer!
SecureShare & AutoSync: Share files within group!"

RunMyProcess - Workflow and Integration for Google Apps

Google Solutions Marketplace - RunMyProcess - Workflow and Integration for Google Apps

Another big win here -- run my process is also integrating with google apps / gmail!

Project Management | Task Management | Google Apps | Social Productivity | Manymoon

Silver bullet for simple Project Management & Gmail, Google Apps integration.

This really looks like it could be a FANTASTIC addition to the tool kit to help better manager projects and tasks that really don't fit into the ERP / ChMS tool but we really need to track/manage and integrate with calendaring and email.

SkyCMS (Church Templates & Hosting)

http://www.discoversky.com/

From what I can glean from their site -- looks like it could be a white label install of WrodPress Mu with a bunch of plug-ins & templates that churches would want.  If not functionality looks close to that....

They are possibly based on "LightCMS" - http://www.speaklight.com/

Another Church Specific ChMS / CRM Option

http://www.faithhighway.com/church-management-software-and-other-church-software.php

They also do the Sermon Connect service.
http://sermonconnect.com/

More on themes & tools/frameworks to develop

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/05/27/wordpress-theme-development-frameworks/

Advice on color design/picking:
http://www.creativepro.com/article/how-choose-colors-everyone-likes

Checklist / Tips for 70+ things to consider in a church web site

http://www.internetevangelismday.com/church-site-tips.php

1. Most church websites are designed entirely for their members, or unwittingly exclude non-Christians because of their choice of language and content.
   More  | Extra
2. A good church site must communicate with three very different target groups:
   More  | Extra
3. This ‘three-way stretch’ is a challenge, but can be achieved.
   More  | Extra
4. Take time to consider the needs and viewpoints of non-Christians.
   More  | Extra
5. Avoid all ‘churchy’ jargon and ‘Christianese’ language throughout the site, especially on the homepage.
   More  | Extra
6. Non-Christians may have negative images of Christians: boring, killjoys, judgmental, etc.
   More  | Extra
7. Christian outreach often fails because Christians do ‘megaphone proclamation’ from behind the protecting walls of their ‘ghetto’.
   More  | 2
8. A primary task of the website is to convince non-Christians of these four things:
   More  | Extra
9. Do not think of your church site in isolation, merely as a stand-alone online brochure.
   More 
10. Church is people: the home page should have at least one photo of a church member. This is absolutely foundational to good communication, yet infrequently done.
    More 
11. Internal pages on the site can include photos of both outside and inside of the church building.
    More 
12. Include some ‘meet our members’ pages.
    More 
13. All links, page titles, and sub-headings should sound enticing.
    More 
14. If testimonies are used, they should be completely free of religious jargon, exaggeration and sentimentality.
    More  | Extra
15. Consider a ‘New to this site?’ visitors link on your homepage. This enables you to offer a particular welcome to an outsider.
    More  | Extra
16. Games and fun stuff are attractive and make a site sticky.
    More  | Extra1 | 2
17. Consider adding some ‘bridging’ pages to the site.
    More  | Extra1 | 2
18. Involve your church members in praying and supporting the web design team, and ‘owning’ the site.
    More 
19. Demonstrate a specific welcome for people with disability.
    More 
20. Summing up: the overall impression of the site must of a gentle, loving, enticing welcome. But...
    More 
21. Sadly, it is this issue of welcome and assimilation that frequently breaks down.
    More  | Extra1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
22. The context of your country, area and culture may lead you to apply these principles in different ways. Analyzehow some very effective church sites are using them: Brandywine | Southside | Bridge | King’s Church | Atlanta |North Branch | Questions
23. Church websites are not the only form of web evangelism.
    More  | Extra

