IconCMO Blog - Page 4 of 27 - Church Management Software

The secret to finding free photos for your church website

April 22, 2016 By Michelle Leave a Comment

Research shows including visual content (e.g. photos, graphics, and videos) on your church’s website and social media pages is more effective than text alone. Visuals attract more people, increase sharing, and communicate your message in a way that’s easier for people to remember. But where do you get all these pictures?

Hiring a photographer to do a custom photo shoot is ideal. Due to budget and time limits that’s not always feasible, especially for smaller nonprofits and churches with limited resources. If you’re lucky, you have a friend or church member with a fancy camera (or even a smart phone!) and editing skills who’s willing to volunteer their talents.

Photo Credit: Tom Eversley via ISO Republic

No such luck? Stock photos to the rescue!

Although this option is cheaper than hiring a photographer, the cost can still add up quickly. Each photo can cost anywhere from $5 to $20. Not to mention some stock photos are just plain cheesy. And yes, you can get sued for copyright violation if you use any old picture you find in a Google search, so don’t even think about it.

What’s the secret?

Free stock photos. Yes, you read that correctly. These are pictures that the photographer has agreed to let others use for free via a Creative Commons license. Remember to pay attention to whether it can be used for commercial use and if the photographer requires attribution.

Free stock images for your church website

These are my favorite sites for finding free stock images. I included a photo from each so you can see examples. Not all the photos on these sites require attribution, though it’s nice to credit the photographer if you can. The search term I used was “puppy”. Because who couldn’t use more cute puppy pictures in their life?

Compfight is my go-to for finding Creative Commons images. Essentially, it’s a search engine for flickr, so there are tons of photos available. My favorite part is the “Copy & Paste HTML” section which makes it super easy to credit the photographer.

Photo Credit: Ashley Linh Trann ♥ via Compfight cc

Foter has a decent selection of photos, it also has handy copy and paste code for giving the photographer proper credit.

Photo credit: anko.gaku_ula via Foter.com / CC BY — Photo Credit: anko.gaku_ula via Foter.com / CC

Pixabay does require you to sign up for a free account. In addition to photos, this site also has vectors, illustrations, and videos.

Unsplash has a large selection of really high quality photos. I learned about this one fairly recently and am looking forward to trying it out.

Lightstock is NOT a free site, but if you create an account — it’s free to sign up — you can download their free photo and vector of the week, and also their free video clip of the month. Plus, if you do pay for a subscription, you get access to even more free downloads. I like this site because it’s specifically geared towards the faith-based community.

Here’s Lightstock’s free photo and graphic for this week.

Where do you get photos for your church’s website and social media pages? I’d love to hear your tips and tricks!

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

April 13, 2016 By Michelle Leave a Comment

April is a time to honor the important role that churches play in nurturing children and serving families

prevent child abuse in the church Stranger Danger is the outdated idea that the majority of perpetrators are creepers who are lurking in windowless vans, waiting to kidnap children. The sad truth is that most victims know their abusers. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, only ten percent of kids who are abused do not know their perpetrator.

Child abuse is difficult to imagine and we don’t like to think it could happen at our church. Unfortunately, this is just the place where an abuser can easily find their next victim.

Child sex offenders often disguise themselves as harmless and caring people. They usually place themselves in a leadership role. Most importantly, these predators have the ability to create a sense of trust with both the child and their parents and are crafty at luring children into situations that may allow the offender to abuse the child. Safeguard From Abuse™

Here are a couple of things your church can do to help prevent child abuse

Perform background checks on church staff and volunteers. IconCMO is directly integrated with SecureSearch so you can easily obtain background information when recruiting staff and volunteers for your church.

However, don’t let this give you a false sense of security! Background checks are not enough. Education is the best form of prevention. Everyone’s participation is crucial: church staff, volunteers, parents, and even the children. Teach them what abuse is and what signs to look for.

SecureSearch also offers training for your church staff and volunteers via Safeguard From Abuse™.

While it’s important to establish and adhere to guidelines, preventing child abuse isn’t just a list of rules to follow. You need to fully incorporate respect and safety for children into your church’s culture.

Photo Credit: Ulrica (@Ullie) via Compfight cc

Press Release: Want to Give Church Members an Easier Way to Make Donations?

February 4, 2016 By Michelle Leave a Comment

Announcing a new integration between IconCMO church management software and Give by Text

Icon Systems, Inc. and Vanco Payment Solutions are excited to announce a new integration between IconCMO church management and accounting software and Give by Text, a way for churches to accept donations via text messaging.

iconcmo-givebytext

In October 2009, Icon Systems released its first software integration with Vanco. The integration allowed customers using IconCMO church management software to import donations received through online donations, EFT transactions, and check scanning and have them post seamlessly to donors’ contribution records and the accounting side of the system. This new integration allows customers to also import Give by Text transactions into IconCMO.

Donors have come to expect convenient giving options. Is your church missing out on donations by not offering e-giving?

Vanco recently surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. churchgoers on their attitudes, behaviors and preferences toward giving. The findings show now more than ever that donors want multiple ways to give. Sometimes they want to put a check in the donation plate, other times they prefer to make a credit card donation online, via text message, or at a kiosk.

“Churches need to know how their members feel about giving so they can offer the methods that will best support their mission.” says Kevin Lee, CEO of Vanco Payment Solutions. “We’re always working to provide churches with the most updated strategies, tools, and data so they can make informed decisions about their stewardship.”

