I’ve been doing some thinking about my church’s requirements for a database. There are some things that we need in a database. There are other things that we would like in a database, but can live without.

Different churches have different needs, but I think that a lot of these requirements would be common to many churches. This isn’t a final list – is there something that you think most churches would need that I haven’t included?

What we need (i.e. non-negotiable)

• Access the database online. Why? To enable group leaders (e.g. Connect Leaders, leaders of Welcome Teams) to take ownership of their groups. To enable church members to access and edit their own information (e.g. when they change address). To access the database regardless of platform (Mac or PC). The online database option is a fairly new strategy – only made available by new technologies in recent years. However, I’m keen to explore this option for the reasons above.
• Ability to easily print out a directory of members. Why? Because not everyone wants to view the directory of church members online, and we want to give multiple options for our members to contact each other.
• Ability to track attendance (people, not just number of attendees). Why? To keep track of who came to church on the weekend in order to care for people who haven’t been for a couple of weeks. Most databases contain an ‘attendance’ facility, e.g. to note that 54 people attended the morning service on Sunday. We require the capacity to track if John Smith attended the service on Sunday morning, and how regular his attendance has been.
• Ability to email groups (e.g. men, 6.30pm congregation). Why? Sending email directly from the database to pre-existing groups saves a lot of time (e.g. avoids the need to import email addresses into my email software, create a new group, and then send the email).
• Excellent support. Why? I want to be confident that if the system goes down, they will be on top of it quickly. I’d like to know that if I have requests for how the database might be improved, they will be responsive to the feedback. I’d like to know that if I’m stuck or need help, the will be keen to help.  The expectations for support are much greater for online databases than a software-based database, because a) the costs are higher, but also b) the capacity to roll-out continual improvements is also greater.
• Easily get data out of the database. Why? Because we won’t necessarily keep using the same database forever and because there are times when we need to take information from the database to use in another format (e.g. name badges or labels for a mail merge).
• Identify gifts, passions and abilities. Why? As the church grows, it becomes harder for all staff to know all the people in the church and therefore be aware of who is gifted, passionate and able in particular ways/areas. Tagging members with gifts, passions and abilities (e.g. passionate about interior design, gifted in reading the Bible) enables faster identification of people who might be able to serve in current and potential ministries.
• Varied access levels. Why? Different staff and lay leaders require different access to information on the database. We want to give members access to basic information of other members (with their permission of course), without listing all the details about all members.
• Detail ministry involvement. Why? To keep track of who is involved in particular ministries (e.g. is a Kids Church leader, plays piano in the Saturday Night band). There is also potential (i.e. this would be an optional extra) to list who has been approached about serving in a particular ministry (e.g. “asked John to join welcoming team – busy with uni until October, follow up in November”).
• Detail who has done child protection training, and when. Why? To remain above reproach, adhere to legislative/Diocesan requirements and to care for the children and leaders.
• Create basic workflows. Why? To care for people. For example, a basic workflow might involve a reminder to call someone within four weeks of their first visit, to ask how they are finding church, and if there’s anything they would like to know, or get help with.

What we would like (desirable but optional)

• Support for Australian (international) date, phone and address formats. Why? Whilst not essential, it can be frustrating adding data to the database in a different format to how this is normally entered.
• A planned path of growth. Why? It would be encouraging to see that the developer of the database has a plan for its growth and a road-map for how these improvements will be implemented and when.
• Support for internet-enabled devices (e.g. iphone). Why? As more and more people (staff and members) use these devices, the capacity to access the database (either via a designated app, or a mobile-friendly site) would be useful.
• Track important dates. Why? Again, to care for people. e.g. date first attended the church, date baptised, etc. This could be followed up by a phone call – “you joined our church 6 months ago…”
• Set reminders. Why?  e.g. a reminder to call John in November to follow-up request to serve at Kids Church.
• List previous involvement in a ministry. Why? Someone who is new to the church might have been involved in men’s ministry at their previous church, but you would like to give them time to settle (and observe their Christian life) before inviting them to get involved. If this information is noted, you can return to it once they have become a member of the church.
• Track who has completed training. Why? Running a training event doesn’t guarantee that everyone who needs to be trained actually attends! Tracking this information enables follow-up of people who should have been trained, but haven’t been trained yet.

What have I left off these lists that you think should be included?