    Design

24. Your church site will be the first point of contact for many people in your community. First impressions count.
    More  | Extra
25. Do not place too much information on your homepage.
    More 
26. And all important information should be ‘above the fold’.
    More 
27. Avoid ‘churchy’ graphics – open Bibles, stained glass windows, doves, candles. And appeals for money.
    More 
28. Use at least one graphic of a person’s face on the homepage.
    More 
29. A 3-column layout is often the most suitable for a church site.
    More 
30. Never use an introductory ‘splash page’.
    More 
31. Every page should display the same overall appearance, with the same navigation options in the same place.
    More  | Extra
32. All links, menu options and buttons should be clearly identified as ‘active’ – they should change color when hovered.
    More 
33. If you use Javascript for any effects, ensure everything on the site still works for those with Javascript disabled.
    More 
34. Don’t use frames for site design.
    More 
35. Learn how to use ‘include’ files – a great time-saver.
    More 
36. Also learn how to use CSS.
    More  | Extra
37. Use colors correctly: understand how to choose a color scheme, how colors relate to each other, and what mood they communicate.
    More  | Extra
38. Don’t use patterned graphic backgrounds behind body text.
    More 
39. Consider a ‘liquid’ page design: the content should flow naturally and fit together, at any screen resolution (i.e. size of the monitor screen measured in pixels) or reasonable font resize by a user.
    More 
40. And don’t put ‘best viewed at resolution’ or ‘best viewed in browser Y’ on your website.
    More 
41. Don’t include ‘mailto’ email addresses in plain coding on the site.
    More 
42. Your site need not be large or complex.
    More 
43. Don’t leave out-of-date content online.
    More 
44. Use several people to proof-read for typos and poor grammar.
    More  | Extra
45. Make your pages printer-friendly.
    More  | Extra
46. Take time to assess your target audience, their interests, needs and circumstances.
    More  | Extra
47. Not least, pray – both for planning and implementation.
    More  | Extra

    Your church webmaster/team

48. A church webmaster or team needs a clear job description.
    More The church should encourage the webmaster or web team in their back-room role.
49. What if there is no-one technical in your church, to take on the webmaster role? You can use a pre-designed template system. These also answer the problem of what to do if the only technical person in the church moves on, leaving a website that no-one really knows how to update. Follow ‘Extra’ for a listing of providers and how to assess the features they offer.
    More  | Extra
50. A larger church site can benefit from ‘CMS’ – Content Management which enables multiple users to keep the site updated.
    More  | Extra
51. Learn from others. Help is only a mouse-click away.
    More 

    Readability

52. For normal body text, use black font on a white or near-white background.
    More 
53. Do not used fixed font size in your coding.
    More 
54. Therefore make all font sizes relative, so that users can resize text if they wish.
    More 
55. Choice of fonts is important. The Verdana font is designed for computer monitors, and is widely perceived as the most readable for body text. (Note how upper-case I is distinguished from number 1 or lower-case l.) Test it yourself: view this page in helvetica | arial | default sans-serif | default serif | times new roman | restore verdana.
    More  | Extra
56. Understand how to make your site user-friendly to color-blind and visually-impaired visitors. color tester. More 

    Testing

57. Test your site from a technical viewpoint in different browsers, and at different screen resolutions.
    More 
58. Also test your site with real first-time users. Remember, you know your site backwards. They do not.
    More  | Extra
59. Find non-Christians to critique your site. Yes, non-Christians! They are your primary target audience.
    More 

    Navigation and usability

60. Good navigation allows a first-time non-technical visitor to move round your site easily.
    More 
61. Good navigation gives visitors constant clues to fulfill the vital requirements: ‘Where am I, where have I been, and where can I go’. Many websites, of all types, fail to be effective because they lack a good intuitive navigation system.
    More 
62. Do not offer too many links in your navigation menu.
    More 
63. You can use ‘paper prototyping’ to plan different ways of structuring links within the site.
    More  | Extra
64. Make sure your pages download quickly.
    More 

    Being found – online and physically

65. The title tag in the head of your homepage, which should contain the full name of the church, plus town, state and country.
    More  | Extra
66. Your church name, street, town, area/state, country and phone number should also appear in unabbreviated form in a small font in the footer of your homepage (or preferably every page).
    More 
67. Submit your church site to main search engines and secular directories.
    More  | Extra
68. Make every page of your site a logical entry point to your site.
    More 
69. Framed pages present problems to being listed in search engines.
    More 
70. Ensure the church URL is easy to remember. Take every opportunity to give it a high profile.
    More 
71. Make full use of press releases to local newspapers and radio stations. These should always include your URL. Larger churches can consider publishing regular news using an ‘RSS’ feed.
    More  | Extra1| 2
72. Include clear directions for finding the church. Give details of parking, public transport links, and a map.
    More 

