We have added a new option to Pledging funds, titled Pledge Grouping. With this feature, you can have a fund to which pledges are made, but to which no contributions are ever made. Instead, on the fund, you can configure other funds that during the defined date range, will count toward fulfillment of that pledge fund.

The new Pledge Grouping option has been added under the Edit Fund page which you will see at the bottom of the page when creating a pledge fund. When the Pledge Grouping box is checked, the additional menu items will appear:

• Funds in Grouping
• Pledge Grouping Start
• Pledge Grouping End

There has also been an addition to registrations with a new Standard Question for “Pledge”. The Label will default as “Pledge Amount” and the Fund dropdown will only show active pledge funds. You will have the option to Require or Disable this question. The pledge will be created automatically in a bundle on the back end to the selected fund.

Please see the Pledges help article for additional information.

Bellevue Baptist – Memphis, TN

Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN is one of our favorite places to visit for Christmas Service. The church is beautifully decorated and hosts a special Christmas eve service. The service is always very special with a choir and special music. Take time to look into their Christmas Service for a visit. I hear they have a SINGING CHRISTMAS TREE! Make sure you mark your calendars to go see it next year.

Village Bible Church – Sugar Grove, IL

Village Bible Church is an evangelical church in the western suburbs of Chicago that strives to discover, develop and deploy disciples of Jesus. Each of their six locations is led by a campus-focused teaching pastor and a team of elders who pastor and care for the church members at a 1:1 basis. At VBC, you can find the quality of a large church with the intimacy and personal interaction of a smaller church.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services can be found here. 

Great Hills Baptist Church – Austin, TX

Great Hills Baptist Church in Austin, Texas just wrapped up its “Christmas at Great Hills” event where thousands from the surrounding community came to ride trains, enjoy fabulous food, face painting, bounce houses, a petting zoo and more. Several hundred church members volunteered their weekends to make this event an enormous outreach success, and they saw lives given to Christ through this very special event. Keep an eye out for next year’s event if you’re in the area.

Great Hills and its church plant, Connect Church, would like to invite folks to attend their Christmas Eve and Christmas morning services:

Great Hills Baptist Church will hold its Christmas Eve (Saturday, December 24th) service at 5:00pm and its Christmas morning (Sunday, December 25th) service at 11:00am here at our 10500 Jollyville Road location. (No Sunday School or childcare on these dates.)

Connect Church Liberty Hill will hold its Christmas Eve (Saturday, December 24th) service at 7:00pm. This service will be held at The Hub, right across the street from Santa Rita Elementary School. The Hub is located at 491 Santa Rita Blvd, Liberty Hill, TX 78642. (No Christmas morning service will be held at this location.) 

Highland Park United Methodist Church – Dallas, TX

The Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX is a beautiful church that is definitely worth a visit during the Christmas season. The church offers a variety of different Christmas services, all of which are sure to be enjoyable and inspiring. One of the best things about Highland Park United Methodist Church is the fact that they are rated to be one of the most welcoming churches around. No matter what your background or beliefs, you will be welcomed with open arms at this church. Everyone is welcome to join in on the Christmas festivities and celebrate the holiday season together.

If you are looking for a warm and welcoming place to celebrate Christmas this year, be sure to check out Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas, TX. You won’t be disappointed!

Christ Church – Oak Brook, IL

If you’re looking for a church that’s both beautiful and welcoming, Christ Church in Oak Brook is the perfect place for you. The Christmas Eve service is one of the most popular at Christ Church, so be sure to arrive early to get a good seat. The sermon will focus on the birth of Jesus and what it means for us today, and the music will include both traditional hymns and contemporary Christmas songs. There’s also a special childcare for those 4 and under during the service!

After the service, stick around to enjoy some holiday cookies and punch while you chat with others. You’re sure to feel right at home at Christ Church this Christmas!

Salem Alliance – Salem, OR

Salem Alliance Church is a great place to celebrate Christmas! They offer a traditional service with candlelight, carols, and Scripture readings. The Christ-centered message is sure to fill you with hope and joy this holiday season. They offer so many experiences during the Holiday Season it’s difficult to name them all. But if you go to their website you’ll find a plethora of events and things you can do as a family including Tree of Giving which has already happened but you can make sure to keep up on all their events here.

