MinistryTracker.com

Help & FAQs

Customer Support Center

You can reach our Customer Support Center in a variety of ways. We strive to respond quickly and give you the best Customer Service possible. If you can’t find the answer to your question in our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) please feel free to contact our Customer Support Center via email or telephone.

Email Support:
support@MinistryTracker.com

Telephone:
360-450-3542

Frequently Asked Questions

• Pricing & Signup
• Getting Started
• Security & Privacy
• Data Import & Export
• Printing Labels
• Children’s Ministry Labels
• Document Uploads
• Other

Pricing & Signup

How much does MinistryTracker.com cost?

MinistryTracker.com is a subscription-based service and the cost is dependant on the number of Areas (or databases) you want within your organization and whether you are being billed Monthly or Year-in-Advance. There are considerable savings for organizations choosing to subscribe multiple areas and for organizations that choose to pay Year-in-Advance. Learn more about areas and databases and our complete price list on our pricing page.

Can I try MinistryTracker.com before I sign up?

Absolutely, you can use our demo site to give MinistryTracker.com a try. The demo username and password has full permissions for the organization and any areas within it. Don’t enter anything but demo information into that site though, because it’s subject to periodic cleaning and other demo users can view and edit the data. If you would like a private database for your own testing please contact customer service to arrange for a private demo area.

What payment methods does MinistryTracker.com accept?

We accept Visa and Mastercard only via the Web site sign-up process. However, we can take personal or corporate checks as well. In the event you need to pay with a check, please call customer service. We’ll give you a method to get signed up online instantly and then send in your payment within 30 days.

Why does sending a TXT message cost 2.5¢ per message recipient?

We have 3 different TXT plans so the cost to send messages really depends on which plan you subscribed to. For details on the plans please see the feature comparison table.

When YouthTracker.net started sending TXT messages in 2006 the cost was 10¢ per message. Since then we’ve been able to lower the cost 3 fold and continue to push for even lower cost messaging. The messaging costs are associated with purchasing the bandwidth and credits from our provider necessary for delivering the messages.

TXT messages are sent from an email address that you provide so you can receive replies to the message. If you know the email address for your cell phone you can use that email address to send the message from and get replies on your mobile device as TXT messages. You do need to know the Cell Provider Company for the cell phones in your database in order for them to receive the messages. This is a relatively new requirement but allows us to offer services at 2-3 ¢ per message instead of 8-10¢ per message.

We continue to investigate the use of a 5-digit short code for sending messages but have found the $5,000 monthly fees prohibitive at this time. Shared-short code services are available but don’t cover all providers (for instance Sprint/Nextel does not work with any share short code providers). So in order to keep the costs as low as possible we have designed our existing system and hope that it provides the best service possible.

What is the difference between MinistryTracker.com TXT messaging and SimplyYouthMinistry.com TXT messaging?

SimplyYouthMinistry.com offers bulk TXT messaging service for a relatively low cost using the email to TXT gateways, but you need to keep a separate list of your student’s phone numbers in a separate application and or sync your lists in multiple places. With MinistryTracker.com you use one application for all your needs and can create dynamic lists to send to based on any search criteria at any time. There is also no monthly cost for MinistryTracker.com messages so you only pay for what you use when you want to use it.

As always we encourage to you to explore all your options and make the decision that’s best for your ministry. Hopefully the above information helps you make a more informed decision about TXT messaging options.

What is the difference between your TXT plans?

	Pay‑per‑TXT	Unlimited TXT	ProTXT
Monthly Cost	FREE	$30	$30
Outgoing Message Cost	2.5 ¢	FREE	2.5 ¢
Incoming Message Cost	—	—	FREE
Startup Cost	FREE	FREE	$20 To reserve your private 10 digit number.
Sent From	Your Email Address	Your Email Address	Your Private 10 Digit Number
Replies Go To	Your Email Address	Your Email Address	TXT Inbox with optional forwarding to cell phone.
Realtime Message Status	—	—	Yes
Tier 1 Delivery Time	—	—	Yes
Carrier Required	Yes	Yes	No
Scheduled	Yes	Yes	Yes Up to 7 days in advance.
Online Polls	—	—	Yes
Event Sign-in	—	—	Yes
Event Registration	—	—	Yes
Event Account Balance	—	—	Yes
Group Info	—	—	Yes
Group Adding	—	—	Yes
Custom Keywords	—	—	Yes
Max. Number of Messages	Unlimited	Unlimited	5,000/24 hours, 10,000/month

After signing up how long does it take for my database to be active?

