Recommendations for Collaborative Church Social Mobile Applications

[Mark WM]

I'm researching options for collaborative applications (iphone, android and windows) to facilitate extending the reach and level of communication and active engagement of the congregation at my church. I know there are a lot of 'off the shelf' and custom applications out there, but I'm specifically looking for an option with good, integrated collaborative features to enable bi-directional exchanges among the church staff and congregation. Some examples of collaborative features would include forums, shared notebooks, groups and possibly online chat. Many of the applications I've reviewed use linkage to external social media apps such as Facebook and Twitter for collaboration, which is not the direction we're pursuing for a range of reasons. Other features are important as well, but most other features appear to be fairly common. Here's the list of features we're looking for with an approximate weighting (1=low, 5=high).

Bible Study Aids 3
Congregation Polling 4
Event or Interest Group Registration 5
Event Calendar 5
Integration Facebook 3
Integration Twitter 2
Interactive Blogs 5
Interactive Forums and/or groups 5
Live Stream Audio 5
Live Stream Video 5
Multi-Platform Support (iOS, Android, Windows) 5
Online Chat 3
Online Giving 3
Push Notifications 4
Support 4
Usage Analytics 2
Video Player 4
Web site hosting 2
You Tube Integration 4

I'm also interested in any pointers to sites with reviews and comparisons of different church social applications.

Thanks in advance!

Mark

 

[Cturtle]

Sounds to me like a forum setting would be good. Because with our experience in here people can place links that will take your members where you want them to go.

I have seen other ministries' websites and some of them end up with two or three different completely different sections that are all linked to their home website.

Praying someone with more knowledge can provide the best answers for you.
Blessings

 

[Mark WM]

Sounds to me like a forum setting would be good. Because with our experience in here people can place links that will take your members where you want them to go.

I have seen other ministries' websites and some of them end up with two or three different completely different sections that are all linked to their home website.

Praying someone with more knowledge can provide the best answers for you.
Blessings

Thank you! I agree with an implementation using forums as a collaborative vehicle. I was hoping to find an integrated social application that included forums as one of the collaborative features vs. having to piece meal a solution together with components from a number of 3rd parties. There are many church oriented social mobile applications out there, but not many (if any) have a range of features which include forums as well.

 

[Cturtle]

Thank you! I agree with an implementation using forums as a collaborative vehicle. I was hoping to find an integrated social application that included forums as one of the collaborative features vs. having to piece meal a solution together with components from a number of 3rd parties. There are many church oriented social mobile applications out there, but not many (if any) have a range of features which include forums as well.

I know of only one...and that is kcm

They have their main website, which also has videos and audios that one can download, plus their "bookstore," and also a section for training and learning called the believers academy, and also a community for their partners...which is much like Facebook, but 1000 times better.