Official Fellowship Technologies Blog

Grace Family Church: Christmas in July?

acoppedge — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:25:00 GMT

People are normally adverse to change, as we are creatures of habit and familiarity. But when habit and familiarity don’t meet the needs of a growing church, change becomes a necessity. Even still, getting staff and volunteers to accept change can be a challenge, unless the church leadership introduces change in a positive, helpful and personal way. Grace Family Church located near Tampa, FL was able to do just that with their Fellowship One implementation, so we sat down with Christy Rivas, Director of Communications, Scott Goodger, IT Manager, and Executive Pastor Mark Quattrochi to learn how they had such tremendous success in creating complete buy-in from their staff.

Christy shared part of their strategy, “We know with our staff that we have to present change as, ‘this is what is going to benefit you, this is the value, this is the goal we’re trying to accomplish.’” The church had already learned how tough change could be through two previous attempts and experience with other vendors for their church management software. Then they found Fellowship One. As a result, the church leadership team led by example in front of the staff and reinforced the positive changes that came with the new system. “When we trained, [the] management team made it a priority for everybody to be there which also included themselves. Scott would have one of the executive pastors up there running a query, getting up there and finding people,” recalled Rivas. “And I think when the rest of the staff saw the buy-in by the upper management, everybody else kind of jumped on board too. Scott was very conscientious in making sure that everybody else saw that the change is from the top down.” But Grace Family Church didn’t stop there, not only did the leadership lead by example, but Christmas was soon to follow! The leaders of Grace Family Church created “Christmas in July,” with a full celebration for the entire staff, replete with gifts, Christmas lights, Poinsettias, and even a Christmas tree to help build up the momentous occasion.

Scott Goodger recalled their Christmas in July experience, “We knew we had to theme this in a way that would be fun and exciting for everybody. Charles (the church Art Director), out of the blue kind of popped up with ‘Christmas in July.’ He said, ‘Fellowship One is our new baby coming in July. There’s our grand Christmas present.’ So from there we built out staff training times once a week, and held weekly training sessions where we all got together in one room and watched the training videos. We made the training fun with themes and giveaways. People would answer a question and I’d give them a $5 card to Starbucks or Chic-fil-A or something like that. There were Fellowship One t-shirts and cups that we gave away as prizes, and from week-to-week the training built from the basics of how to work with Fellowship One right up to our go-live date of July 16th. On that day we had the whole training room decorated like Christmas!”

Executive pastor Mark Quattrochi also shared that the change wasn’t just about software. “We had to continually raise the value that this was not about data, this was not about computers or that you’re going to run a report easier, although those things do happen. It was more about, how we are going to be able to continue to equip and empower people, and we need to bring tools closer to us and learn how to use them so we can do that.”

After launching Fellowship One in July, the church has some unexpected changes in how they “do church.” Goodger explains, “As we meet with our team, we’re finding more and more processes, policies, and procedures that are inconsistent throughout the different departments of the church that F1 (Fellowship One) is kind of bringing to the forefront, and that we all need to get on the same page. So this is forcing us, in a good way, to continue to change. Quattrochi agreed, “For us it was that synergy that we were missing, because what we had previously was so laborious and so difficult it actually hurt us as far as camaraderie in the office and interdepartmental interaction. And we’re in the people business, which is ironic! So one of the things I’ve noticed is how F1 has bonded the departments together. The information is so user-friendly across the pallet for any department that it’s actually helped with office relationships.”

Rivas believes the church is still in the beginning stages of seeing the full value of Fellowship One. “I understand the data. Once you start figuring out how to use all of the features, the more you use it, the more you find it’s a very powerful tool. I use it every single day, and I really think everyone is starting to open their eyes and really see what it can do for them. It’s been a great tool for us.”

We’re proud to partner with churches like Grace Family and are inspired by their ability and creativity to make this change a positive experience for their staff.

