Official Gmail Blog: Tip: Manage several email accounts with Multiple Inboxes

Official Gmail Blog: Tip: Manage several email accounts with Multiple Inboxes

I like this feature a lot, but it doesn't work very well with Chrome, so I went back to Firefox.  What's up with that?

Saddleback Follow up #3

It's about relationships not numbers. Whatever support structure you provide for your small group ministry ought to be about building relationship not just tracking numbers. I'm a discipler and people-builder at heart. So, that has always driven my view of ministry. That bias is built into Churchteams. First of all, it's easy to use. 92% of our clients rated our setup and customization process as not bad (43%), Easy (40%), and very easy (9%) - and that's the really hard part! Secondly, it takes communication to a level NEVER realized before. Communication like our innovative and proven feedback system is the key to building great relationships within a group and upline for coaching.

It's about time and eternity. Just like me, you likely got into ministry to invest in people, not do administration. I am more convinced than ever that web-based tools properly conceived, developed and implemented can and should take care of a large majority of the administrative tasks. What I'm discovering is that we're actually taking care of tasks only dreamed about before. These are enabling busy volunteers and staff to more wisely invest their time in others. Those leaders gifted in administration discover a tool to help them succeed in their calling.

How to create links from your website to certain groups

If your website refers to different types of small groups (ex. women's, men's, singles, on-site, different campus, etc.), you can create a link that will take you directly to that subset of groups. Here's how:


1. Copy this link and paste it somewhere else to edit it.

www.churchteams.com/Login.asp?oID=99999&sID=memberpassword&limit=Y&page=GroupBrowse.asp?filter=y~q1111=22222


2. First of all change the oID (99999 in link above) and the sID (memberpassword).

To do this, go to the Admin Main Menu, select customization features, then church website integration. You can find your unique oID and sID in example link 1. Replace those in the link you copied above.


3. Next, we're going to identify the specific question and response (i.e. the Groupfinder filter option) that you want to link to directly.

To do this, go to the Admin main menu, then Customization features, then Customize Groupfinder, then profile questions. This is the Groupfinder profile template (the same page as Quick Setup, step 2). Find the response that you want the link to refer to, then right click on "edit response". Click on properties and widen the window that pops up so you can see the whole link. It should look like this except with different numbers.

http://www.churchteams.com/EditResponse.asp?ResponseID=7335&QuestionID=1737

Now copy the QuestionID (1737 in this link) and paste it over the 1111 in the link you are creating. Do the same with the ResponseID (7335) and replace the 22222.


4. Now test the link to make sure it is what you want (copy it into your browser). If not, review these steps. If so, send the link to your webmaster with instructions on where to put it on your website.


Using links in this fashion throughout your church website will greatly enhance the use and effectiveness of Groupfinder.

Leader level security & other upgrades

Here's the core part of an email on upgrades I just sent out today to our clients:

As you may know, we are always in the process of improving Churchteams. We get great ideas from you guys and after hashing it out Mark adds upgrades that you get immediately even without knowing it. It's our way of making sure we provide the best service and support out there. Here are a few from the past couple of months. I am referencing these items from the administrator's main menu.

1. Export attendance - When you select the "Meeting Attendance Report" on Group Reports (Reports & Communication), you now have the option to export the data and receive it by email as a .csv file for spreadsheets and other databases.
2. Copy emails to coaches and community Leaders - Also on Group Reports, anytime you send an email there are now check boxes to copy it to your coaches or community leaders. This is a convenience thing that many of us were working around, but this works much easier.
3. Group security for leaders - At the bottom of the "Security and Accessibility" page (Customization Features) is a check box to enable leader level security of groups including a default password. When you enable this, your leaders will need the default password in order to create their own passwords. They will need to have these in order to change or access any other information for their group. This adds a new level of security at the group leader level.
   
4. New templates to change your look/style - At the bottom of the "Organization Options" page (Customization Features), you can now choose from 6 different templates to change the look & style of your account. With a little work from your web person, or by checking out our blog, you can even add a logo or a picture. I may have mentioned this previously, but it is worth drawing attention to again.
5. Add a picture to your groups - Okay, we added this feature awhile back and not too many people are using it. It really does help make the tool feel more warm and personal. You'll see the link on a group's information page from the leader level on up. You don't even have to resize a picture, all you do is select the file and upload it. Easy!
   

Saddleback Conference Issues

I just sent out an email inviting everyone who was interested in Churchteams follow-up from the Saddleback conference in February to stop by here to discuss issues. You might not have blogged before, if not, all you really have to do is hit post a comment below and away you go.

What are you thinking about your small group ministry at this point? What issues and ideas are you messing around with? Don't worry if they don't specifically deal with software. This can be a great place to hang out and talk with others from all over the place. Feel free to chime in with your ideas at any time.

Here's the core paragraph from the email I mentioned. It's the idea and issue I've been thinking about and might be a good launch point.

How do you go from vision & strategy to structure & feedback? This past week I've been doing some big picture work for Churchteams. The two parts of this question really get at what we are about for the church. There are so many great places to get the vision and even the strategy together, but we need something administrative to translate that to structure and then feedback. That's why we created Churchteams the way we did - to tackle the front line tasks that determine the success or failure of the vision & strategy. We also made it customizable so that it can fit your unique vision & strategy.

Saddleback Follow-up 1st of 6

I sent this out tonight to all the folks who expressed interest in Churchteams at Saddleback's small group conference in February.


Dear Friends,

The main purpose of this monthly email is to keep the Churchteams tool in the pipeline for your consideration. I've worked on church staff for 18 years and know that decision-making can take quite a few months and often needs to involve a number of people and budget considerations. So, I'm just going to blog some thoughts for these emails. I'll put them on our new blog as well.

I used to think it was impossible and not even useful to track attendance. For years I was okay with knowing my leaders and not worrying about numbers. Then Randall Neighbour from Touch Ministries and my new pastor at the church I moved to both told me you have to keep attendance and know who's in what group. Just relying on your memory or information that is half a year old wouldn't cut it. ... Ugh.

Now, that I have that information, I'm totally sold on tracking attendance. I'm a better coach to our coaches and leaders, a better connector of people, a better staff person, and a better steward of the wonderful people God has given us to shepherd. Every week I get an email from each leader. Sometimes it just has attendance. Other times some comment catches my eye and I respond to the leader or forward it to their coach with a tip on what to look for and how to respond. And best of all, it's simple for the leader to use. They just click on a link in an email.

That's it.

Thanks,
Boyd

Individual Member Fields - Tracking for Assimilation

Liz just sent me this via email. I thought it would be great to blog as well:

I am writing in connection with The Meeting Place Winnipeg Church Teams account. I have been going through the various screens for editing the profiles. Is there any way to add fields to the individual members screen. Essentially, I am looking for a place to enter comments. This would allow us to enter specifics regarding the individuals that are either waiting to be placed or in transition. Is there a field maybe that I am missing that would be able to store comments that we could retrieve.

My response:

Hi Liz,

Yes. From the admin main menu:

1. Customization Features
2. Customize GroupFinder
3. Contact/Event Types
4. Add a new contact/event type called "Connection" or something similar.

Now you have created the field. To access it for an individual from the main menul:

1. Browse Members
2. Find the member
3. Click on member name
4. View/Update contact/events for ________

To access it through a group. From the group's page, just click view profile.

I use virtual groups called "Connect" groups to track people actively seeking a small group. Then whenever a contact is made, we store that by clicking view profile. When they are placed we remove them from that virtual group. These are not real groups just administrative groups to help me help people assimilate. I do have leaders for each of these Connect groups who make calls and send emails to encourage people to find their group.