Partnership opens door to 28,000 churches using eTapestry

INDIANAPOLIS - eTapestry.com has partnered with Hendersonville, Tenn.-based ChurchMatters Inc. to provide Christian congregations seamless access to eTapestry's Web-based donor-management and communications software for nonprofits through Churchmatters' Web site development tools.

The agreement will allow up to 28,000 churches aligned with ChurchMatters to access eTapestry for a fee through Web sites and portals designed specifically for ChurchMatters congregations. ChurchMatters has exclusive rights to the church market as an eTapestry reseller.

ChurchMatters.com offers a Web-based application that provides Web site templates that are easy to manage. It also provides filtered Internet services and partnerships for its members.

"What we're trying to do is build a one-stop shop," said Daren Tomey, vice president of business development. "Once congregations use our Web development platform, they will have access to an unlimited number of resources to enhance communications, streamline processes or raise funds."

ChurchMatters also offers its members a community portal page for their congregations that allows members to sign up for an e-mail account and access bulletin board discussions and other information. When the members enter that information on the site, it will automatically be stored in eTapestry's database, avoiding tedious and costly data entry by the churches.

ChurchMatters partnered with eTapestry because of the company's knowledge about the nonprofit sector, Tomey said.

"The benefit is their management team understands nonprofits and they are already trained to do business in the church market and have customized their product to work better with church nonprofits whose needs are somewhat different than the standard 501(c)3," Tomey said.

Because the church market is somewhat different from eTapestry's base market of nonprofit organizations, it chose to partner with ChurchMatters, which had an established presence and complementary products.

"We also really liked the philosophies and strategies of ChurchMatters," said eTapestry COO Steve Rusche.

Rusche said churches are the perfect users of eTapestry because of their limited funds and the variety of people who need to access information. Because eTapestry is Web-based, congregation members can simultaneously tap into their databases wherever they have access to a computer, browser and an Internet connection. eTapestry also is based on a rental system that allows nonprofits on tight budgets to afford a software program with high functionality.

About eTapestry

Founded in 1999, Indianapolis-based eTapestry.com is the first Web-based donor database and communications management system that rents its software to customers who access it over the Internet. Nonprofit organizations of all types and sizes using eTapestry.com do not pay the large upfront purchasing costs or the ongoing maintenance and support contracts typically paid in the purchase of more traditional software. For more information, go to www.eTapestry.com.

About ChurchMatters

Headquartered in Hendersonville, TN, ChurchMatters, Inc. has been in business since September 2000, providing a suite of technology solutions to churches across the United States and Canada. The company also owns and operates ArkCatalog, an inspirational, educational supplies company serving the needs of more than 10,000 Sunday schools, vacation bible schools and child care institutions in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit them online at www.churchmatters.com.