Vanco’s research highlights that churches are not yet consistently providing their members with the convenient giving options their members say they want. This creates a “Giving Gap” and churches could be missing out. Vanco can help close the gap by offering churches a full suite of e-Giving solutions – including online credit/debit card processing, Give by Text, and Give by Kiosk.

The research also highlighted the need for churches to add modern giving solutions such as text and kiosk options to their stewardship programs. Only 7 percent of respondents said they have the option to give by text, and only 6 percent of churchgoers said they have the option to give through a kiosk. But over four times as many churchgoers said they would use those options if they were available. With Vanco’s Give by Text, members can contribute by sending a message from their smartphones in less time than it takes to write a check. Give by Kiosk is a portable tabletop unit that accepts credit and debit card contributions and can email or print receipts on the spot.

Read the rest of the press release on Yahoo Finance.

Updates to Icon Check-in

January 29, 2016 By Michelle Leave a Comment

In case you missed the announcement, we recently released our very own Child Check-in program! Our developers have been busy adding features and making improvements. Here’s a list of the most recent updates.

Check in/out buttons were combined. Now each person has one button that changes based on where that person is in the check in/out process. They can either be set to ‘check in’, ‘checked out’, or ‘check in again’.
If guardians are assigned to a child, a drop down list under the check in/out button will display the guardian’s name and picture. There is also an “unknown” option you can use if there’s not a specific guardian assigned. This information is recorded for later use e.g. when we add reports down the road.
You can now clear the in/out times for a person and re-start the check-in process.
Each person’s information was condensed and uses a More/Less Information link which can be clicked on to either show or hide additional information such as a phone number or email address.
The arrow indicator for this More/Less Information component will turn red if there is important allergy information listed.
In the More/Less Information section you will see the guardian that checked them in and out.
A list of staff members that were signed in at the time of check in/out is also displayed under the notes section for each person.
Phone numbers changed to format correctly within the US.
Resized the screen for optimal use on mobile devices.

It’s finally here! Our very own Child Check-In program

January 12, 2016 By Michelle 2 Comments

The simplest, fastest, easiest way to do check-in at your church.

Icon Systems is excited to announce Icon Check-In: a fast, secure, and safe child check-in software for churches that lets your whole team work together in real time! Checking in children as fast as possible is essential to a smooth-running event, like a Sunday morning worship service, everyday day care, or other ministries.

“After speaking with organizational leaders in the community, the goals of the new system were set high. Armed with their feedback, we developed a system that has a minimal hardware investment, real time collaboration, and unprecedented flexibility.” says Bill Gifford, President. “We sought to eliminate unnecessary buttons and navigation. The system is easy-to-use, secure, and the work flows are completely customizable. We built Icon Check-in from the ground up using the latest web-based technology to facilitate a quick, smooth process on any device – without extra hardware, ink, and paper.”

Here’s a brief rundown of how it works:

Individuals – Enter in the folks to be checked in and their families. Pictures can (and should!) be uploaded for each person, as well as contact information, relationship data, and more. Individuals are sorted into households with a common address, though you’ll spend most of your time working with individuals.
Groups – Organize individuals into groups, such as “2nd Graders” or “Wednesday Evening Adult Study”. When doing check-in, you’ll be able to choose a particular group per event.
Events – Each time you are ready to do check-in, you’ll create an event, such as “Sunday Morning 9 a.m.” Once created, the person checking in can choose the group to check-in, and will see names and pictures of everyone in the group to check-in and -out.
Users – Create as many user IDs as you need to give employees and volunteers access Icon Check-in, Each use ID has its own customized level of security access.

~~View the full press release on Yahoo Finance.~~

Icon Check-In is entirely cloud based; that means you don’t have to deal with app stores, downloads, upgrades, hardware, or installing updates. It’s also mobile friendly and can easily be accessed on smartphones, tablets, laptops, or any other device that’s handy. Icon Check-In is available for only $25 per month. You can find more information and sign up for a free 10-day trial at https://www.IconCheckin.com.

Happy Holidays from Icon Systems!

December 22, 2015 By Michelle 2 Comments

icon_systems_happy_holidays — Left to Right: Steve, Gene, Josh, Bob, Michelle, Bill, Robert, David, and Jay

Please note our special holiday hours

December 24th Christmas Eve: Open 8 am to noon Central Time
December 25th Christmas Day: Closed
December 31st New Year’s Eve: Open 8 am to noon Central Time
January 1st New Year’s Day: Closed

Icon Systems Announces New Hires and Expansion

November 23, 2015 By Michelle Leave a Comment

We’ve hired three team members and expanded our facilities! We took over not one, but two office suites adjacent to our existing space. Our expanded office features a conference room, a video recording studio, and workstations to accommodate the additional people.

If you’ve ever called or emailed someone at the Icon Systems office, now you can match the name to a face!

To celebrate the expansion, we took the first “official” team photo in the company’s two-decade history (we’re not counting pictures taken with point-and-shoot cameras in the nineties.) What can we say? We’re a bunch of geeks who wear jeans to the office every day and keep our heads buried in computer screens. Getting dressed up to take pictures was a big deal!

For more details, read the full press release on ~~Yahoo Finance~~.

It’s national password day!

3 resources that will teach you how to step up your password game