Church tithing software?

[Gord Evans]

I used the SEARCH function (above) to see if there are any threads on NazNet discussing currently available tithing software, and the result was "No matches found".

So, if this has already been discussed here, I haven't been able to find a link to the thread.

Can someone please share experiences with tithing software, and recommend something?

You know ... the application would be used to record weekly tithing envelopes / receipts by individual or family and generate reports from time-to-time and eventually a year-end report by individual or family. It might (hopefully) also produce the year-end charitable receipts for the church based on the accumulated information for the year.

Obviously, the "freer", the better. :basic05

But I'd like some recommendations, regardless of cost.

Thanks.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

While my current church is simply using Quicken, the best system I have interacted with is the Nazarene Treasury System. (If my memory is correct, you worship at a Nazarene church).
http://www.ntssoftware.com/a4.jpgHere's a website (http://www.ntssoftware.com/). http://www.ntssoftware.com/

The system I've had the most exposure to is PowerChurch Plus. I would not recommend it.

But I suppose the best system would depend on the specifics of the local church.

[Cindi Hammons]

We use Nazarene Treasury System as mentioned by Jeremy. It costs a couple of hundred dollars, so it is not the cheapest option, but my husband says that it is pretty much idiot-proof (he's the financial secretary at church and is always looking for simple). It does what he needs. The price isn't the greatest, but it has worked well for our church.

[Michael B. Ross]

Gord, when I was pastoring, I was always looking for software to help with church record keeping. There are some programs that integrate giving, attendance etc. They are very expensive.

I have, however, reconsidered the purchasing of many software programs. I have discovered I have made better use of my time learning MS Excel, which is what most programs are, anyhow, only re-packaged.

I now teach several classes at the University, and there are a few good and recommended programs for attendance and grade records. I took the time to set up an Excel worksheet with the appropriate formulae. I now use it as a template.

I am working on final grades this morning, and I just enter data, and the grades are figured automatically. I have even learned to do a Vlookup, which allows me to set ranges for final grades. For example, a student with a 93 final average is automatically read as an A-.

I think a small or mid-size church would be wise to use MS Excel. There are plenty of free online sources to help one learn the formulae.

Oh, one more thing. With Excel, it would be easy to save it as a CSV file, and then use it to mail merge into Word for end-of-year contribution letters.

Edited to add: You could make columns for first name, last name, address etc, and then a column for each Sunday of the year. A final total column would be updated everytime data was entered. You could do charts/graphs showing peak times, trends and projections. It would be easy to do averages and per capita comparisons. Let me know if I can help.

I used the SEARCH function (above) to see if there are any threads on NazNet discussing currently available tithing software, and the result was "No matches found".

So, if this has already been discussed here, I haven't been able to find a link to the thread.

Can someone please share experiences with tithing software, and recommend something?

You know ... the application would be used to record weekly tithing envelopes / receipts by individual or family and generate reports from time-to-time and eventually a year-end report by individual or family. It might (hopefully) also produce the year-end charitable receipts for the church based on the accumulated information for the year.

Obviously, the "freer", the better. :basic05

But I'd like some recommendations, regardless of cost.

Thanks.

[Marsha Lynn]

This certainly isn't free, however, if you already have a copy of Microsoft Access, you can set up a database for recording giving. A few years ago NazNetter Doug Cousins added some features to my database that went beyond my Access skill level. I think appreciative thoughts of him every year when I generate the year-end giving reports.

If anyone is interested, I can send them a copy of what I have. It's far from idiot-proof, but someone who is fairly comfortable with Access should be able to use it.

I keep thinking I'm going to bite the bullet and get NTS but then I check the price again and remember why I haven't done so yet. The pricing choices are either $19.95/month or $249.90 plus around $139 for upgrades, which come out around twice a year. Of course, it takes care of all financial tasks including the year-end pastor's report, not just giving. Still, I just keep kludging along with Access for giving records, Quicken for check-writing and answering most questions, and QuattroPro (WordPerfect's equivalent to Excel) for generating treasurer's reports and keeping track of various fund balances. It takes more work and familiarity with more programs but the price is right since I already own those programs for other reasons.

Marsha

I used the SEARCH function (above) to see if there are any threads on NazNet discussing currently available tithing software, and the result was "No matches found".

So, if this has already been discussed here, I haven't been able to find a link to the thread.

Can someone please share experiences with tithing software, and recommend something?

You know ... the application would be used to record weekly tithing envelopes / receipts by individual or family and generate reports from time-to-time and eventually a year-end report by individual or family. It might (hopefully) also produce the year-end charitable receipts for the church based on the accumulated information for the year.

