Planning Center vs. Servant Keeper

Planning Center is incredibly helpful if you are in the business of putting on events, performances, or productions. In such situations, Planning Center will help you coordinate with a large group of people, clearly showing who is expected to do what during the order of a service. If you are planning a major event (a wedding service, a major birthday party, a work event, or any kind of production), Planning Center will foster both teamwork and clarity. The only scenario I can envision Planning Center not being helpful would be a more laissez-faire type of event, (like a "come and go" reception).

Incentivized

This software was created for use by churches BUT because you can customize the fields, it has been very effective for other non-profit use. Workshops are geared for church users so I don't usually attend those. It has a LOT of functionality. I am able to import my data from Quickbooks as I utilize that product as well. Since I am not a church and my chart of accounts is pretty complex, I have found it easier to import from Quickbooks rather than the other way around. It is easier for me to control the accounting side of things by doing this way.

Incentivized

• Volunteer Management
• Scheduling
• File Hosting
• Communication tools
• Automated reminders

Incentivized

• tracks donations for year end giving statements with donation details
• makes emailing all donors super easy
• produces labels for mailing newsletters
• tracks donations by categories I set up
• you can modify the input boxes to fit your needs....this is especially helpful as I am not a church and it is primarily set up for churches to use.
• you can create custom reports and save them for future use

Incentivized

• Adding files to an item on a playlist can be hard to find outside of that set.
• Previewing songs on import gives very limited info - can be hard to find the correct one.

Incentivized

• There is too much clicking! Could be MUCH more effective if less clicking was required. This is my biggest complaint! It's not a deterrent to purchasing, and it does not affect its functionality, but is an annoyance that could EASILY be fixed.
• It can be cumbersome to figure out how to use features but is pretty user friendly.

Incentivized

I've not needed to use Planning Center support. In the few instances that I would have thought would "require support," tips and notices popped up on screen letting me know what was happening. There are very VERY few issues that I've found with Planning Center. The interface has been intuitive and powerful, so I've not needed to use their support service.

Incentivized

At one point, I was presented with both Asana and Trello as helpful tools to facilitate teamwork and collaboration amongst a large group of people. However, when it comes to putting on productions/services/events, Planning Center just seemed to have everything we need. I have never really once given thought to moving on from Planning Center. I'm sure Asana and Trello have much to offer, and I did briefly consider the, but Planning Center (for what we needed) was a grand-slam, home run.

Incentivized

I don't remember the names but I evaluated other church donor software and Servant Keeper offered the most bang for your buck. It had amazing funtionality but not a super high price tag.

Incentivized

• Planning Center Services has become an irreplaceable part of our Sunday gathering preparation
• Planning Center Music Stand is an invaluable tool for rehearsal and performance of songs each week
• Planning Center Giving helped us establish easy ways for folks to give online during COVID and beyond
• Planning Center Registrations helped us navigate attendance issues during COVID, and has always been our go-to for gathering information for Events

Incentivized

• Because I use the desktop version, there was literally a one time cost and it has given me years of use and function.
• It has improved my ability to communicate easily and effectively with donors

Incentivized