New Fellowship One "Getting Started Videos" Online

acoppedge — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:13:00 GMT

With the new release of Fellowship One coming on December 2nd, we're pleased to provide our "Getting Started Videos" that guide users through the software. Helpful for both new users and for your staff that haven't yet seen the changes coming to Fellowship One, these videos are quick, easy and cover the essentials for:

Basic Training
Activities & Attendance
Contact Management & Notes
Individual Attributes & Requirements
Groups
Contributions
Additional Resources

To view the Getting Started Videos, you'll simply need to log in using a user name, church name and church code (the same credentials needed to log into the Fellowship One Portal). Click here to see a listing of all the videos.

Fellowship One Redesign Video

acoppedge — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:14:00 GMT

As we move closer to the December 2nd release date for the updated version of Fellowship One, we are working hard to make sure our church partners are prepared and on board! Today we have posted a short video demonstrating some of the improvements and changes that have been made to Fellowship One. The video covers new naming conventions, changes to clicks and processes, as well as menu changes. At approximately six minutes long, it is a great resource to share with your staff.

Fellowship One redesign to be released Wednesday, December 2

acoppedge — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:04:00 GMT

In anticipation of the Wednesday, Dec. 2nd release of the Fellowship One redesign, we are providing our church partners with the following documentation, help files and videos to ensure a smooth transition:

•   Today – Visual Map (PDF file) of the changes to Fellowship One
•   Monday, Nov. 16 – 5 minute Fellowship One redesign overview video
•   Wednesday, Nov. 18 – Quick Start Guide videos
•   Daily through Dec. 2 – Online help files added in Staging environment
•   Weekly through December – Featured training videos

We’ve made a visual map that shows the changes to Fellowship One. You can download, share and even print this map out for your staff. Download the visual map of the changes to Fellowship One here.

Help files are being added daily. Log into Staging for Fellowship One to see the help files, identified with a blue circle and question mark. https://staging-www.fellowshipone.com

The new Fellowship One redesign is designed for modern browsers. As of this release, Internet Explorer version 6 (and earlier) will not work with the new Fellowship One.

Each time you log into Fellowship One, you’ll find helpful links and information to keep your users informed on the exciting changes. We’ve put a lot of time and energy into creating a robust interface that not only makes using Fellowship One more intuitive than ever, but we’re also laying the foundations for incredible new advances to the software in the coming months.

Partnering with you,

The Fellowship Technologies Team

The Ocean of Ideas: A New Way to Look at Fellowship Technologies’ Product Management

acoppedge — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:16:00 GMT

Recently, Fellowship Technologies held their quarterly All Hands Meeting at their headquarters in Irving, TX. This quarter’s theme was “back-to-school” and every department was given an assignment as to what class they were to teach. Scott Lowrie, Director of Product Management, and the rest of his team came up with the idea to present “Ocean of Ideas” and used a poster to illustrate their Product Management cycle in terms of an Ecology class.

The way Lowrie explained it, our product and enhancement ideas are generated from many sources: customers through the Experience site, our annual Dynamic Church Conference, the market, and every department at Fellowship Technologies. All of these flow through the “ocean of ideas.” This is a very customer-focused process in order to meet the needs of the majority of our church partners. Everyone that touches Fellowship One is encouraged to participate, but with so many ideas, how do we determine which needs to tackle first? That’s where Scott’s presentation focused our attention to the “cycles” for our Development team.

Using Ecology as a metaphor, Lowrie shared how this process flows for us at Fellowship Technologies. He began by explaining how through the “heat of the sun,” many of these ideas escalate or “evaporate” and rise into what is known as the backlog. The backlog turns the suggestions into user stories, or scenarios, that easily give the context and reasoning behind the suggestions. The user stories are simply stated in a “I need…so that I can…” format. At any given time Fellowship Technologies has three to four months of backlog stories that have the potential for becoming Development projects. These are evaluated and reevaluated at least every quarter, and most times, twice each quarter in what is known as the Product Summit. For example, if our Support team has heard an outcry from existing customers on a particular issue or function within Fellowship One, they can represent that issue at the Product Summit. Everyone has the chance to present on behalf of their suggested project. Once the summit is done, the backlog drifts over like a cloud and new projects are determined. The final decisions as to what projects move forward and what doesn’t are made by what is known as the Steering Committee, which consists of members of Development, Product Management and our executive management team.