Obviously, the "freer", the better. :basic05

But I'd like some recommendations, regardless of cost.

Thanks.

[Cindi Hammons]

Marsha,

We have never used the upgrades offered as the basic package has always met our needs.

[Marsha Lynn]

Marsha,

We have never used the upgrades offered as the basic package has always met our needs.

I've wondered about that. This is indeed useful information. Thanks.

Marsha

[Wilson L. Deaton]

The following will be of no use to you but is simply a little Nazarene computer history/trivia...

Ever heard of the, "Nazarene Computerized Contributions System?"

It came out shortly after the, "Nazarene Computerized Financial System."

These both came out as DOS (pre-Windows) software in the late 80s.

It came on a 3 1/2" floppy disk, from which you could simply run it, or if you were cutting edge, you could chose to install the hard-drive version.

These two packages were the first software ever sold by NPH and sold for $125 each. Once several hundred sold, NPH realized there was actually a potential market. They contracted for a much larger all-inclusive, and more expensive package and discontinued the marketing of NCFS and NCCS.

The brains behind the project from the financial perspective ("What should a Nazarene treasury system do?") was Dr. D. Martin Butler (currently Dean of Administration at NTS). His partner, the actual computer programmer on the project was a student at NTS who had been a computer programmer by the name of Wilson L. Deaton!

While a student there, I also wrote the class registration and report card system they used for a while, as well as the software that ran the NTS offering campaign (tracking individual church giving, printing receipts, etc.) Of course, all of that software is now obsolete and no longer in use...

Wilson

[Marsha Lynn]

Very interesting, Wilson. We sure have come a long way since those days, haven't we?

Thanks for adding to our knowledge of Nazarene history.

Marsha


The following will be of no use to you but is simply a little Nazarene computer history/trivia...

Ever heard of the, "Nazarene Computerized Contributions System?"

It came out shortly after the, "Nazarene Computerized Financial System."

These both came out as DOS (pre-Windows) software in the late 80s.

It came on a 3 1/2" floppy disk, from which you could simply run it, or if you were cutting edge, you could chose to install the hard-drive version.

These two packages were the first software ever sold by NPH and sold for $125 each. Once several hundred sold, NPH realized there was actually a potential market. They contracted for a much larger all-inclusive, and more expensive package and discontinued the marketing of NCFS and NCCS.

The brains behind the project from the financial perspective ("What should a Nazarene treasury system do?") was Dr. D. Martin Butler (currently Dean of Administration at NTS). His partner, the actual computer programmer on the project was a student at NTS who had been a computer programmer by the name of Wilson L. Deaton!

While a student there, I also wrote the class registration and report card system they used for a while, as well as the software that ran the NTS offering campaign (tracking individual church giving, printing receipts, etc.) Of course, all of that software is now obsolete and no longer in use...

Wilson

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Dr. Butler mentioned this in my class with him last year. I only got to have one class with him at NTS (he returned the last semester I was there). While I had known him simply via his friendship with my parents, I really got to know him in that class. Dr. Butler is one of my favorites at NTS now. Not so much from his tutelage in the classroom (though he is incredibly knowledgeable in church finance), but from his heart, transparency, and exemplary servanthood.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

I am working on final grades this morning, and I just enter data, and the grades are figured automatically. I have even learned to do a Vlookup, which allows me to set ranges for final grades. For example, a student with a 93 final average is automatically read as an A-.

Michael -

For letter grades, I had tried to set up an IF(THEN) statement within a cell for my excel gradebook, but any given cell can only have 7 (maybe 8, I forget) compounded IF(THEN) statements, and with A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, & F, I need 10. How did you do it?

[Michael B. Ross]

Jeremy, I use a formula called VLookup. For it to work, you must have a final number grade. Then you enter a grade scale somewhere on the worksheet. In the left column, put the lowest number possible for any letter grade. Do not put the high and low, just the low. In the column to the right, enter the letter grade. For instance, an A may be anything from 100 to 95, and A- from 94 to 90, a B+ from 89 to 85, etc. In one column put the low number in each range, such as 95, 90, 85 etc. In the column to the right put the letter grades, A, A- and B+. Important, the lower grades must be above the higher ones. So, it would look something like this:

0 F
60 D
63 D+
66 C-
69 C
73 C+
77 B-
81 B
85 B+
90 A-
95 A

In this scale, a 95 and higher would be an A, 90 to 94 would be an A- etc.

Next, highlight both columns. In the box at the top that normally notes which cell you are in, type a name for your scale. I usually use finalscale. Then hit enter. Your scale is then saved.

