PowerChurch Online Product Tour

Special Offer

Through 01/31/2025, first time subscribers get 2 FREE months with a monthly or yearly subscription!

Frequently Asked Questions

Order Now

What is PowerChurch Online?

PowerChurch Online is an installation of PowerChurch Plus which resides on our servers. You can log in using a small program on your Desktop. This is not a limited version of PowerChurch Plus, this is the full functioning program delivered to your computer across the Internet. This allows you to connect and run PowerChurch Plus from any computer with access to the Internet. With one single set of data files, everyone in your organization has access to the shared information without any additional hardware to purchase or confusing setup procedures.

How is PowerChurch Online different from PowerChurch Plus?

PowerChurch Online is only available online. We install the program for you on a remote server. It is compatible with PC, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

What are the benefits of PowerChurch Online?

  • Technical Support by phone & e-mail is included
  • New version upgrades are included and automatically installed
  • No network setup & installation necessary
  • Access PowerChurch from virtually any connected computer, anywhere, at any time
  • Data is backed up and copied offsite every 30 minutes for disaster recovery
  • Maintenance Release updates are automatically applied
  • Compatible with PC, Mac, and Linux operating systems

What is the cost of PowerChurch Online?

  • $39.95 per month (two concurrent users) or $455 per year (save $24.40 per year)
  • $25 per month for each additional license (two additional concurrent users) or $275 per year (save $25 per year)

Which one is right for you?

If you frequently backup information on one computer and copy it to another to "share" information, PowerChurch Online may be right for you.

If you do not have a centralized office and have multiple people working from different locations, PowerChurch Online may be the one for you.

If you regularly have more than two people who need to work in the system at the same time from the same location, such as the church office, PowerChurch Plus standard edition may be the one for you!

If no one in your church or organization needs access to the system remotely, PowerChurch Plus standard edition is definitely the one for you!

How do I get my existing PowerChurch Plus data converted to PowerChurch Online?

Our technicians will take your PowerChurch Plus backup and convert it to PowerChurch Online format. The process takes one to two business days. After that, you will be able to login to your PowerChurch Online account and continue where you left off.

Can you convert data from other software into PowerChurch Online?

Our developers are able to convert Membership and Contributions information from many other programs into PowerChurch Plus or Online. For more information on our data conversion service, please click here.

What if I change my mind and don't like PowerChurch Online?

You are protected by our 60 Day Money Back Guarantee. If at any time in this period, you decide that PowerChurch Online is not for you, simply call us at (800) 486-1800 for a no questions asked refund. If you were an existing user of PowerChurch Plus, you would simply revert to the installation of PowerChurch Plus that you were using previously.

What happens to my data if I cancel PowerChurch Online?

Once your account has been disconnected, you will no longer have access to your PowerChurch Online account. Before cancelling the account, you can make hard copies of reports, make backups of the data files, and even export your PowerChurch database into an Access MDB file. If switching to a local installation of PowerChurch Plus, you can make a backup online and restore it into the desktop program. If you have any questions or need assistance getting your data exported prior to cancelling the account, our Technical Support staff is available to assist you.

Your existing data in PowerChurch Online will remain available in our archives for one year after the account is disconnected. Should you decide to reconnect the account during that one year period, your existing PowerChurch data would be reloaded from our archive. If reconnecting more than a year after the account was disconnected, it would require that you have a backup made in PowerChurch prior to the account being disconnected. Otherwise, the account would be set up as a new clean installation of PowerChurch with no existing data.

How do you print checks, reports, or labels?

Adobe Acrobat (PDF) documents are generated, which can be printed or saved for printing at a later time.

How do you backup?

Backups work the same as they do in PowerChurch Plus. Your local drives and devices show up in the list with drive letters M and higher. Note: Depending on your internet connection speed, this process could be noticeably slower than with PowerChurch Plus, as the backup zip file will have to be downloaded before being written to your local storage device. Unfortunately, it is not possible to backup directly to a CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW drive. You would first need to make the backup directly to your local hard drive and then use your CD/DVD burning software to write that file to disc.

Please note: While we make regular backups for the sake of disaster recovery, we recommend you still use the built-in backup & restore process for your own purposes. You will not have access to our backups, nor will we restore one at your request.

How do you export files?

File import/export works as you would normally expect it to. Local drives show up in the list with drive letters M and higher. Note: Depending on your internet connection speed, this process could be noticeably slower than with PowerChurch Plus, as the export file will have to be downloaded before being written to your local storage device.

Is there a demo?

Yes. A full functioning demo of the system is available here. The demo contains sample program data to allow you to view program functionality, transfer times, generate reports, and try entering some data of your own.

Is my data secure in the demo?

The demo data is publicly viewable. The next prospective customer that logs in will be able to see the information that you have entered, so you may want to use fictitious data while you are trying out the demo. Sample data is refreshed in the demo installation every day.

Are there noticeable lags?

Depending on the speed of your internet connection, you may see a slight delay. Most users have reported that any lag does not slow down their daily work. Rather than transmitting screen bitmaps over the network, our server transfers just drawing commands. This greatly improves overall performance. If you have ever used Remote Desktop or GoToMyPC to work on another computer, using PowerChurch Online will be very similar. You can use the demo to see for yourself how well PowerChurch Online will work with your internet connection.

Is my information safe?

Our servers are protected behind a firewall to ensure that only authorized connections are made. In addition, transmissions between our servers and your computer are fully encrypted.

The sensitive information that resides on our servers is only accessible to those you share your login information with. That is to say, only those in your organization who work in PowerChurch Online. While it is possible for PowerChurch Software employees to access the information on the server, our employees do not access customer data unless it is deemed necessary as part of the resolution of an ongoing Technical Support issue. In this situation, your information is held in the strictest confidence.

Will PowerChurch Mailroom work with PowerChurch Online?

PowerChurch Mailroom is licensed to and installs for the use on a single computer or local network of computers. It is not currently possible to use PowerChurch Mailroom on the PowerChurch Online servers, due to licensing and technical restrictions.

Can our members go online and update their information?

No, this application can only be accessed by your staff. With PowerChurch Online, you are essentially running PowerChurch Plus remotely from our servers.

How do we link PowerChurch Online to our web site?

PowerChurch Online is accessed through an installed client software. It is meant to be used only by staff members.

Can areas of the program be restricted to certain staff members?

Yes. All users will share the same logon and password to access PowerChurch Online, but inside the program, you can specify a different username and password for each individual, complete with the access restrictions you choose.

How many users can be logged in at the same time?

The base price includes two concurrent users' access at any given time. This means you can have any number of users set up to use the software, but only two can be accessing it at the same time. If you need access for more people at a time, you can purchase additional user licenses in groups of two at a discounted rate.

Will the "Update Outlook Contacts" feature work with PowerChurch Online?

Unfortunately, this feature is not available in PowerChurch Online. It is possible, however, to export data to a CSV file from Personal Profiles in PowerChurch Online and then import them into Outlook directly.

How do I sign up?

Please visit the Order page, or call our office at (800) 486-1800, Monday - Friday, 9 - 6 Eastern.

Once I've signed up, what's next?

For new users, you should be set up and ready to go in one to two business days. For existing users, we'll need to get a copy of your current data to load into the online account. Please allow one to two business days after we receive your data for your account to be active.