The project backlogs are identified as “Rocks, Stones and Pebbles.” To further the analogy, Lowrie explained that the “Rocks” are long, intensive projects, “Stones” are medium-sized projects and “Pebbles” are small projects. We’ve got a lot of room in our “production box,” but not enough for everything, so we pick the rocks, or the big projects that we can tackle in the next few months and go from there. Big rocks take up a lot of room in the production box, but not all of it, so the Steering Committee turns over each rock, stone and pebble to see what combination best fits our workload. This process, sets us up the schedule for the next few months of Development. The decisions are based on the suggestions from the customers, the number of suggestions made, market pressures, and, what makes more sense and would be more beneficial at the time for all of our church partners. After these decisions are made, they branch out like a tree into our priorities and our focus.

Once these are accomplished, the benefits from our focus rain down on each of our church partners and help each of them to bloom and be fruitful within their communities. As new projects are completed, churches use the system and give us feedback. In this way, the gardens that were watered with the old ideas and projects run off into the “feedback river,” which flows back into the “ocean of ideas” and become new ideas for consideration. In this way, the cycle of life and the constant improvement of Fellowship One can be achieved while providing new, fresh ways for our church partners to reach, connect and engage with people.

Work Hard, Play Hard

acoppedge — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:42:00 GMT

After weeks of rain in Irving, Texas, the sun was a welcome sight as it shone off the sidewalk chalk painted brightly on the pavement. The playground was wide open and the toys stood ready…not for children, but for Fellowship Technologies’ employees during “recess” at the quarterly All-Hands meeting.

There was a back-to-school theme and the challenge was that no technology could be used during the day - a stretch for a software company full of techies! Our staff was literally forced to remember back to how we did things before computers. Poster board, markers and glue were the tools of the day. CEO, Jeff Hook, played the part of “Principal Hook” while each of the employees sat with their “home room teachers,” consisting of the Fellowship Tech Executive Team. Each department had to present their accomplishments for the past quarter as well as their goals for the next…and all without PowerPoint, Internet or even clipart! The morning was full of classes and presentations with a break to walk to lunch, in single-file lines of course, before heading out to recess.

Games of kickball, football, and foursquare ensued and plenty of bumps and bruises were the rewards for the competitive and friendly matches. After recess came “story time” led by Tammy Polk, VP of Talent and Organizational Effectiveness, with the help of our resident puppeteer, Brian Holt, who uses this skill at his local church in the children’s ministry. Finally, the day was ended with craft projects as part of a fun team exercise.

We know this may sound silly to some, or frivolous to others, but at Fellowship Technologies we hope to nurture a sense of fun and family as well as a strong work ethic and high expectations among our staff. It’s all about balance in our company’s culture. We love to play hard because we all know how much we value working hard. The relationships that are strengthened through this interaction and the information exchanged are invaluable to us as a company and as individuals, and we hope to share both our culture and our lessons with each one of our church partners.

F1Touch for iPhones is Here!

acoppedge — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:35:00 GMT

Christmas has come early for all Fellowship One users! Fellowship Technologies is proud to announce that the highly anticipated iPhone Application called F1Touch, is now available for Apple iPhones as a free download on the App Store. F1Touch exhibits the power of the Fellowship One API in searching for individuals and is fully supported by Fellowship Technologies for all of our church partners. The features for F1Touch include the following:

My Profile

The F1Touch application allows the user to be remembered on a particular device omitting the need to log in to Fellowship One every time it is used. This feature will also allow the user to start up the application precisely where they exited the previous session.

