Tuesday was another great day here in Toronto! While meeting with several churches today, one question seemed to recur in a variety of formats—what are my favorite tools and resources?
I met with a few churches today throughout the Greater Toronto Area, and the same question seemed to come up over and over again. In creating a communications plan, trying to be efficient in time, and in an effort to be most effective in resources, churches want to know what tools I use. We all want to be more productive, right? Here are some of my favorite tools and resources.
Google Drive
Our ReFrame Media team uses Google Drive and Google Team Drive as a central location for all files. It’s a great place to store most any type of file, as well as archives and new documents. With Google Docs collaboration, editing, and sharing documents is easier than ever. There’s one version of a document (and you can easily see recent changes and past histories of the document), making it easier to track. The files are easy to share and takes less effort than emailing files back and forth.
Slack
Another tool our ReFrame Media team uses constantly is Slack. While our team is spread across several states and two countries, even your church staff or ministry leaders can find Slack to be a great option for your team to communicate online and cut down on endless email threads.
Asana
I like lists. I like feeling accomplished and seeing all that I’ve been able to complete, as well as what still needs to be completed. Asana is a great way to keep track of projects, tasks, and timelines. When you’re busy with several different projects and trying to multi-task, Asana helps keep things organized by both project and due dates, keeping my busy life on track.
Buffer
I love being able to spend a few minutes every few days scheduling out my social media posts. Buffer offers a clean, user-friendly interface that makes scheduling posts for a variety of social media platforms simple and efficient.
MailChimp
While we don’t use MailChimp at Church Juice, I still love the email platform. It’s free, which is obviously a great option when trying to spread ministry dollars, has a great user interface, and analytics are easy to track and understand. MailChimp really is the best email option for churches.
Typeform
I love Typeform because it’s online forms look great. For most ministries creating registration forms, surveys, or other online forms can be a hassle. Typeform’s free version is a great option for most ministries and it’s easy to create, use, and keep track of responses. I use Typeform for all of Church Juice’s surveys and registrations.
Breeze ChMS
Church Management doesn’t need to be so daunting for church administrators. A lot of churches use Planning Center Online, but my favorite tool, especially for small churches, is Breeze Church Management Software (ChMS). Breeze offers a simplified interface, with robust-yet-simple tools, and easy-to-understand pricing. Obviously Church Juice doesn’t have need for a ChMS system, but if your church is searching for a new and better database system, I would strongly consider Breeze.
Keeping up on the newest trends and latest news can be time-consuming. Throughout the day I come across a ton of articles, blogs, and updates that I want to read, but I don’t want to distract from my current task-at-hand. Pocket allows me to save things I want to read in an easy spot so that I can come back later and read them in my free (or scheduled) time.
These are a few of my favorite productivity tools for church administrators, communicators, and ministry leaders. What are your favorite tools?
