Church administration can sometimes seem like an insurmountable task. It can be due to multiple reasons, including, not enough resources or money. On top of that, scheduling multiple volunteers can be an intimidating chore. It takes a mix of business acumen and Church teachings to accomplish all of these functions.
As an administrator of the Church, you must be quite often finding yourself answerable to different challenges set towards delivering exceptional services, and can sometime take up tasks that are not within the scope of your achievement.
Effective Church administration comes with good planning and proper support systems. If you are looking for effective automation to organize your day-to-day tasks of your Church, then you should take advantage of Church Management Software solutions. If you are looking for a system that can help you in the management of all your religious proceedings, then you should start looking for some of the top Church Presentation Software.
Interestingly, here are the top 10 tips that I can share with you to help you be an efficient Church administrator. The less time you spend on the day-to-day chores, the more time you can spend with the people of your congregation.
1. Find an automated scheduling solution
Churches can have anywhere from tens to hundreds of volunteers. Keeping track of when and where they need to be manually can often turn into too much work. They may have different hours of availability and they probably have different tasks and areas of expertise among them. This may make them right for one job, but the wrong fit for another.
This can easily be solved by a free appointment scheduling system where people can sign-up for slots on a calendar. This program should be able to book multiple services and resources at any given time. It should also be able to send reminders and confirmations to each of your volunteers. Flexibility is the key in these situations. You don’t want to demand too much of your volunteers, who give their time with such generosity.
Proper online scheduling and booking can help you avert any miscommunications and confusion that can come from traditional word-of-mouth notifications. Make sure everybody is on the same page when it comes to where they have to be and when they have to be there. Additionally, as the administrator of the account, you can make sure all dates and times are correct for your Church functions.
2. Keep a handle on your Church’s finances
It doesn’t matter if you have an accounting degree, structuring Church finances can be a huge strain on anyone. The good news is that there are multiple resources you can use to help you order the fiscal side of running a Church. Try incorporating a proper expense management system in order to keep track of all your income and expenditure.
Tithe.ly is one such platform built specifically for Churches aimed at helping Churches increase engagement and handle their offerings in a more organized way. The software comes with a free trial, and Church administrators can use the free trial to test all the money allocation process.
In addition to that, Tithe.ly has a blog which speaks directly to the challenges of handling Church finance matters. One particular helpful post covers the six most helpful tips for staying on top of the incoming and outgoing money.
3. Communicate clearly to your congregation
Proper communications are one of the most important functions of Church management. After all, effectively getting across the message of Christ is the purpose of His Church.
Technology has allowed many changes to take place rapidly in how people communicate with each other now. Even ten years ago, there was a completely different reality when it comes to how messages were transmitted. So a clear and effective communication strategy is necessary for maintaining the health of the Church.
It is always best to determine who your audience is and what message you want to get across. Once you have determined that, all of the tools will just be aids in getting your message out. These tools include social media, your website, blogs, and printed newsletters.
Here are a few more resources to help you out:
Try using a collaboration software solution that can help you keep your team members all under one dashboard. They are the best for effective communication and collaboration.
If you have legal documents to be managed, then try using a document management software solution.
You don’t need to be a graphic designer to create elegant and beautiful designs for your Church materials. Canva offers gorgeous templates for every type of occasion or event that you can change as you will. As a non-profit, you can request a free subscription.
4. Use alternative ways to raise funds
Grants should never be overlooked when you are looking for ways to fund your Church. They are sometimes hard to find and apply for though.
Grants can be a nice alternative to help fund a special project or new initiative, but first you need to find out the best ways to make yourself available for them. You also need to be alert when new grants are offered. Try adopting a Grant management software solution to discover, manage, handle sponsors and carry out all tasks related to gaining grants.
Additionally, it is easy to get a subscription for the National Churches Trust newsletter, which always publishes new grant offers in a timely fashion. But there’s more to grants than just being aware of them. You also need to be able to write a convincing proposal.
