Your Virtual Church Strategy

The church isn’t limited by its physical walls, and now, more than ever, churches are using technology for “virtual church.” 

For a successful virtual church component, you'll need to create, connect, and communicate.

CREATE

Intentionally create a place inside your mobile app for “virtual church.”

Use a feature hub to house multiple features under a single button (name it “Virtual Church” or “Church Online”). Include the top 5-7 features that someone attending church remotely might be interested in. Here are some ideas:

• Live stream of your service. Don’t have a live stream yet? Check out our recommendations and steps for adding one to your app here. 
• Recorded video. Pre-record your sermons and post them on YouTube or Vimeo.
• Worship playlist. Pull a Spotify playlist or Podcast into the app. (Link feature)
• Virtual Church Check-In. Use an FACTS form to capture who “attended” church online, and ask them how they’d like to get plugged in. Use a push message to encourage people to check in! 

• Prayer Request. Create an FACTS form for prayer requests.   

• Bible Study/Sermon Notes. Create an outline for people to follow along with the sermon or participate in a Bible Study throughout the week.
• Prayers and meditations. Use an RSS feed or Info Page to post daily or weekly prayers, reflections, or meditations.
• Online giving. Just because a physical offering plate isn’t being passed, doesn’t mean generosity slows down. Plug online giving and appeals (special crowdfunding pages) into your Virtual Church feature hub. 
  • FACTS giving is included in all app plans at no extra cost (just 2.9% CC, 3.5% AMEX and 1% ACH processing fees, plus a $0.30 transaction fee). Contact communitysupport@factsmgt.com to get started.

*Download the FACTS church demo app to see these features in action! 

CONNECT

Social connection is more important than ever as people face uncertainty, fear, and hardship. Use connection features like Member Directory and Chat to encourage people to reach out to each other, say hi, or lend a hand. (These features can be used in standalone buttons in your app or put inside of feature hubs.)

Member Directory

Your mobile directory provides a list of contacts with phone numbers and email addresses. 

• Easily call, text, or email another member through the directory. 
• The directory shows what public interests (tags) people have in common with each other. 

• People can set About Me in their profile, which will display in the directory (if approved by an admin to be listed). 
• Member Directory is included in the Standard plan, or available to add on to any plan for $29/month. Contact communitysupport@factsmgt.com to add Member Directory to your plan.

Chat

Chat fosters connection and togetherness by allowing groups of people to message each other in real-time. Chat is popular with small groups and staff. When people are unable to meet in person, Chat gives them a way to share information and stay present in each other's lives. 

• Chat can be enabled for any tag.
• Chat is included in the Standard plan, and can be added to any plan for $39/month. Reach out to our team at communitysupport@factsmgt.com if you want to add Chat to your plan.

COMMUNICATE

Keep your congregation engaged and informed in real-time with push messages and/or text messages.

Communicate updated information, expectations, volunteer opportunities, reminders, and more. With content-targeted push messages, people can open the message and go straight into a certain app feature. Helpful for Virtual Church push messages!  

*Note: Encourage people to make sure they have app notifications turned on so they can receive push notifications.

Send unlimited push messages with any app plan. If you don’t have outbound text included with your plan, reach out to our team at communitysupport@factsmgt.com to add it today. 

Here are some examples of push messages we’ve seen our church partners send:

• Check out the new Chat option in the app to stay connected!
• Click “Watch” to watch our recording from this morning’s service! 
• Service is about to begin! Tune in to Facebook Live. Invite someone to watch with you!
• Even if you couldn’t join our BIGGEST-EVER worship live stream this morning, we’d love for you to fill out a communication card!
• Our worship service live stream is online now; find our YouTube and Facebook Live links here. No accounts needed! 
•  Learn about our Facebook & YouTube Live worship service @ 9:45 am tomorrow. Tap the event in our app calendar. Invite a friend! 

If you have any questions or need help, send us a note at communitysupport@factsmgt.com!