Church Directory SoftwareChurch directory software is a great alternative to the traditional way of creating a directory.The traditional way involves a photography company. They come in and take pictures of each family. Then a few weeks later, a salesman arrives and meets with each family to try and sell them a photo package. Then the company creates a directory and delivers it to your church.But there are a few problems with this. Cost. Salespeople try to 'upsell' packages to your church families. Outdated.

1. Best Church Directory Software

Within a couple months your directory is out of date. People leave, new families join, new children are added to families, and others pass away. There is no way to keep the traditional church directory up to date. Quality. There are some companies which offer a fairly high-quality product. But often, the paperback directory easily tears, wrinkles, and loses pages. Lost and found.

Have you ever wanted to call someone in the church but couldn't find the directory? Church directory software helps avoid this problem.Types of Church Directory SoftwareThere are basically three different types of church directory software. Online. Some church directory software is done completely online. You enter all your information into the online system and that information is stored securely on the company's servers.

OneBody is free church directory and social networking software. Including member management tools that make your directory available online to church members. Members can upload their own photos, testimony, contact info and more. Connect people in groups by class, study, project or trip and emil your group to stay in touch. A church membership directory lets the church leader know the members - and gives the congregants the opportunity to have contact and get to know one another. Creating a church membership directory requires collecting the essential information from its members. Gather membership information from the congregants. The second is a directory format that lists all group members, address, phone and custom field information can be included as well. What our customers are saying. “If your church is small to medium size and you are looking for a software to track it's members information as well as one that is user-friendly, Roll Call is the one!!”.

Offline. A number of companies offer church directory software that is downloaded onto a person's computer. All information is then entered and stored on a church's computers. Online and offline. There are some church directory software companies which offer both options.

You can choose to build your directory entirely offline or do the work online.I contacted each of the directory software companies listed below. I offered them the opportunity to write a short article about their programs. Most took advantage of the invitation.If the company offered a free trial, I also tested out the program myself.My CongregationThis is a program you download and install on your computer. Even though I prefer online church directory software, this is a really nice program.When you first open the program you will see a menu of options. This serves as your dashboard. It has links to every part of the software. It is really easy to understand and find what you are looking for.One feature that makes this program stand out is the integration of email with the directory.

You can email everyone or just members of a group.One other unique feature is that you can track the number of hours an individual volunteers. This probably won't help churches. But schools will really be able to use this feature.You can download a free 14 day trial.To make the directory work, you have to print it to a pdf file. You can then save it to your desktop or print it out.

In order for other people in your church to get a copy, you will either need to print one for each family or send them an email with the document attached. If you have someone who can do it, you could upload the file to your church website. Then people could download and open the file right from your web site.Another feature that is better-suited for schools is that you can sell ad space. A church might want to consider this for a fundraiser. Perhaps the youth group could do the work on the directory, sell ad space, and raise money for a mission's trip or something.Though you have to print to a pdf or to a printer in order to view the directory, the print process is easy.

Best Church Directory Software

The process is logical and provides a number of options – such as page orientation, number of pages, etc.Here's what they had to say about their product:'MyCongregation lets you create a beautiful church photo directory right from your desktop. No more cumbersome spreadsheets and generic publishing software. Our preformatted reports and easy to use data management tools make getting the directory to your congregation a breeze. Whether you're printing or hosting the directory on your website, our software can save you tons of time and money. Features include:. Complete adult and children's contact details. Preformatted PDF reports are print or web ready.

Multiple report options lets you choose exactly what information to display. Grouping features let you sort your congregation members into smaller groups or organizations. Import data from your existing systems and be done in 24 hours. Comes with a complete Email Manager'.Picture DirectoryPicture Directory offers both online and offline versions. This is what they had to say:'Currently we offer two products:. GEFC Directory 2.2 – For Creating a Printed Pictorial Directory.

Picture-Directory.com Online – For an Online Pictorial Directoryoffers directory software, on the web or PC desktop, for any type of organization; businesses, law firms, churches, clubs, and various other organizations. Picture-Directory products put faces to names, are simple to use, easy to search and find who you want by more than just a name.

Create a chuch member directory so members will have quick access to fellow members' contact information.Create and print a church member directory to enable members of the church to have a quick and easy way to find contact information for other church members. A directory can also be a great way to help new members find prayer partners or church officials when a need arises when the directory is made available in new member packets.

The directory can be compiled and printed from a computer, reducing the cost for the church as well. Brought to you byBrought to you bySet a date for photos to be taken and post it in the church bulletin, or contact members to let them know, and arrange a time for their sitting.Take all the photos. Keep a list of the member and which number photo they were for easier labeling of the printed or digital photos.Develop the film and scan the photos onto the computer, or purchase the photos on disk from the developer.

If the photos were digital, upload them to the computer. Assembling the DirectoryPlan the layout for the directory using the word processing program on the computer.

A cover page, table of contents, committee pages, business directory, or index can be included if desired.Collect the member information sheets and notate the file name for the member's photo on the sheet.Sort them in the order they will be included in the directory. This can be alphabetical, by position in the church or both.Type the information into the word processing program. Run spell-check. Once completed, load paper into the printer and print the directory.

Assemble the directories.Bind each directory. This can be done with staples or by using a hole punch and inserting the pages into a binder.