By seeking out a grant writing workshop you can hone to write proposals in a way that gets attention and support.
5. Don’t underestimate the need for good IT
It’s well beyond time for Churches to fully embrace the channels and mediums of the 21st century when it comes to getting their message across. This means delving into the world of information technology.
Luckily, there are plenty of free and open source, or discounted IT software solutions available to Churches and other non-profits. Have a look at this blog on free and open source Church presentation software created by GoodFirms.
There is an importance to keeping your IT infrastructure up-to-date. When all of your online resources are functioning, it is well worth the investment and will help your whole team’s output and productivity.
6. Be policy-focused
Teams function better when they know there are rules and procedures to follow that are standardized across the entire Church structure. As an administrator, you are in a position to set these standards and communicate them so that everybody is aware of their importance.
This will create a standard of rules so that team members don’t have to double-check with you before they act on their own. Give those you work with the confidence and ability to take charge of their own campaigns.
So instead of handling issues one at a time using just intuitive judgment, you can refer to your policies. There will be all sorts of new issues that pop up that can be addressed quickly and easily by referring to the set operating process.
7. Be aware of risks and head them off
Don’t get bogged down in trying to avoid liability and all the legal maneuvers that go along with running a Church.
You may have someone who handles liability in your Church, but as the Church administrator, you will need to get involved if an incident occurs. An administrator plays an important role in looking forward to what will be required when an incident happens at your Church. For all legal, reputational and organizational risk management, try and adopt a risk management software solution.
However, you don’t have to do it alone. You can reach out to legal experts to help you when something goes awry. There are several online resources that can make things easier for you at various times. Always ask for advice when you need it. People are more than willing to give help when it is asked for.
8. Help out your Church Board
Among the most important duties Church administrators have, is to educate the leadership team of their Church about what you need from them and what they may need from you. By being clear about your responsibilities, you set up a successful partnership between you and the Church Board.
As the Church administrator, you may support the Church secretary or treasurer in their positions with all their responsibilities. If you are part of a smaller Church, you may have to take care of those responsibilities yourself.
In any case, you provide the bolstering for the Board with resources and materials that help everyone function well. There is no job too big or small for the administrator when it comes to aiding the Church Board.
Church administrator is a big job as you have to be the supporting player for all of the major roles in your Church family. Take advantage of the resources at your disposal before trying to handle everything in a rush. Taking the proper time to accomplish this task will better prepare you and the board for the future.
9. Take charge of leadership
You are one of the most important players in any Church as the Church administrator. You have your fingers in a lot of pies, so to speak. This will give you a lot of power to influence policy and the direction of the Church.
The pastor will rely on you more than others to carry out the vision of the Church and it will often make the two of you the most dynamic team in the organization.
It’s important to put work into your relationship with the face of the Church so that you can keep your congregation informed and assured.
10. Talk to others with positions like you
Church administration is definitely a great art. Managing every activity within the Church requires proper planning and a good connection with the congregation. The process of collaborating, coordinating and organizing various activities is challenging. Proper systems and approaches can help mitigate risks. The people of your Church need you to be present at all moments. This will help bring them closer to the message of the Church.
There are other Church administrators out there just like you who are making a difference in their communities and they would like to share their experiences with you. So don’t be afraid to reach out and touch base with another person who may have insight on a challenge you are facing.
It’s an unfortunate fact that sometimes Church administrators can be overlooked by larger groups and conventions. Church leadership gatherings often are targeted towards Pastors. While there are still lessons to learn from these events, Church administrators often need bespoke solutions. They face challenges that are unique to what they do within the Church environment.
Conclusion
New technologies and powerful software systems can help Church administration effortless. There are a number of Church management software solutions and Church presentation software solutions that will help you align all the values, vision and goals set by the Church.
Apart from the ones discussed above, there are many more resources and tools that can help you in your duties as a Church administrator.
If you have used any software to enhance your role, please do share your experience and reviews with us.
