FACT: Many people use smartphones.
Should every Church have a mobile app?
FACT: You should consider a mobile app for your Church.
How do you even go about considering this?
Let’s take a look:
Not For Everyone
At this point in the game, a mobile app for your Church is not for everyone. Some of you may be surprised that a tech pusher like myself would say that, but you have to weigh the costs. It simply isn’t worth-it for a small congregation to invest in a mobile app. A website can be setup by a volunteer and a domain name purchased for a relatively small investment, and the return on the website is greater than the yellow pages, plus it adds value to the congregation. We’re just not there with mobile apps … yet.
How-To Know
To find out if your congregation is primed and ready for a mobile app, you need to start asking questions.
- How many smartphone users are in your congregation?
- What OS are they running?
- How many of your smartphone users would be interesting in a Church app?
Can you think of any other good questions? Please, weigh-in!
This is the best way to weigh your cost/benefit.
You simply can’t base it on congregation size, either. There may be a Church of 300 that have less smartphone users than a congregation of 100. Know your demographics!
If Yes, Now What?
Now that you have your data, you can decide if it makes sense for your Church to move forward. Since you’ve done your homework, you can present yourself in an educated and well thought-out manner. This tool isn’t just for the members, either. For instance, a Church shopper may download the app from your website, so they can use a map function to find your Church. A mobile app for your Church adds value to reaching-out and serving-within.
Find an Expert
Unless you’ve got a Pro in your congregation, you’re going to need some outside help. Have a “dream session” to make a list of everything you would want in an app. After you have your list, rank them by importance and decide which features are must-have, and those that would be nice, but not necessary.
Now that you’ve got your list, get a quote. Get yourself a few different price quotes.
- Bare Bones – those you deemed must-have.
- Middle of the Road – must-have plus a few of those nice features.
- The Whole Enchilada – everything you would love in a Church app.
Shop-around and try to get quotes from at least two different Church app developers (three is better).
Finally
Now that you have all your information together, it’s time to present your case.
You’ve done your homework and you can provide different options and comparisons.
Now, get going, the hardest part is done!
[Image via Michael Mistretta, Milos Milosevic & C.P. Storm]
Chris Huff says
I think another realm of questions to ask before determining whether an app is needed for your church has to do with your community. Do other churches around you have apps? Do people in your community (outside of your church) use smart phones, and can your app fill some community need? Even though my church doesn’t yet have an app, I actually think most churches could benefit by having one, but the question becomes what kind of app is it.
Eric Dye says
True. Good points, Chris.
Tim says
Another good question to consider is “do we want to reach people beyond your own congregation?” We built the apps for Mars Hill Church, Saddleback Church, Billy Graham, and Elevation Church among others and there are way more people downloading apps than just the members of the congregation.
We’ve built apps for churches of 40 people and they’ve shared with us stories of people meeting Jesus because they listened or watched every single sermon in the app.
That alone makes every bit of hard work worth it!
Our normal client work at Subsplash has been for teams at XBOX, Cisco, Texas Instruments, etc but we love helping churches and ministries share Gospel content on mobile devices! Thats why we created The Church App. Drop us a line at http://www.subsplash.com or http://www.TheChurchApp.org
+ Tim