The church desperately needed a facility management solution, but they knew that what would really make the most impact was the ability to understand their capital asset dates. In the end, the powerful capital planning capabilities and the unique pricing model( based on square footage) was the deciding factor for the church to choose Dude Solutions.
With a Dude Solutions team hard at work to get them up to speed, Scott and his team were able to quickly integrate the platform into their operations with multiple users, seamless license tracking and a requestor portal. The free training that was offered helped answer any of their questions and, thanks to the cloud technology backing the solutions, they didn’ t have to worry about updates or maintenance.
“ We’ re not an IT organization, so Dude Solutions provides software as a service( SaaS) and that’ s valuable particularly for a small church,” Scott said.
With their new financial software, Scott was able to create a 20 year calendar which allows them to see what assets will need to eventually be replaced so that they can properly allocate funds at the right time. Having the calendar has greatly improved Scott’ s ability to create an annual budget and create justification for funding requests. And, the capital forecasting software works in tandem with their Facility Condition Assessment data.
With the CapitalForecast piece of the software, it builds my 20 year outlook and lets me know when things need to be replaced or repaired”
With the Facility Condition Assessments, Scott has not only gained insight into the condition of his assets but is also able to use the data when he presents requests and reports to the financial committee. With this data, the church has even more accurate information for their budgets, such as how much repairs cost, as well as justification for bigger projects and preventive planning. With powerful data from a licensed company, Scott has factual justification with an added layer of credibility. This means that approvals are given faster and the church is able to finance proactive instead of reactive maintenance.
“ In the past, I would have to build my own project priority plan that didn’ t include capital assets,” Scott said.“ With the CapitalForecast piece of the software, it builds my 20 year outlook and lets me know when things need to be replaced or repaired. All of that we used to do with a‘ finger in the wind’ approach.”
churchexecutive. com CHURCH FACILITY STEWARDSHIP • CHURCH EXECUTIVE 5