WeGather is online software to organize your church.
It’s a closed communication tool (membership only) for your church office, leadership, membership, and church groups.
Better than Email?
WeGather boasts a “better than email” system. I’ve read the description several times, and it’s a tad unclear to me. It would seem as though the “better than email” system is an internal messaging system. Much like Facebook messages.
If this is indeed how the system works, I would imagine that many users would miss-out. The last thing most users need is another place to check for messages!
File Sharing
This is a nice feature for updating and sharing meeting minutes, newsletters, event notes, forms, etc …
The file sharing concept is really cool, and has the potential of cutting down a church’s hard-copy files!
Manage Events
This has a full featured calendar event manager. After an event is posted on the calendar, event invitations are sent to members, giving them the option to respond and even post what they are bringing. The potluck planners dream come true!
It also lets you know, at a glance, how many members have volunteered to help out at the event, making event planning run a lot smoother.
Contact Lists
Like many other ChCMS software on the market, WeGather allows individual members the ability to update their own contact info.
This same contact information is also made available in the membership directory!
Connecting with other church members could never be easier!
Handouts & Instructions
Handouts and event forms can be accessed by any members, giving your church the ability to provide a wealth of information for general membership to download.
Group Communication
Groups within the church can have their own calendar, member list and discussion board, which is a great tool for worship teams and small groups alike.
No longer can information be lost between transitions of group leaders. Because all information is hosted in a single location, all future leaders can see the past history of the group and the previous group documents without worry that the documents will be lost.
Volunteer
You can find out about volunteer opportunities and sign up all at the same place! As for volunteer management, WeGather has a really cool feature, here:
WeGather provides a place for people to sign up and ask for a replacement in case of a cancellation. This way there is no duplication of work, everyone knows who is showing up on Sunday and to do what, and it is easy to find a substitute for any cancellations in advance.
Photo Sharing
Each group can post photos and those photos can only be viewed by members in the group. Your photos are 100% secure.
WeGather is available in three flavors:
- FREE – $0 per Month
Users: 0-50
Storage: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Security: Enhanced
- Plus – $99 per Month
Users: 51-500
Storage: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Security: Enhanced
- Max – $199 per Month
Users: Unlimited
Storage: Unlimited
Bandwidth: Unlimited
Security: Enhanced
WeGather has no contracts and can be paid month to month, so you can end at any time – very nice.
As for a free tool, there is a lot of value, here. For the levels two and three, that may be a stretch. Many of the WeGather features could be done separately with other services for higher quality and less money. What WeGather does, is centralizes these services.
I suggest giving WeGather a try with their free service. If you’re looking to spend a little money, be sure to shop around and do your homework, first, but at least if you make the leap, you’re only committed month to month.
WeGather has some really good fundamentals. They are close to becoming a real contender.
Joe Luedtke says
WeGather has gotten a lot better of the past year. The core social networking and parishioner engagement modules are now free. You can find out more on how its changed here, http://www.4lpi.com/wegather.