In February, Salem Alliance also has a hosts “Night to Shine” a special needs prom sponsored by the Tim Tebow foundation. If you are in the area and interested in volunteering, make sure to check out their events page to learn more!

Valley Baptist – Bakersfield, CA

Valley Baptist Church located in Bakersfield, CA is yet another incredible church to visit during the holiday season. The church is beautifully decorated with a large Christmas tree and nativity scene. The services are always incredibly moving, and the music is impactful. We highly recommend visiting Valley Baptist Church if you’re looking for an amazing Christmas experience. They are putting on “Glory!” a Christmas concert for all attendees who are looking to experience Christmas in a brand new way!

Just don’t expect snow in California…

Mount Pisgah UMC – John’s Creek, GA

Located in John’s Creek, northeastern suburb of Atlanta, Mount Pisgah UMC is a vital community of believers with a mission to Make Disciples of Jesus Christ. The Christmas Eve service is a celebration of the Christ Child full of Christmas music, prayer, candlelight, and Christmas Joy! All are welcome to join us at one of these meaningful services at 4:00pm, 6:00pm pr 11:00pm that will explore the depths of how Jesus fulfilled prophecy. Visit their website for information.

FBC Tulsa – Tulsa, OK

FBC Tulsa is another historic church and is located in the heart of downtown Tulsa. The church has been a part of the city for over 100 years and is known for its beautiful architecture and stunning stained glass windows. The church offers a variety of Christmas services, including a traditional service, a contemporary service, and a candlelight service. There is also a children’s choir that performs during the traditional service. Oh! don’t forget, they have a New Years Eve Party for youth with early registration going on now!

Our frequently used Reconcile Report has a new name and is even easier to use. We’ve renamed it to the more appropriate Settlements Report. It also has a new home, under Administration > Contributions > Settlements. You will no longer need to remember to check the box for “Use batch dates” before you run the report. Just enter your Date Range and proceed as usual.

Note: The Reconcile Report accessed from the Transaction Log under Other Reports will be removed in the near future, so please access it from the new location under Contributions going forward.

See the Contributions – The Basics and Settlements Report help articles for more information.

*** Due to changes to the Check-In Profiles, you will need to log out and back in to all Check-In kiosks. ***

We have added new settings to Check-in Profiles and the Classroom Dashboard. These settings will provide even more flexibility when designing the Check-In experience that works best for your church.

Check-In Profile
Navigate to Administration > Check-In > Profiles. The following additional settings are now available.

• Under the Security tab, there is an option for Disable “Un-checkin”. This toggle will enable or disable the ability for someone to uncheck the box showing they’ve been checked in to a class at the kiosk. The new Allow Reprint Code option allows the kiosk worker to reprint the security code from the Admin Edit Menu. A label with the same security code from the person’s previous check-in session will print

• Under the Printing tab, the Location Label dropdown offers options for controlling when or if this label is printed. A new option named Disable Reprint Labels will hide the option to Reprint Labels from the person at the kiosk and adds the option to the edit menu while in admin mode.

Classroom Dashboard
Three new settings have been added to the Check-In administrative settings to enhance security.

• Use the Show Code on Classroom Dashboard setting to display the most recent security code for the child on the Details page.

• The Enable Limit to Campus setting will limit the Involvements to only those of the same campus setting, when moving a child from one class to another.
  
• The Classroom Dashboard: On the Way setting will turn off the “On the Way” feature and all checked in members will show as present on the dashboard.

See the Check-In Profiles and Check-In Settings help articles for additional information.

The ability to create and manage Resources has been updated. The menu location for Resources has been condensed to one page and renamed to Media & Resources. When this is turned on for your database, any user with the Admin or ManageResources role will see the option and it will now be found under Administration > Communication > Media & Resources. This change was made to both simplify the process and prepare for the Mobile 3.0 update that will include extra options in the near future.

The layout of the page includes some previous/additional options and new terminology:

• Create new, Manage, and Sort Tabs
• Create new, Manage, and Sort Groups (previously Categories)
• Resource Types (Freeform is default with more options being added soon)

While adding the resources, you can choose to have them Visible To Everyone by checking that box option and there are no restrictions added. You can also choose to have them restricted to certain individuals that belong to/have specific:

• Involvement(s)
• Involvement Type(s)
• Member Type(s)
• Status Flag(s)
• Campus

For more information about this feature, please see the Media & Resources help article.