Next, go to the cell to the right of your first numeric grade. Student Bob may have a final numeric score in cell N2 of 78. In the cell to the right of the 78, cell M2, enter a formula: VLOOKUP(N2,finalscale,2). That formula says for the 78 in N2 be compared to your scale you named "finalscale" and be given the grade that is column 2, which in my example would be a B. Once you have done that, just copy the formula, drag down through the other students, and paste. It is a fabulous tool.

Let me know if I can help. Also, Google will give you plenty of sites where it is explained.


Michael -

For letter grades, I had tried to set up an IF(THEN) statement within a cell for my excel gradebook, but any given cell can only have 7 (maybe 8, I forget) compounded IF(THEN) statements, and with A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, & F, I need 10. How did you do it?

[Hans Deventer]

Jeremy, I use a formula called VLookup. For it to work, you must have a final number grade.

I'm glad I've always had numerical grades. Over here, you can get grades from 1 to 10, with 1 being terrible and 10 excellent. Usually, a 6 is needed to pass.

So my daughter, who just started a part time college education, got a 7, an 8 and a 9 for her first tests and was very happy with the result!

[Michael B. Ross]

Hans, I agree. I don't like letter grades. Why not give numerical grades since letter grades have to be converted to numbers for averaging anyhow? I use the 1 to 10 scale on all my grading, but I have to convert it to letters for the university.

I'm glad I've always had numerical grades. Over here, you can get grades from 1 to 10, with 1 being terrible and 10 excellent. Usually, a 6 is needed to pass.

So my daughter, who just started a part time college education, got a 7, an 8 and a 9 for her first tests and was very happy with the result!

[Glenn Harris]

[quote=Gord Evans;64273]I used the SEARCH function (above) to see if there are any threads on NazNet discussing currently available tithing software, and the result was "No matches found".

We use Nazarene Treasurers System (NTS) and it works great. I'm the financial secretary and it is easy to use, creates great reports (the more detailed your accounting system the more detailed the report) you can get monthly, yearly, quarterly reports and it maintains both the expense side and the donation side separately but tied together and it can calculate payroll. (I can print out year end reports on each contributor as well as summary reports of donations. I can also print out the quarterly payments for the 941 to the IRS. It's not free but David Watson is flexible on how to pay for it. It is maintained and upgraded to add more flexibility and function as it is discovered.

Although we don't use it it also has the ability to generate computerized checks.

Glenn

[Gord Evans]

We use Nazarene Treasurers System (NTS) and it works great. I'm the financial secretary and it is easy to use, creates great reports (the more detailed your accounting system the more detailed the report) you can get monthly, yearly, quarterly reports and it maintains both the expense side and the donation side separately but tied together and it can calculate payroll. (I can print out year end reports on each contributor as well as summary reports of donations. I can also print out the quarterly payments for the 941 to the IRS. It's not free but David Watson is flexible on how to pay for it. It is maintained and upgraded to add more flexibility and function as it is discovered.

Although we don't use it it also has the ability to generate computerized checks.

Glenn

Glenn, I just went to NPH online and searched for Nazarene Treasurers System ... no matches found.

Where can I look to see it this system would work for us here in Canada. As you are no doubt aware, our payroll system is quite different from the USA system, and regulations and documents surrounding charitable donations are somewhat different, too. Do you know if there is a "Canadian-ized" version of this system?

[Glenn Harris]

http://www.ntssoftware.com/support/submitq.html

[Gord Evans]

http://www.ntssoftware.com/support/submitq.html

Thanks Glenn!

I've submitted my questions to them through your link.

I've also had a look at the software. If NTS provides Canadianized payroll support, this would be a great package for us to acquire. The charitable receipt would work for us.

I especially like the fact that there wouldn't be any further "financial exercises" required to generate the annual report.

[Marsha Lynn]

So, thanks to this thread, I ordered the NTS software. I started the transition to it in January with contribution records but didn't fully implement it until our new church year started on June 1. Six weeks later, I'm still tweaking the setup and haven't quite abandoned my QuattroPro/Quicken combo, but I'm liking NTS more and more all the time. The instruction manual is fairly brief but has been quite adequate. I think I may have had to consult the website once and it took an e-mail to validate my license last week but I haven't had to call for phone support.

Thank you to those who provided the info I needed to make a good decision on this.

I took the first report from the new system to last week's board meeting. It was a much busier format than what I had been producing from my spreadsheet setup. I asked the board if they thought it would work or if they preferred that I plug the numbers into the old format. There was a consensus that the NTS format is easier to understand than the format I've used for years. I considered finding that response offensive, but since keeping the old format would have added substantially to work involved in producing monthly reports, I decided to simply be thankful that they like the NTS format better. I think I can make it fit on five pages (up from three under the old system).