After signing up for MinistryTracker.com your database is active immediately. You will be shown a temporary URL on the confirmation screen as well as emailed a copy with your email confirmation. Use this temporary URL to access your MinistryTracker.com database immediately. Our staff will then set up your custom URL that takes approximately 12-24 hours to propagate across the internet. Once you receive notice that your custom URL is set up, use it from that point forward.

How many ministry areas should I to sign up for?

MinistryTracker.com subscriptions are based on the number of ministry areas (think databases) that you want to track in your organization. We don’t require you to purchase multiple areas, but we have found from experience that if you have over 250 people in one database you may want to purchase additional areas (databases) for separate ministries to make things easier. Each ministry area (database) has it’s own students, staff, events, and statistics. You can always use the “advanced search” feature to print labels or send email to just the junior high students, for example, even if you have both junior high and high school students in the same area. However, if you want to track your Junior High ministry completely separately from your High School ministry then you’d want to subscribe to two areas. (Don’t worry, you can move students from one area to another once they graduate and their entire record will follow them. Also staff and volunteers can be assigned to more than one area and share a single profile between them.)

So in short, we don’t restrict your usage of a single area (or database) but we have found from experience that if you have more than about 250 students purchasing more than one area (database) is helpful for efficiency and organization. It’s up to you. Some of our customers have 10,000+ people in one database. Others have 6 areas — one for each area of ministry. It is most common to see organizations get separate areas for each of their ministries including children’s, Junior High, High School, and College and Career ministries. You can always try things out with one database area and move to multiple database areas at a later time by sending us an email.

Getting Started

How do I get setup with my new database?

View this video tutorial which walks you through setting up your preferences in your new MinistryTracker.com database.

Security & Privacy

What technology do I need in order to access MinistryTracker.com?

All you need to access MinistryTracker.com is a current web browser (like Safari 1.3.1 or better, Internet Explorer 5.5 or better, FireFox 1.0.7 or better -- other browsers that support W3C standards probably work too) that supports 256 bit SSL. The 256 bit SSL is built-in to most browsers and is required for the strong security of MinistryTracker.com. It helps to have a fast internet connection such as DSL or Cable also, but any connection to the internet will work -- it might just be a little slow. You can also access the site using a mobile device like iPhone or iPad. Blackberry devices are supported but we recommend the free Bolt browser for best compatibility with Blackberry devices. Palm and Android devices work great too!

Can I give my volunteers and other staff different permissions?

Absolutely. Each staff member can be given a separate username and password as well as very specific permissions to do only the actions you want to give them permissions to. Permissions are probably the most complex part of the MinistryTracker.com system, but they give you a lot of flexibility and control over your information. Please contact customer support with your specific needs for your staff and we can help you develop the proper permissions structure.

How secure is MinistryTracker.com?

We believe MinistryTracker.com offers you the best security available. All your information is stored in a secure data center that includes power backup, firewall monitoring, and intrusion detection. Our code has been written with security in mind from the ground up. We have received the highest level of security certification from TrustGuard for the way we handle data as well as your financial information.

All users are required to have a username and password in order to access your site and you can grant specific permissions to each of your staff. Any information that passes between the server and your browser is encrypted using 256-bit SSL encryption (the same as your bank’s Web page.) Since your information doesn’t reside on your laptop you aren’t exposing your information if you laptop is stolen or hacked. Each and every connection to your information is logged for security and tracking. We manage the backups, security, and technical details so you can work on your ministry.

We will never share your student information with anyone. It is your information and we protect it with the utmost of care. You can view our commitment to privacy in our Privacy Policy.

Data Import & Export

I have my student data in Microsoft Excel® already, can I import that into MinistryTracker.com?

There’s no sense in you retyping most of your data just so that you can copy it into MinistryTracker.com. Because everyone’s data is a little bit different we don’t offer a generic service to import Excel files, but we will do custom imports. A custom import is where our Customer Support Center takes a copy of your Excel file and imports as much of the data as possible into MinistryTracker.com. The cost for this service is $25 per 1/2 hour with a minimum $25 charge. Most files can be imported in 1/2 hour or less. Contact Customer Support if you’re interested in importing your data.