    Responding to emails

73. Ensure that every day, someone reads incoming emails to the church.
    More 
74. Some people may be emailing for help on serious life issues.
    More  | Extra
75. It need not necessarily be the pastor or pastor’s secretary that does this, especially out of hours.
    More 

Monvee took the webinar

Their system continues to look intriguing and possibly a good match with re-engaging the 45 and less or non-regular attendees to compliment Alternative Worship.  It is very Web 3.0 which is good for us techies but they are addressing how to be friendly to those less computer savvy.  Pricing right now is somewhat affordable over all especially since they are waiving a lot of the fees they will charge in the future, in exchange for participating in the beta.  Beta pricing is based on % of annual budget, # of average monthly adult attendees, % of those we plan to include & reach -- formula sounds difficult but it is not.

Will continue to research and see where it takes me.  They stress "disciples need to be handcrafted, they can't be mass produced."

I'm communicating with Jamie George @ Monvee who is Episcopalian herself and trying to build up a ministry to the unchurched / youth / Gen X.  So there is a good level of understanding of cultural/church issues vs. only evangelic mega-church or new seed churches.  Which has been an issue for some of the other tools and ChMS's I've looked at.

http://monvee.com/

Fun with database fields & data tracking

Membership status?


We have a lot of options here that we probably need to discuss, define and decide which terms and who they apply to for the database (our use) and need for reporting under Parochial rules.  So there is a toss-up having too few options does not give us a clear picture of where we are at and having too many tends to leave people lost between the cracks.  We can juggle other fields/lists as well if that is a better option i.e. split contribution and steward info separate from membership so there is less of a hierarchy of Steward, Contributor, Active Member, Attendee, etc.  

• Active member
• Inactive member
• Member Non-resident
• Prospective Member (or Returning visitor or Seeker or Visitor 3 or more times)
• Visitor (1 - 2 times)
• Active Participant (or Active Attendee)
• Inactive Participant (or Inactive Attendee)
• Active Contributor Only
• Inactive Contributor Only
• Active Pledging Member (Pledging / Financial Steward - Same or separate form contributor?)
• Relative of Member/Participant
• Deceased?

Relationship:

• Need to separate single adult from single youth/child.

Additional Contact Note types:

• Personal Crisis Event
• Health Crisis Event
• Alert
• Pastoral Counseling

Custom fields:

Adding some special fields into the ACS People Database for office use/tracking:

• 2008 Pledging Member (Yes/No)
• 2009 Pledging Member (Yes/No)
• 2010 Pledging Member (Yes/No)
• A-List Member (Yes/No)
• Baptised (Yes/No)
• Confirmation Status (Conf. Episcopal, Confirmed Other, Not Confirmed, Reconfirmed Episc.)
• Frequency of Attendance (almost never/moved, Al least once a month, at least quarterly, at least 2x a month, Every week solid, high holidays only, less than once a year, regular 3-4x month, yearly)
• Last time seen at church (2006 or before, 2007, 2008, 2009 Q1/Q2, 2009 Q3, 2009 Q4, 2010 Q1)
• List in Directory (Y/N)
• Membership form recevied (Yes/No)
• Preferred service or event (8AM, 10:30AM, 5:00pm, Special Event Only)
• Attending with whom (Adult child only, Friend, Other, Parent, Self only, Sibling, Spouse, Youth or child only)

For baptism and confirmation separately tracking in text:

• Date for baptism
• Location of baptism
• Denomination of baptism
• Date for confirmation
• Location of confirmation

Additional possible fields:

• Majority Faith Community (What denomination if any before now would you most identify with/raised in?)
• Marriage in the church, name & location of church, what denomination, when

As far as groups, organizations, skills, etc -- all likely to be handled in that subfunctionality and not direclty attached to the customizing user record fields.

