Plain Black, makers of WebGUI - Church Resource Ministries

Church Resource Ministries

Church Resource Ministries (CRM) was founded in 1980 by a group of individuals devoted to evangelizing Christianity through the local church. Early leaders recognized that a combination of individual discipleship and sociological factors create a strong Christian foundation, and searched for a way to foster Christianity through developing strong leadership on the local church level.

Currently, CRM staff serve as missionaries to churches, pastors and lay leaders in major metropolitan areas throughout the world, providing leadership training to local church organizations. They develop materials to supplement church teachings and support church leadership, and their website currently serves over 9000 unique visitors a month seeking knowledge to aid their ministry.

"..using WebGUI has added a lot of functionality to our website with the promise of many features to come."

Search for a Solution

With a diverse audience using its website, CRM needed a content management system that was powerful enough to serve their needs, yet adaptable to a wide range of skill levels. Their previous website was served through a commercial software program that required manual uploads, taking up a lot of staff time and cost. CRM began their search for a new content management system through online research, and discovered WebGUI on the CMS Matrix. WebGUI had the most features at the best price (free), which made it a practical solution to fill their needs.

With WebGUI, CRM is able to avoid heavy costs associated with licensed software, and associates worldwide can quickly and easily update web content without going through IT staff. WebGUI also allows CRM to place dynamic content on every page, providing a multimedia experience to their site visitors.

"The versioning system...is truly a great feature to have."

Results

Today, CRM’s services stretch across the globe, and their website serves as a central source of materials and information for donors, potential recruits and leaders interested in their services. Matthew DeWitt from CRM says, “We are only now beginning to realize the true power of WebGUI.” The ability to assign users and groups of users privileges on the site allows CRM to easily share files and other information in a secure manner on their intranet. CRM also makes use of Plain Black’s online and phone support for times when they have a problem or need advice. CRM was in attendance at the 2007 WebGUI Users Conference and cites the conference as being an eye opener for all they can accomplish with the software.

Recently, CRM has taken advantage of WebGUI’s flexible architecture by creating some macros to incorporate online videos into their website. They also make extensive use of the Collaboration System and are experimenting with developing some custom applications. They are also happy to be able to display video and dynamic banners throughout their website.

With WebGUI, CRM has been able to expand the services they offer and state that WebGUI is, “...truly a great feature to have. We are very appreciative that the folks at Plain Black have put together such a great product.”

At a Glance

Church Resource Ministries
http://www.crmleaders.org/

Location
International

Industry
Non-Profit

Challenge
Find a powerful, yet easy to use CMS which is adaptable to different skill levels.

Results
Today, over 300 CRM staff serve throughout the world, and the website provides supplemental materials to over 9000 site visitors a month.

"We are very appreciative that the folks at Plain Black have put together such a great product."

Matthew DeWitt Church Resources Ministries