Can I get my data out of MinistryTracker.com?

You can export your student information into Microsoft Excel® from the Report menu in MinistryTracker.com. As the need arises we’ll be developing more reports so you can download additional information if you need to.

Printing Labels

Can I print mailing labels on Mac OS X with Adobe Acrobat?

View this video tutorial on how to get Adobe Acrobat to properly print the MinistryTracker.com Mailing Labels on Mac OS X.

Can I print mailing labels on Mac OS X with Preview?

View this video tutorial on how to get Preview to properly print the MinistryTracker.com Mailing Labels on Mac OS.

Can I print mailing labels on Windows IE with Adobe Acrobat?

View this video tutorial on how to get Adobe Acrobat to properly print the MinistryTracker.com Mailing Labels on Internet Explorer on Windows.

Children’s Ministry Labels

Which browsers do the labels work with?

Unfortunately after the release of our label features Firefox 3 was released without PDF plug-in support. Firefox 3 does not have a built-in PDF plug-in and Adobe’s PDF plug-in has yet to be updated to support Firefox 3. There is a third part plug-in for Firefox 3 but it does not support printing. Until Adobe is able to update their PDF reader we encourage you to use Safari on any computers that require label printing to the Dymo LabelWriter printers.

How do I print labels for Children’s Ministry?

View this quick video tutorial on how to print labels for Children’s Ministry sign-in.

What label printers should I use for Children’s Ministry labels?

We recommend the DYMO LabelWriter® 400 or 400 Turbo. Labels are designed for address labels that are 1 1/8" by 3 1/2".

Document Uploads

What file formats can I upload into student Documents?

Right now the Documents are configured to support the following file formats:

Supported File Types	Extension	MIME Type
Adobe PDF Document	.pdf	application/pdf
JPEG Image	.jpg or .jpeg	image/jpeg
GIF Image	.gif or .giff	image/gif
PNG Image	.png	image/png
TIFF Image	.tif or .tiff	image/tiff
Word Document	.doc	application/msword

You can upload other file formats but they may not download as you expect. If you have other formats that you would like us to support please email our customer support.

How much Document storage space do we get with our subscription?

Student profile photos (one per student profile) are not counted against your storage space. Documents you upload to a student’s profile (like their scanned medical release form) are counted against your 50 MB quota. 50 MB is the amount of disk space you are alloted for free. You may purchase increments of 1 GB of space for just 99¢/month. Your current usage is shown on each student profile page in the Documents section or on the Your Account screen.

How many documents can I store in 50MB?

The answer to this question depends on how your scan your files and what file type you use to store your scanned images. Here at MinistryTracker.com we tested with scanning 8.5 x 11 pages into PDF files using the suggested options below and most pages were around 200 KB. With files that are 200 KB You could store 256 docments in the FREE 50 MB of storage space you were allotted. If you purchase an additional 1 GB of space for just 99¢/month then you could store up to 5,498 documents with files around 200 KB each.

What is the best resolution to scan in documents?

If you are scanning medical release forms or other documents into a file to upload into the MinistryTracker.com Documents section you should use the following settings:

• Black and White or Grayscale
• Maximum resolution of 150 dpi
• Save into a compressed format like PDF or JPEG

Do not scan into RGB (full color) at higher than 150 dpi. The quality you see in printed pages will not be significantly better and the file size will be huge, quickly eating up your allotted quota space.

How secure are the documents I upload?

Like all of MinistryTracker.com the documents uploaded are limited to viewing only by authorized staff members. Documents cannot be added or edited unless a staff member has editing permissinos. Additionally, the Documents are protected by a "time-out" feature whereby the link to download them is not valid after 15 minutes has passed. Any documents must be downloaded shortly after viewing the page. They cannot be downloaded after 15 mintues of inactivity.

Other

Can I access MinistryTracker.com with my cell phone?

The latest cell phones (e.g. Apple’s iPhone, Blackberries, Moto Q’s, etc.) support MinistryTracker.com just as if you were using it on a desktop computer. If you don’t have a complete Web browser on your cell phone, you may still be able to use MinistryTracker.com from your cell phone. Make sure your phone’s Web browser supports 128 bit SSL encryption. You’re welcome to test your cell phone against the demo site before you sign up.