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Planning Center

Score9.3 out of 10

34 Reviews and Ratings

What is Planning Center?

Planning Center in Carlsbad offers modular church management applications, providing CRM, tithe management, event registration and attendance, and volunteer resource scheduling.

Indispensable Tool for Ministry

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Planning Center for scheduling and managing all volunteers in music ministry, children's ministry, student ministry, and our security team. We also use Planning Center's Giving app for charitable giving management, their People app for database management, their Groups app for our small group ministry, their Registrations app for event management, and their Check-Ins app for children's ministry check-in each week. These products are an integral part of our interaction with congregants and volunteers on a weekly basis.

Pros

  • Volunteer Management
  • Scheduling
  • File Hosting
  • Communication tools
  • Automated reminders

Cons

  • Groups' Communication Tool
  • Giving app scaled access for volunteers
  • Church-wide communication tool
  • Song-reporting integration with CCLI

Most Important Features

  • Automated reminders
  • Scheduling tools
  • File hosting services
  • Mobile apps

Return on Investment

  • Planning Center Services has become an irreplaceable part of our Sunday gathering preparation
  • Planning Center Music Stand is an invaluable tool for rehearsal and performance of songs each week
  • Planning Center Giving helped us establish easy ways for folks to give online during COVID and beyond
  • Planning Center Registrations helped us navigate attendance issues during COVID, and has always been our go-to for gathering information for Events

Alternatives Considered

FellowshipOne, Church Community Builder and Pushpay

Other Software Used

Canva, Google Calendar, GarageBand, iMovie, Adobe Premiere Pro, Logic Pro X, vMix Live Streaming Software, Vimeo Enterprise (Vimeo Livestream)

Planning Center - Great for Coordinating Church Services!

Pros

  • Easy to use app
  • Helpfully displays order of services/events
  • Provides instant collaboration among several users

Cons

  • Could improve the "timing" tool (as in, adjusting the time when events start)
  • Could add personalization options (as in, the ability to upload a logo for an event)
  • Could add a "copy and paste" feature (maybe there is one, but I haven't seen it)

Most Important Features

  • Collaboration among many users
  • Ease of arranging events within an larger event
  • Ability to access the tool from one's phone or tablet (the app)

Return on Investment

  • Planning Center has helped us put on quality worship service every week
  • Planning Center has allowed us to put on an annual youth conference with excellence
  • Planning Center has promoted teamwork and collaboration among our volunteers

Alternatives Considered

Asana and Trello

Other Software Used

Church Community Builder, Pushpay, Todoist: To-Do List & Task Manager, Wix

A no brainer. Unmatched volunteer coordination with powerful resource delivery

Pros

  • Volunteer coordination with blockout dates.
  • Fantastic repository of resources.

Cons

  • Adding files to an item on a playlist can be hard to find outside of that set.
  • Previewing songs on import gives very limited info - can be hard to find the correct one.

Return on Investment

  • Reliable and consistent scheduling options for volunteers. Keeps them happy and us staffed.
  • Better communication makes for a better planned and executed service.

Alternatives Considered

Breeze

Other Software Used

Adobe Illustrator CC, Adobe Audition, Adobe Premiere Pro