Google Apps for Enterprise/Non-Profits

Looking into features, cost and configuration:

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html

Hello,

Thank you for your inquiry about Google Apps for Non Profits.

U.S. based non-profit organizations with current 501(c)(3) status and under 3,000 users can now qualify for the Free Education Edition of Google Apps. If you represent a U.S. non-profit organization with more than 3,000 users, please refer to this website:
http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/nonprofit/index.html

We're working hard to expand the availability of the Education Edition to International non-profits, so please stay tuned. In the mean time, international non-profits are welcome to sign up for Google Apps Standard Edition or Premier Edition, both currently available in many languages worldwide.

If you think your organization qualifies, and you already have a Standard Edition account please go to the following site to upgrade your domain to Education Edition:
http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/request.py?contact_type=nonprofit

This is an automated response. We currently don't offer Sales Support to Non Profits interested in the free Education Edition of Google Apps.
However, If you are interested in the Premier Edition of Google Apps please submit your question here: http://www.google.com/a/contactsales
(Please select your 'Organization Type' as Business) and a Sales Representative will get in touch with you regarding you question.

There are multiple resources listed below that can provide you with information about Google Apps.

Your best resource for finding answers to your questions is to use the Google Apps website at http://www.google.com/a Our website maintains a compendium of all the information collected by our Sales and Customer Support Representatives in the Help Center which can be accessed here: http://www.google.com/support/a/?hl=en

Another way to get more information and ask questions directly of a live representative from Google is to attend one of our regularly scheduled webinars. These presentations will give you a more detailed understanding of the product. You can find a list of all upcoming presentations and register at: http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/seminars.html

We also have some automated presentations in which you can learn more about the process.
Automated Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY2bpr1TAA4
Automated Presentation:
http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/online_seminars/apps_overview/premium_seminar.html

If you are ready to sign up for Google Apps, here is a helpful 'Six Steps'
guide to sign up:
http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/admins/resources/setup/
If you need Professional assistance with this implementation, Google Apps has many partners who can help you with Deploying Google Apps. You can get more information about these partners here:
http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=77133&topic=10744

We also have more resources available for self help through the Google Groups for Google Apps where you will be able to talk with other administrators about Google Apps:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Apps?hl=en
http://groups.google.com/group/google-apps-apis (Group meant for the Google Apps developer community)

Please note that you will have access to Google Apps Customer Support if you are a qualified Non Profit organization and are signed up with Google Apps Education Edition. To see all options to get in touch with Customer Support please visit:
http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=60830

Thank You,

Google Apps Team

Simple printed Events Calendar

St. Augustine's Episcopal Church, Oakland - Services & Events

To develop a simple and update-able rolling monthly calendar on a one sheet that is in a calendar format shows upcoming events. 8.5x11 or legal size. Printed on colored paper. Info taken from the updated web site calendar.

Ideally it would include a contact me form on the back for visitors or ministry/prayer + room for mailer/mailing.

Easy enough for the office to drop in the mail at least once a month to all members.

More potential Audio/MP3/Sermon WP Plugins to Research

Several more to investigate:

• MP3 Player Plugin
• Sermon Browser
• Podpress
• WPaudio MP3 Player
• MTR Podcast recorder

Testing out Podbean

Hosting and RSS feeding the audio sermons is going to be a task where we need to try and simplify what we are doing while watching that we don't spend money unnecessarily. So looking both into plug-in options for WordPress and outside services like Podbean that allow hosting (& free hosting) of files with RSS feeds, etc already pre-set for us.

http://staugepiscopal.podbean.com/

WordPress › Inline mp3 player plugin

WordPress › Inline mp3 player: WordPress Plugins

Inline mp3 player replacing any link directly to a mp3 file, such as 'http://yoursite.com/musicfile.mp3' into a special link. Clicking it will turn the link into a small media player with a dhtml slider interface. It works simple, click the link the music starts playing. Drag the tab to browse throught the music. Click the link again to stop. This player uses Javascript Soundkit and the slider of Scriptaculous.