:fav16

Marsha

Marsha,

We have never used the upgrades offered as the basic package has always met our needs.

[Barb Bouldrey]

We also use the Nazarene Treasury System. It is great! The only problem we saw was that when our treasurer entered a check to Gene's Tree Service for some tree removals, the computer program listed it under "General Treasurer."

LOL

John caught that on the annual report when he was trying to balance what our treasurer had compared to what KC General Treasurer had.

That was really funny.

Barb

[Billy Cox]

I used the SEARCH function (above) to see if there are any threads on NazNet discussing currently available tithing software, and the result was "No matches found".

So, if this has already been discussed here, I haven't been able to find a link to the thread.

Can someone please share experiences with tithing software, and recommend something?

You know ... the application would be used to record weekly tithing envelopes / receipts by individual or family and generate reports from time-to-time and eventually a year-end report by individual or family. It might (hopefully) also produce the year-end charitable receipts for the church based on the accumulated information for the year.

Obviously, the "freer", the better. :basic05

But I'd like some recommendations, regardless of cost.

Thanks.

Some time ago, I explored a potential business venture to develop and sell church management software. I decided against it since my specialty is in developing web software.

Although church management software has been around for 20+ years, the field is still WIDE open. I'm not sure if that is due to the wide diversity of church customers, or because churches are notorious for wanting a Mercedes for the price of a borrowed Yugo.

[Barb Bouldrey]

I think that every denomination is so different in their programs that it would be difficult to create a program that would fit more than one denomination.

Actually, Nazarene churches of different sizes and different locations vary so much that even the Nazarene Treasury System might not fit all situations.

Barb

[Bob Woolley]

I think that every denomination is so different in their programs that it would be difficult to create a program that would fit more than one denomination.

Actually, Nazarene churches of different sizes and different locations vary so much that even the Nazarene Treasury System might not fit all situations.

Barb

Gord,

I do not believe NTS will work in our country but I could be wrong. It has something to do with the way our tax system is setup and what we are allowed for deductions, etc.

We use ACCPAC or Simply Accounting in our church I believe.

[Ryan Scott]

I saw a new system come through our office as a trial last summer. It was pretty comprehensive with not only fundraising, but attendance, membership, mailings, room reservations, events, etc. It was billed as a comprehensive organizational system for a local church. It was developed by a Nazarene college student, I think. I don't remember the name, but it seems like it might be a useful tool for local congregations.

[Alisa Stoll]

Our church is using Church Windows http://www.churchwindows.com/
It is not a cheap program up front but I don't think we have had any additional expenses with it (read upgrades). We use the entire package. There is a free trial available from the site.

Billy Cox commented about different denominations and this program has tried to accomodate them.

Alisa

[Billy Cox]

Yes, and something that was generic enough to have a broad market would hardly be any better than what churches already do while stumbling around in Excel or QuickBooks.

[Billy Cox]

I saw a new system come through our office as a trial last summer. It was pretty comprehensive with not only fundraising, but attendance, membership, mailings, room reservations, events, etc. It was billed as a comprehensive organizational system for a local church. It was developed by a Nazarene college student, I think. I don't remember the name, but it seems like it might be a useful tool for local congregations.

I have a feeling that the future of church management software is on the web, especially since web software can generate pdf files on the fly (so 'pretty' reports are possible) and people have become more comfortable with handling confidential data on the web.

Delivering software on the web makes a subscription pricing model possible and allows continuous seamless upgrades. It's also far easier to customize software fwhen you don't have to press thousands of identical CDs for distribution.

[Gord Evans]

Gord,

I do not believe NTS will work in our country but I could be wrong. It has something to do with the way our tax system is setup and what we are allowed for deductions, etc.

We use ACCPAC or Simply Accounting in our church I believe.

Yes, Bob, I agree ... NTS has not been Canadianised (something like software sanctification). I have just been hoping that I had missed something. ;-)

We use QuickBooks for bookkeeping and accounting, but it does very little for the other processes such as keeping track of monthly/quarterly/annual charity contributions and charitable receipt production at the end of the year. That's where Excel and Word or Access kick in.

Thanks, everyone, for your input.

:fav18

[Ryan Scott]

Etapestry is an online financial management software that is marketed towards non-profits. I know there are some congregations who use it, but I think there are probably far better resources (or soon will be) online to capture all of the information a congregation needs to manage.

[Alisa Stoll]

Yes, and something that was generic enough to have a broad market would hardly be any better than what churches already do while stumbling around in Excel or QuickBooks.

Actually if you looked at the web site you would see that they customize for the denomination.

Alisa