FLORENCE, SC, November 16, 2006—As the largest provider of church management software for Catholic parishes and dioceses in the United States, Parish Data System (PDS) releases PDS Version 5.0 in a continuing effort to provide advanced software solutions throughout the industry. Enhancements are targeted to strengthen PDS Church Office™, PDS Formation Office™ and PDS School Office™. The new PDS Ministry Scheduler™ will follow shortly as part of Version 5.0. In addition, the release of the PDS Development and Communications Solution incorporates three new products and individualized services including:  PDS DioOffice™, PDS DioOffice Server™ and PDS Development Connection™ as well as Project Management, Data Conversion, and Solution Consulting and Training. PDS knows that providing a robust solution for the parish and coordinating those products with tools for the archdiocese is critical to managing financial and membership data efficiently.

PDS Church Office™, PDS Formation Office™ and PDS School Office™
Church Office and Formation Office have been strengthened to enable parishes to conduct pledge campaigns more efficiently, so that they can focus on stewardship and ministry rather than campaign execution. Stewardship reports have been added to Church Office as a standard feature. Formation Office now offers easy ways to manage details for religious education enrollment programs and allows users to keep track of as little or as much information as is required. School Office now includes a new tab for nurse visits, an import for attendance information and online access for parents, students and teachers. All office products incorporate a web news feature to keep users abreast of tips from the Knowledgebase, upcoming training events and special offers.

• “This release will be of huge benefit to our organization,” says Jenny Dwyer, parish data clerk at St. Mary Church in Woodstock, Illinois. “With Church Office v5, we will be able to customize the payment coupons for our building fund once and never have to redo them. This feature will save us manpower. I also love the past due notices and the wording on the pledge cards. I am counting the days until I receive my update.”

PDS Development and Communications Solution
Designed to facilitate effective fundraising and communication, the Development and Communications Solution is comprised of software, hardware and services which can be assembled to meet to the needs of the Diocese and the associated parishes.   

• “We aim to deliver up-to-date technology solutions that specifically address the growing needs of Catholic organizations,” comments Terry Poplava, product line manager for PDS. “We have assembled the Development and Communications Solution as we learned what was needed for a complete startup and implementation with focus on two primary functions: Development, including pledge drives and campaigns, and Communications, including contacts and mailings.”

DioOffice is the central repository for information about diocesan contacts and parish families. DioOffice Server resides between Church Office at the parish and DioOffice at the diocese. The diocese uses the DioOffice Server™ application to review and select the information to receive into the DioOffice database and to return updated information back to parishes. DioOffice also includes tools to record and track contacts for all organizations that may be a recipient of a communication piece. This solution allows the diocese to manage their campaigns and to interact with churches in an efficient manner through timely exchange of name and address information resulting in a reduction in fees for returned mailings.

• “PDS DioOffice is even easier to use than our previous program. I can breeze through a batch in no time, whereas before we had to do a lot of unnecessary clicking, tabbing and answering questions. It has helped us cut down on our lag time from when a check arrives to when it’s posted,” notes Lori Massey, director, Office of Information Systems for the Archdiocese of Louisville. “It’s also incredibly speedy for entering gifts and makes applying a payment to a pledge effortless.”

Because DioOffice has the capability to manage a wide range of contacts and pledge entries, monitor statuses and support mail campaigns, it is an essential piece to assist with fundraising, stewardship and communication efforts.

• “The majority of our parishes have used PDS Church Office for years, so we were extremely excited when the PDS DioOffice™ program was introduced. The parishes are pleased with the ease of transmission of their data, and we are happy with the program’s report writing capabilities and the helpfulness of the PDS staff,” comments Ronda Stevens, accounting systems supervisor for the Diocese of St. Augustine in Jacksonville, Florida.

As an alternative, the diocese may use the Development Connection along with DioOffice Server to communicate changes with The Raiser’s Edge program from Blackbaud. This solution also helps to minimize mail returns and helps the coordination of the campaign or appeal between the diocese and the parish.

• “The Development Connection is a dream come true”, adds Marta Sweeney, Annual Appeal Manager at the Diocese of Orlando. “It provides a seamless synchronization process between parishes that use PDS Church Office and the Raiser’s Edge diocesan database.”

Diocesan Services
PDS has defined a set of services which can be employed to ensure the successful implementation of a Development and Communications Solution. PDS representatives work with the diocese to develop an overall plan including considerations for each parish in the diocese.  New services include:

• Project Management Services to assist in making sure the project meets business objectives and is completed on schedule.
• Consulting and Training Services include training on the use of diocesan applications, parish applications and the interaction between the parish and the diocese. Offerings include structured classes and applied consulting on specific programs.
• Hosting Services will deploy and manage the software applications for the diocese and/or the parish.  Fully functional applications may be accessed from the internet.
• Data Services include data conversions for diocesan applications and data conversions and data repair for parish applications.
• File Backup and Recovery Services using Livestor™to perform scheduled back-ups according to customized criteria.

About Parish Data System
Since 1978, Parish Data System has been the leading developer of Catholic management software solutions by meeting the needs of over 8,000 parishes, schools and dioceses worldwide. In 2004, PDS joined forces with another church management software leader, ACS Technologies , combining strengths and staff to offer the industry's best support and training along with the broadest line of church management software solutions. PDS software is used by the majority of parishes in dioceses throughout the United States making it the top choice for Catholic management software and services. PDS continues to develop new technology solutions that aim to enable accurate data management, increase communications and empower growth within Catholic organizations.