As technological developments continue to drive and change the way in which we do our business, keeping up with enhancements and upgrades can pose a significant challenge. The Diocese of Buffalo has relied on its well established relationship with ACS Technologies, provider of PDS software solutions for Catholic organizations to ensure a smooth transition.
Automating Parishes. Having been a long time client for the past 20 years, the Diocese knew that PDS could assist them with the type of solution that they were looking for. With 275 parishes under their jurisdiction, the Diocese recognized early on that automating their parishes was the most efficient way to enable them to manage more information with less manpower available. Currently, 196 of the parishes are using the PDS Church Office Management module to monitor census, contribution and sacrament information.
Platform Solidification. According to Computer Software Training Coordinator for the Diocese, Ray Beaudry, "Our parishes find that PDS has a multitude of day-to-day uses. Tracking contributions, sacraments and certificates have become a very important part of what we do." To enable each parish and mission to operate efficiently, the Diocese has a mix of parishes using different products. Although 71 percent of the parishes are using Church Office Management, the Diocese goal is to bring all of the parishes on board to make that number 100 percent.
Monitoring Campaigns. A strong motivator driving this movement is the large scale Catholic Charities giving mission that is monitored by the Diocese. This charity meets the needs of almost 200,000 Western New Yorkers each year, with all of its efforts providing support and assistance to help people make productive changes, and even turn their lives around. Because the campaign is so large in scope, a small error could result in thousands of dollars unaccounted for. Error is not an option.
Value Added. Beaudry notes, "The importance of accuracy in conveying this information is foremost." To help their parishes bring this to fruition, the Diocesan IT department developed a disc update system designed to export data from PDS' Church Office Management database; then the information is imported into the Diocesan network. Beaudry added, "Having the PDS addition makes this process so much more robust and efficient. This is one of the main reasons that having all of our parishes on board with the Church Office Management module will be a true value added."
Another benefit of upgrading all of the parishes to the Church Office Management module is to monitor their census reporting. The parishes are required to report births, deaths and other pertinent information. Because the Diocese of Buffalo covers over 6,455 square miles and has a Catholic population of 702,884 keeping track of the parishioner information would be a monumental job at best if it weren't for PDS. Using the census/contribution feature, the program can convert all of the parishes existing family, member and contribution data in an instant.
About Diocese of Buffalo:
The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, established on April 23, 1847, comprises the westernmost counties of New York State, which include: Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans, Chautauqua, Wyoming, Cattaraugus and Allegany. The Diocese covers 6,455 square miles and has a Catholic population of 702,884.
Web Site: www.buffalodiocese.org
