Rock RMS vs. TouchPoint Software

Rock RMS is a great CMS for churches passionate about technology and innovation. It requires advanced developing skills to operate, which can be a challenge - but there are several partners available for contracting work. Successful usage of Rock RMS opens up the door for endless possibilities - from dynamic and beautiful websites, automations that serve both internal (staff) and external (customer) needs, and unending possibilities for innovative solutions!

For our church size (1000 weekly attendees), Touchpoint has been a great option for us. We moved from a legacy server based system to Touchpoint which has brought a much needed transition to a web-based product with all its advantages. The various features that stand out in our use of Touchpoint includes: good child-care check-in process, the integration of volunteer background checks with third party vendors, increasing integration with accounting packages like Sage Intacct, strong contributions module with flexibility on selecting various providers for the front end, generally intuitive ease of use combined with good flexibility to tailor to our needs.

Incentivized

• Very customizable
• Content channels are powerful
• Web and mobile app integration

• Connects well with online merchant processors for ACH and Credit card gifts
• Integrates well with our accounting software (Sage Intacct)
• Retreat and event management that require fees is also very robust.

Incentivized

• Group Scheduler is missing some key features
• Event registrations aren't the most user friendly
• Security permissions are a challenge as we grow

• The onboarding/training process was not as smooth as it could have been.
• As new features roll-out, sometimes the communication is not as clear as it could be.

Incentivized

In my opinion, you will need to have developers on your team, or partner with contractors in order to get Rock RMS set up properly and keep in maintained. I think you will also need to have Rock RMS Super Users who can troubleshoot bugs and handle basic requests from internal staff. There are also several functions that every day staff use which are very user friendly (i.e. Group Viewer, content channels, Group Scheduler, communication templates.)

In my experience, Rock RMS is much more customizable, robust, and community focused than PCO. Planning Center's sweet spot is music management and volunteer scheduling, but I think Rock RMS outshines PCO with its integration of web sites and mobile apps, automations and jobs, workflows, and its focus on community. There are tons of free and paid plugins for Rock RMS, as well as multiple Rock RMS partners to choose from.

We moved from Shelby to Touchpoint 5 years ago. Although Shelby has moved on to the web, it has been a more recent development after a 40 year history as a server based product. We wanted to go with a web-based option that started on the web.

Incentivized

• Fosters amazing data insights!
• Fast and efficient!
• New innovative solutions always being added!

• Touchpoint's value has been in the ability of staff and lay leaders to be able to connect with and manage others.

Incentivized