Zwammerdam

Zwammerdam and their church app

Positive surprises, experiences and lessons

It was very exciting for the Donkey Mobile team. The Protestant community of Zwammerdam was going to use our app for the first time in real life. Zwammerdam is a small town near our home base Bodegraven with an active church community. Long before we went live in September 2020, they tested the functionalities of the app in Zwammerdam. They really grew with us. Church worker and supervisor of the app projectJan Peter Molenaar tells about their experiences here.

Zwammerdam

Withgrown

In the Protestant Community in Zwammerdam we use the church app of Donkey Mobile to our full satisfaction. We have grown with the church app from a test church of the first versions to a user of the full-fledged and stable version that the church app is now, and all that in a period of six months. During the rollout of the church app in the community a lot was learned and I am happy to share that.

The reason: why an app?

The first reason to look for a digital medium was the desire to replace the annual paper municipal guide with addresses of parishioners. In practice, this quickly became outdated: if a parishioner moved a week after it was published, it was no longer up to date. A second reason was that maintaining the various rosters is an intensive job; there are at least 10 rosters in circulation in the municipality. When changes are made, it is a lot of work to process them. This had to be done smarter, more clearly and cheaper with the help of modern technology. The information provision was centrally arranged via a weekly newsletter. In this day and age, in which fast communication is the norm, information is sometimes already outdated shortly after it has been sent. In addition, the moment of copy closure must be taken into account for a newsletter.

The digitization committee of the Protestant Church in Zwammerdam came into contact with Donkey Mobile in neighboring Bodegraven and decided to embark on the adventure of testing and implementing the church app as a trial. Other apps were explicitly not chosen, because this church app is specifically developed for churches, is therefore church-oriented and has functions such as digital collection, schedules and groups and a church guide. It started with a small test group of approximately 20 members and then the step to roll out to the entire church was quickly taken. There are currently 110 users.

Positive surprised

During the rollout of the church app and its use, it became clear that the church app is used a lot by older people (even more than by young people). This is beyond expectations! It is great to see that older people have quickly become more media-savvy. It is also noticeable that instruction or explanation is only partly necessary because the church app works very intuitively: sharing text, photos, videos, documents is quick and easy. The collection function is also easy to use. Another eye-opener was that not everyone has a smartphone. However, this did not stop us from continuing to implement the church app.
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Furthermore, it is noticeable that instruction or explanation is only partly necessary because the Donkey Mobile church app works very intuitively.

Jan Peter Molenaar

Church Youth Worker

Logo kerk app PG Zwammerdam

We see that updates to the church app are released regularly with improvements and new functionality. These updates are very well received and really contribute to the quality and functionality for the congregation. The church app is a simple and effective means of communication. Users experience connection. Something that is indispensable in this day and age. In addition, Donkey Mobile is a professional and innovative party that does everything it can to support the church community with today's technology via the church app. Communication with Donkey Mobile is fast, clear and adequate.


Remarkable observations and, in my opinion, positive ingredients for success!

Six tips for churches that want to launch an app.
In working with Donkey Mobile during the testing phase and beyond, we have gained valuable experiences and learned lessons.
Tip 1
Set up a committee

Assemble the group from multiple stakeholder groups and multiple generations. We have done this from the start and it ensures good cooperation and broad support in the municipality.

Tip 2
Consider the relationship between the app and existing communication channels.
What do you share via which medium and for which target group? We have chosen that the church app is exclusively intended for members of the congregation. Arguments for this are the regulations regarding personal data (in the digital church guide) and the personal messages in the church app. We want to keep such messages about illness, birth, death, call for prayer, within the congregation. Therefore, check who registers with the church app and place that authorization with a few administrators who know many congregation members and have access to the membership administration to check whether registrants are members.
Tip 3
Before you launch, make sure you have a fully equipped church app
If you are going to roll out the app, make sure that users are already familiar with it. An important part of the app is the various groups in which communication takes place (such as sextons, children's church service, church council). Prepare these in advance. Make sure that schedules/agendas are visible, that there is a welcome message, that the collection schedule is loaded and that the collection function works. This will give users a "warm bath" when they use the church app for the first time. This provides recognition and invites immediate use. Organize drop-in moments for support, for example after the service, to answer questions and help with installation on a phone or tablet.
Tip 4
Repeated attention

During the introductory period, keep drawing attention to the church app, for example by mentioning in the announcements that the collection can also be easily done via the church app. Posting news and responding to it stimulates the use of the church app. An important lesson is that this interaction must be stimulated in the beginning. Appoint a few people who regularly post something until this has become common practice and church members themselves also start posting messages. Add value by also posting personal messages, these are the most responded to.

Tip 5
Rethinking news provision
The use of the church app requires a cultural change in the congregation when it comes to news provision: this no longer has to be central: users share news themselves. That sometimes requires some rethinking: no copy closure, but information can be shared when it is current. Users have to get used to that, that is different from how the process of delivering copy used to be. Give your congregation time to get used to that. Members who are also on Facebook are familiar with the principle of sharing messages and responding to them.
Tip 6
Don't forget the non-users!

Another lesson is that - although the collection function works well and easily - the collection coupons and payment links in the church magazine will not be abolished in our congregation for the time being. The collection functionality is used a lot, but especially the elderly (80 ) still make significant use of the coupons. Consider here what a strategy is for the coming years and continue to serve the entire congregation. Also those who do not use the church app.

More manuals

Finally

I hope that our experiences and the selection of the most important lessons from Zwammerdam may be useful for other churches that are considering starting with the church app or are already using it. As an independent ICT-er and youth worker in the church, I can heartily recommend the church app! Of course, there is much more to say and share than what is described here. If you want to get started as a church, also view the “Step-by-step plan for implementing the church app” that was written for church councils and committees that are going to roll out the church app. Click below:

Implementation from A(pp) to Z

Jan-Peter Molenaar

Self-employed ICT professional and youth worker

Fundamentals BV

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