The next release is scheduled to be deployed on Tuesday night, December 13. This includes new features, updates to existing features, and updates to features that are still in development or beta.

New Features & Enhancements or Updates to Existing Features

• Check-In Enhancements – There are several new settings as well as a few new features being added to Check-In.
  

• New Feature: Recommended – This feature will allow you to have a “Recommended Class” show for a person checking in if they don’t have a class to check in to already, or if the class they are supposed to check in to is closed or full. You can learn more about how to setup and configure this new feature in our documentation (coming soon!).

• New Check-In Profile Settings:
  • Disable Reprint Labels – On the Printing tab, you now have the option to hide the “Reprint all labels” checkbox when a person is checking in.
  • Disable “Un-checkin” – On the Security tab, you now have the option to disable someone’s ability to uncheck their Check-In after they have submitted and printed the labels. This can be overridden if you go into Admin mode.
  • Allow Reprint Code – On the Security tab, you now have the option to reprint the labels for a person while in Admin mode and it will reprint the last used security code for this family.
  • Location Label dropdown – On the Printing tab, you now have the option to select per profile when the Location label prints. The default is for the current behavior to work where a location label prints for guests, but if you’d like a location label to print for everyone or nobody, you can choose that option.

• New Admin Settings:
  • Show Code On Classroom Dashboard – If you’d like the child’s security code to show on the Details section of the Classroom Dashboard, toggle this setting to true.
  • Classroom Dashboard: On the Way – If you want people who recently checked in to automatically show as “Present” on the Classroom Dashboard instead of “On the Way”, then you can toggle this setting to false.

• Settlements Report (previously Reconcile Report) – The Settlements Report works the same as the current Reconcile Report. We’ve simply moved it to its own page in the navigation and made it easier to use (you no longer need to apply certain filters). This is one of many enhancements and reorganization of finance reporting that is in the works, as part of our new TouchPoint Giving offering. Stay tuned for more to come.

• Resources is now “Media & Resources” – The management of this feature is now found under the Communications section of the Administration menu. This page was redesigned for easier resource management. It also will become the place to manage media and resources in the new mobile app (coming in 2023). There are new media resources types and some other features which are currently hidden that you’ll hear more about in the new year.

• Tasks & Notes Enhancements
  
  • We have added pagination to tasks and notes and improved the search functionality so that it now searches for all tasks and notes in the database that meet the criteria instead of just searching the items on the page.
  • The Upload Task & Notes feature now includes the ability to edit dates.
  • When you export tasks and notes, the export now includes any extra questions attached to keywords and the answers to these questions.

• Ticket Sales Report Export – The recently released Ticket Sales Report now has an export option.

• Ministry Safe Changes – When submitting a background check through our integration with Ministry Safe, we now ask additional questions that will help provide the best results for the background check.

• Scan & Deposit – If you are scanning checks into TouchPoint directly, we now offer the option that with a click of a button you can deposit these funds directly to a CASS bank account. To learn more about this feature please check out our documentation (coming soon!).

• Pledge Enhancements
  
  • There is now the option to set a “one-fund” pledge that you can have gifts given to funds of our designation apply towards the fulfillment of the pledge. You can even choose the date range for when the gifts should count. You can read more in our documentation (coming soon!).
  • We have added a new Standard Question type in online registrations for “Pledge”. If you select this question, any amount entered during the registration will automatically create a pledge for the person filling out the form. This is helpful if you are wanting to ask additional questions on the pledge form.

• Additional Translations – We have added several new options to the Translations file in Special Content. So, if you want to call pledges “commitments” or some other term, you now have that option. You can view the Translation Files help article for the full list of editable terms.
  

• Volunteer Tab Updates 
  • We have updated the permissions of the Volunteer tab so that you no longer need either the ViewApplication or ManageApplication role in order to see the tab. Now, if you have any roles related to the other special features (background checks, trainings, docs, extra values), you can see the appropriate sections on the tab.
  • We have added several Search Builder conditions so that you can search almost anything on the Volunteer tab now that you might want. See our documentation for a full list of conditions.

Beta Features or Things That are Coming Soon 

• Volunteer Scheduler – All known issues reported from our beta testers have been addressed and we made a few enhancements such as the ability to view more commitments at one time. We are very close to taking this feature live for all churches.

