Case Study: Camarillo United Methodist Church

After using the same church software system for 20 years, Camarillo United Methodist Church (CUMC)  knew it was time to consider new software. Difficult to use, it slowed down their processes did not have the necessary support, and was too expensive for what it did.

Office Director and Treasurer Pam Dougherty wanted a way to save staff time, improve data integrity, and cut administrative expenses. She wanted staff to be able to spend less administrative time and more time serving people. Reporting had also become a significant challenge for the ministry.  This not only affected their national and conference level reporting, but also their ability to communicate with and report to their church members.

It was time to find new church management software.

Transforming Ministry and Saving Resources with Servant Keeper

Researching new software, Pam  quickly discovered that Servant Keeper was cost-effective and scalable to meet the needs of CUMC. Because it integrated well with Quickbooks, the financial secretary and treasurer would no longer have to enter the same data twice.

As far as ease of use, Pam shared, “I taught myself how to use Servant Keeper database. I am no rocket scientist. It’s very intuitive. It makes sense.”

Since switching to Servant Keeper, the church’s data tracking and reporting has been made simpler, and more accurate. They appreciate the ability to easily set up custom fields that provide specific information they need to report annually to their UMC conference.

Continued Improvements

Today, the church is able to complete the same tasks in less time. Pam has since been able to put more time into running CUMC’s own Medical Supply Project, providing life-changing donated medical supplies like crutches or wheelchairs to others in need.

“One of our most important objectives for 2018 was to save money on administrative expenses. Servant Keeper allowed us to do that while continuing to provide financial membership functions necessary for accurate reporting and operations.”

• Immediate savings. CUMC now saves $600 each year on support costs alone.
• They cut their administrative workload. They no longer have to enter data in multiple places.
• Freed up staff time. Staff is completing tasks faster. Plus, data is now more accessible to more staff, reducing bottlenecks.
• Improved data integrity. Data is entered in one database improving data accuracy.