Church Community Builder

Pros

Church Community Builder is the leader and industry standard for web-based church administration. The software is intuitive and easy to use. I have implemented the software at two churches in which I have worked and helped others get the most out of their subscription.

What I like most about the software is that it is comprehensive. I've seen too many churches build separate and unconnected systems for children's check-in, group sign ups, payments for events and donor records. When these systems don't "speak" to one another, it creates more confusion and work for the church staff.

The goal of church administration is to remove the burden of administration away from the ministry team. They typically excel at being with people and doing the work of the ministry. However, many struggle with administration basics such as keeping track of groups, communication, attendance data, etc. Church community builder allows our staff to be "efficient with things, so we can be effective with people".

Everyone benefits from a centralized system - whether you log in daily or rarely. We always know where we can find the information we need. Saving time makes the churches dollars go farther.

Cons

The mobile computing revolution took place since CCB launches their 2.0 platform. Getting the software to work and interact well with mobile devices has been a slow process, but I'm happy to see the progress that's been made with the Lead App.

Pros

I think the singular greatest benefit our organization has benefited from with CCB is the use of Process Queues. Process Queues have allowed us to have better traction and accountability when it comes to the follow up and connection with new guests who walk through our doors.

Cons

The groups feature is seriously lacking. Once issues we have experienced is consistently being told that their are great features that are still “being developed.” We have had to switch to a separate groups database just to ease the strain on our volunteer group leaders.

Pros

The groups function has been a lifesaver for us during the pandemic. It's allowed us to stay in contact with our congregation while we are meeting in smaller groups. The calendar feature allows our congregants to subscribe and see when they are serving and what events are happening easily.

Cons

At this time there is not congregant app. I know that with the merger with Pushpay that this is in the works.

Pros

CCB is a beefy, feature-rich software that allows you to do almost everything that you might want to, from an administrative perspective, for your church.

Cons

The main problem with this software is that while many updates are released, it feels like a software that has been piled up for a long time rather than thoughtfully integrated. As a result even the simplest tasks are often convoluted, taking triple the number of mouse clicks than they should.

Just one example: editing profiles is cumbersome, finding information about a person requires multiple clicks through their profile information, and adding people requires a process that is more than simply filling out a simple page (you have to create a person, then find that person again from the list, then click into their profile, click to edit their password, and click "send password reset email" in order for them to receive a welcome email).

Their sales page looks fantastic, and the software at least LOOKS good when you log in, but whenever you try to do something basic, while it's definitely possible, the whole time you're trying to do something you're left thinking "should it be this complicated"?

Probably our biggest disappointment is that congregational engagement, which was a huge sales point, is virtually nonexistent. Because people cannot find other people and communicate easily (because it is cumbersome) with other people, they never log in to use the software. Even our leaders with full permissions would rather copy/paste email addresses into their own email software and communicate via email (or text message) than use this as a communication tool.

Pros

The software is pretty user friendly in most aspects and does a lot. Really good system of processes to keep track of where people are and steps of membership. Robust giving platform.

Cons

I am a little underwhelmed by the calendar system, having come from EventU, especially where recurring events are concerned.