Before choosing parish software, a diocese should ask the vendor who owns the data, whether everything can be exported, how access and children's information are protected, how Church practice is respected, how a pilot works, and what the exit terms are. These fifteen questions cover it.
Ownership and exit
- Who owns the data, and is that written into the agreement?
- Can we export everything, in a usable form, whenever we ask?
- What happens to our records if you close, are sold, or we leave?
Security and privacy
- Who at your company can see our data, and under what controls?
- How is access restricted by role, and how are changes recorded?
- How is children's information protected and limited?
- How is data protected in transit and at rest, and how is it backed up and recovered?
- Where is our data hosted, and can you share the details in writing?
- How do you handle a security incident, and how will we be told?
Church practice
- How do you support registers, certificates and Mass offerings without overriding Church practice or diocesan norms?
Getting started and support
- How will you migrate our existing records?
- What training and support do parish staff receive, and in which language?
- How is a pilot structured, and what are the exit terms?
- How are fees set, and what could change them?
- Can we speak to another diocese or parish that uses it?
How to use the answers
Ask for the answers in writing, compare vendors on the same questions, and run a short pilot in two or three parishes, including one rural parish, before any wider decision.
Keep reading
- What Is Parish Management Software? A Plain Guide for Priests and Parish Teams
- How to Digitise Sacramental Registers Safely, Without Replacing the Originals
- Building Steady, Transparent Giving in Your Parish
- Why Paper Sacrament Registers Put Your Parish's History at Risk
- Going Digital: A Parish Administrator's First 30 Days