People Search

Fellowship One is intrinsically people-centric and the F1Touch follows that philosophy with its state-of-the-art people search engine. Users will be able to do name searches in a variety of formulas. F1Touch delivers quick results by limiting the initial numbers of results, and along with the individual’s name, it will also display images when available.

Individual Details

F1 Touch also allows for a comprehensive view of individual details from the Fellowship One database. Using the F1Touch application, phone calls and emails can be made or sent with just one touch of the screen, and the touch of an address will instantly access Google Maps and provide exact locations.

With the F1Touch, the power and ease of the Fellowship One system is literally at the fingertips of the user, which allows the church and its staff to reach its people from anywhere at anytime. The F1Touch iPhone application is available as a free download from the iTunes App Store.

Exploring the new Fellowship One Portal

acoppedge — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:22:00 GMT

As we revealed yesterday, the Fellowship Tech Development team has put in an incredible amount of work to give our church partners not only an updated interface, but a more dynamic and efficient experience. Today, we're exploring some of the new enhancements in this important update.

First, here's a side-by-side comparison of the old Portal interface with the new one:

Perhaps the biggest change is the removal of the side navigation bar, which has been replaced by a new drop-down drawer navigation at the top of the screen. This new dynamic drawer menu slides down over the page content, revealing every link in the Portal.

Another intuitive navigation addition is a simple "back tab", which maintains the current state of the session, eliminating the need to use the browser's back button. So, if you're looking at an individual's details, you can always use the new back tab to go up one level to the family view without navigating through the menu.

When you need actionable items, but don’t want to clutter the interface, gear menus can help. They contain a list of collapsible actions at the top-right of the page, so you can have quick access to common steps, eliminating unnecessary mouse clicks. By that same token, the actions sidebar can help keep actionable items visible, without making them a focal point of the page. You can focus on the task at hand with secondary actions nearby on the sidebar.

A new convenience feature allows you to view more details about a person, without leaving the page. This will show a picture (if available) and pertinent details that are most commonly needed when trying to find contact information. Included in this view is a map link that pulls from Google Maps to show you exactly where a person lives.

Tomorrow, we'll look into even more new aspects of the new Portal interface and share some of the cool, new ways to maximize Fellowship One.

A new look is coming soon to Fellowship One

Administrator — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:00:00 GMT

We are excited to tell you about the upcoming interface redesign for Fellowship One. We will be placing the newly redesigned Fellowship One into the staging environment on Monday, October 12th, so that your church has plenty of time to become familiar with the changes before the final release planned for November.

The changes, updates and enhancements are far more than cosmetic; they represent a wholesale change in how we will build future functionality. We chose to redesign Fellowship One primarily to improve ease of use and provide more room for new features. Please read on for more details about this exciting project.

BEFORE AND AFTER

As you can see from the image below, we've made some dramatic changes to the overall look and layout of Fellowship One. But don't worry, all of the same powerful features are still available.

EASE OF USE

A number of changes were made to improve the usability of Fellowship One. We increased the font size and created a common experience with a consistent look and feel throughout the application. We added helpful and intuitive functions such as a new gear tool and actions bar that should help minimize training efforts, and make it easier to learn.

We grouped menu items more appropriately, and in some cases, renamed certain items to better reflect the action. For example, all Volunteer Pipeline actions are grouped together and located under "People." We have also placed the "Ministry Selection" drop-down in the center of the page, and redesigned the home page with a new "My Tasks" section as the prominent feature on the screen. As a side note, the new design provides support for the Safari and Internet Explorer 8 web browsers. Please note that Internet Explorer 6.x or below will no longer be supported.

BREATHING ROOM

The new menu navigation drops down from the top to create more space for both an improved work flow and room for additional information. In the future, this additional space will be used for dashboard-like tools displaying relevant data points. Another benefit is the elimination of horizontal scrolling, making readability of the pages much higher. We also provided a new hover feature over the person icon for a quick picture (if available) of each member.