• Process Builder – All known issues reported from our beta testers have been addressed and we also added the following enhancements.

• We added a Published column to the Processes page so you can see which processes are currently live.

• We added the ability for an admin or someone with the ManageProcesses role to manually trigger processes to be run at any time.

• We added additional “When to Complete” Triggers.
  • Number of days/hours – A step can now be marked complete after a person has been in the step for the designated number of days or hours.
  • Question Answered – This is a new feature that will work with our Mobile App 3.0. More details coming soon.

• We added additional “Actions to Complete” when a step is completed.
  • Complete Current Process – This will mark the person as complete for the current process.
  • Abandon Current Process  – This will mark the current person as abandoned for the current process.
  • Move to Process – This step can be combined with either the option to complete or abandon the current process, or it can be taken by itself. It will add the person to the process that is selected and if there is an action that is immediately taken when the person is added to the process, it will complete that action as well.
  • Send Message to Mobile – This is a new feature that will work with our Mobile App 3.0. More details coming soon.
  • Send Question to Mobile – This is a new feature that will work with our Mobile App 3.0. More details coming soon.

• Mobile 3.0 – Several major updates are being released behind-the-scenes to support our Mobile App 3.0. If you’d like to learn more about some exciting updates coming to mobile, please join us on our December webinar – Register HERE!

This is our last scheduled release for this 2022. We have many more exciting updates coming in 2023. We wish all of our partner churches a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Does your church have a policy/procedure for responding to account updates via email and/or phone? 

We have had several churches recently report that church members have emailed various church staff asking them to update their account. At first glance, this appears to be a legitimate request, but several factors have tipped off the staff to know that it was indeed a scam.

You might be wondering, “how is this a scam?”
The first thing that is clear is that the person is emailing from a new email address. This email address might look legitimate. We’ve seen examples that follow this format – [email protected]. While it is possible that a scammer could be sending an email from a compromised account, it is not always the case. If it comes from a compromised account, it is often harder to prevent. If it is a brand-new email address, simply follow the recommendations below.

How does the scam work?
If an unsuspecting staff person updates the person’s record with the new email address, the scammer then resets the person’s password and logs into the church’s management software using the new email address. They then attempt to harvest any information about other church members and attendees (if possible). Because the user is logging in with legitimate credentials, there is often little we (your church management software) can do to prevent this. They then email fellow church goers and try to trick them into giving gift cards or donating to the church, where the link to the donation page is not a legitimate donation page.

You might be wondering “What can you do to prevent this?”
There are a few things we recommend:

1. If a person is emailing from an email address that is not in the database, DO NOT ACCEPT any changes. You can reply, asking them to email from an email address that is already on their record or to contact the church office (then follow the recommendations below).

2. Have a clear policy and procedure that your staff follow for when and how they should update a person’s record in the database. While your church should come up with your own requirements, here are a few ideas to get you started:

• If a person reaches out via email, either have a canned response saying that all record update responses must be made via phone and give them the contact information of who to call, or require that a phone call is made to the phone number on their record confirming the change.
• If a person calls the church office asking to update their record, the person fielding the call should verify other details on their record like what small group they attend, their DOB, and/or family member names. You’ve likely had your bank do something like this to verify your identity when you’ve called them.
• Whatever you do, make sure all your staff and/or lay leaders who have access to update a person’s record are doing so with caution, knowing that there are people out there trying to scam you.

3. Make sure that all users – both staff and lay leaders – have the appropriate access levels in TouchPoint where they only    have access to the information they need.

• Have you removed access from former staff, officers, and lay leaders?
• Is it necessary for lay leaders to be able to update information?

4. Educate your staff and congregants on the risks of cyber threats. Here are a few key points that you can share with    them:

• Nobody from the church staff will ever reach out via email or social media asking for donations via gift cards, money transfers, or any other means besides what you can find on our church website.
• If you see odd links in emails or social media leading to donation pages that don’t look legitimate, please report them to a church staff member.
• Let them know that the best way to donate to your church is from a link directly on your website.

5. Require all staff with admin or finance access to have 2 factor authentication enabled on their account. This adds an extra layer of protection for these users to further safeguard your most sensitive data. 

Our Head of Product, Chris Dolan, recently led a virtual keynote session at a conference for Executive Pastors on Human Firewalls. You can check it out here to learn additional helpful tips.