What do you like best?
It is a powerful database software program that has the ability to do as much as you would need and more. It is cloud based so it can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.
There is an app that can be developed for your organization and then staff and church members can easily find information and register for events from their mobile devices. Our pastoral team also has access to the full database via the app. That means no more having to call the office to get someone's phone number or address when they are not in the church. If they are doing a pastoral visit, they can use the app to find the church member, locate their address, and it automatically is linked to GPS software to give them driving directions!
What do you dislike?
TouchPoint is not very user-friendly and so is not easy to learn. We have an admin who is learning how to use the database for different functions. Each month we have an admin team lunch meeting where she teaches us a new function available or necessary to using TouchPoint. She develops handouts with step by step instructions for how to do that task and distributes them. Each admin. keeps a binder with these instructions in it so that we can refer to it as needed. If we didn't have this system in place we would all be lost trying to figure out how to do anything!
Recommendations to others considering the product:
Develop a small team to represent the needs of your church staff in using a database. Truly evaluate all the software database systems available to churches (there are a handful of them available). If you think that TouchPoint is the best solution for your needs, allow 1-2 people on your staff to focus on learning how to implement and use the software. Then have those people develop step-by-step instructions available to other staff members who will use the software and have the in-house people do the training. They already know how you do things at your church and know the terms you use. They can translate the information and better train the staff than an online TouchPoint trainer can.
What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?
The main advantage, aside from it being cloud based with a mobile app available, is that we are using it to better integrate our data. The goal is to have everything known about each church member stored in one place- TouchPoint. So as someone is involved with a ministry of the church, it is automatically added to their record in TouchPoint because all event registration is done through TouchPoint. That way, instead of admins. keeping multiple Excel ministry lists, all information is in one place. Ideally, when a pastor accesses a member record, he can then easily look and see how the member has been connected within the church.