FUTURE GROWTH

There were a lot of technical reasons we pursued this project as well, such as gains in performance, shortening the development time of new solutions, and much more. To learn more about the technical benefits please visit the Fellowship One Developer blog.

Finally, check out this satirical video we put together of our developers describing the new Fellowship One Portal interface.

Experience Fellowship One Newsletter: September 2009

FTEducationSvcs — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:51:00 GMT

The September newsletter is full of information about the latest Fellowship One releases and projects, our new monthly Fellowship One User Story Contest, details about the upcoming Dynamic Church Roadshow in California, and so much more. Keep an eye out this afternoon for this month’s installment!

View Newsletter Here

Didn’t receive the newsletter? Next time you’re logged into Fellowship One, click your name in the upper-right corner and make sure that the “Send me product and training updates via email” checkbox is selected.

Unpack the Online Possibilities at Ministry 2 this October

acoppedge — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:08:00 GMT

Pensacola Beach will play host to Ministry 2 – this hands-on workshop and live event is designed for church leaders and volunteers interested in enhancing their ministry using cutting-edge Internet tools and social media. Ministry 2 Pensacola will take place at Gulf Breeze Church from October 9-10, 2009.

We're excited to announce that some of the key church web and social media experts from around the country will be leading workshops and sharing their experiences. Leaders such as Tony Steward from Lifechurch.tv, and John Saddington of North Point Community Church and ChurchCrunch.com will be in attendance.

Ministry 2 will give you a unique opportunity to ask questions, develop a plan, and share with others in a collaborative environment.

Event topics include:

Implementing the tools of social media in your church;

Producing a web development strategy;

Website visual design;

Managing vendors and volunteers;

Bridging the gap between technology and ministry;

And much more!

Whether you're just getting started with your ministry's first website or trying to build community using social media, Ministry 2 is an event to help you get there. We hope to see you this October. Learn how you can unpack the possibilities at http://www.ministry2.org/pensacola.

A discount on event registration is being offered to churches in your area. To redeem this discount, simply use this code when checking out: COUP1009.

Fellowship Technologies Announces New Partnership with Olan Mills

acoppedge — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:04:00 GMT

Fellowship Technologies is proud to announce their new partnership with Olan Mills, a name synonymous with quality. By leveraging Fellowship One, churches can take advantage of automated picture uploads and Olan Mills’ digital photography to create a church directory. This allows the church to upload both individual photos and family photos right into the Fellowship One member records.

Olan Mills has worked to develop a division catering to churches and church directories, and they have built a reputation for high quality, innovation, attentive customer service and fast delivery time. Fellowship Technologies is excited about this new level of partnership with Olan Mills and knows it will help churches put a face with the name of the individuals and families in Fellowship One.

More details about Olan Mills’ integration will be released soon. In the meantime, feel free to visit the Olan Mills website at http://ChurchDirectories.OlanMills.com/FellowshipOne/ .

Fellowship Technologies Gets a Reminder of What Is Important

acoppedge — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:19:00 GMT

Churches are in the “people business,” with the mandate to change lives. At times, that change can be both unexpected and dramatic. For those of us that work with churches, it can be easy to lapse into the “just business” mentality of our day-to-day work. We can lose sight of what is truly important, and of how deeply individual lives can be touched by what we do. Fellowship Technologies got that reminder recently with an email about a young man named Anthony.

The staff at Fellowship Technologies received an email from Nola Sweet with Christ the Rock Community Church in Menasha, WI. She shared an amazing story about Anthony and how the church was able to prevent his suicide with the help of church staff and Fellowship One church management software. As she recalls, “Anthony came to a Saturday night service to pray before going through with a suicide plan. He gave Pastor Bill a note and asked him to read it later, and then he left.” Unfortunately for Bill Lenz, Senior Pastor at Christ the Rock, he had nothing to help him track down the young man. All he had to go on was an approximate age and the man’s first name found at the bottom of the letter. They were faced with the horror that they might not be able to find Anthony before it was too late. According to Lenz in his August 9th service at Christ the Rock, he and other staff members searched the church hoping Anthony had not left the premises. No one knew him, nor did they have any contact information. Their last hope of finding him was through their Fellowship One database. Logging into Fellowship One they typed in “Anthony,” then looked for the age range that matched the young man Pastor Bill had met that evening. They found a match and called the number. Miraculously, it was the right Anthony, and they were able to meet with him that evening and talk him out of his plan.

Sitting across from Anthony, Pastor Lenz found out why he had contemplated suicide. Anthony had always felt alone as a child. He had been sent to a military school at an early age and then joined the Army. During his time in Iraq he saw plenty of action, and did his best to place himself in danger. He wanted to die. Once he returned to the U.S., Anthony coordinated the steps to take his own life. He knew from his military experience that people tended to pray before they died, so he wanted to do the same. Anthony joined the service at Christ the Rock one evening in January of 2009, and quietly passed a folded note to Pastor Lenz before leaving the church. This was the first step in his plan to end his life. Little did Anthony know that God’s plan was already in effect. A few weeks earlier, he had visited Christ the Rock, and filled out a visitor’s card. That card was then passed to staff members who carefully added his information to Fellowship One in hopes that he would visit again. No one could have guessed that this little act of care and attention to detail would one day save his life. It was that card, those staff members entering his information into Fellowship One, and the quick thinking of Pastor Lenz that eventually brought Anthony out of his suicidal plans, and to his decision to accept Christ.

Fellowship Technologies is honored to have played even the smallest part in a story such as this. It is a reminder of how managing the details can lead to a life changed forever. Pastor Lenz said it best, “When we meet Christ, our lives change. That’s what we’re here for as a church, to introduce more and more people to the Savior and see their lives changed for eternity.”

Dynamic Church Roadshow is coming to you!

Administrator — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:57:00 GMT

We’re bringing a taste of the Dynamic Church Conference to you! We’re calling this special one-day mini-conference, the Dynamic Church Roadshow! While the Roadshow is just a small sample of the over 100 education opportunities available during our main user conference, it’s still packed with great Fellowship One education classes and best practices.

The DC Roadshow crew will hit the road this fall to California for the first two stops of what will eventually be a nationwide tour.

If you are a Fellowship One user, you don’t want to miss this unique, one-day, educational opportunity priced at just $99. For more details visit one of the following pages:

Add a Household and Address Verification Updated in Staging

FTEducationSvcs — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:02:00 GMT

We asked you to check out the new Add a Household and address verification features available in the Fellowship One staging environment—and you delivered! We have spent the last three weeks reviewing your comments and have taken every effort to identify and fix the issues associated with this process. We targeted the following five items as high priority issues that could delay the release of this crucial piece of functionality:

Apartment numbers were being dropped from Address Line 1 and/or Address Line 2.
When adding a new household, the Add Address form contained no default cursor location needed for rapid data entry.
When adding another individual, there was no default cursor location which is needed for rapid data entry.
The Add a Household screen showed "Church status" and "Church sub-status." This was reverted back to “Status” and “Sub-status” for documentation, reporting and admin setup purposes.
USPS acceptable city names were not being accepted. The acceptable city name was being changed to the major city name. Note: Several acceptable city names originally reported have been fixed, but some are still not being recognized by the address verification provider. Fellowship Technologies will continue working with the provider to identify and include additional city names in the provider’s database. The change from acceptable city name to major city name should not affect mail delivery. If you find this as an issue, please open a support ticket and include the acceptable city name AND the major city name it is being changed to so we can communicate it to the address verification provider.

We believe we have corrected these issues, but we urge you to go try it yourself and let us know how we have done by commenting below. Access the staging environment HERE and login using your Fellowship One credentials. Remember, the staging environment is just a "sandbox" with a copy of your data. Feel free to try out the features without fear of disrupting your church data. Our goal is to release the week of September 23, 2009.