The biggest onboarding mistake is trying to turn on every module before anyone wins. A one-week plan focuses on visible outcomes: leaders can find members, record attendance, and send one approved SMS. Everything else queues for week two and three.
Day 1 — Foundation
- Create workspace, verify domain, complete church profile and branches.
- Assign Church Owner, finance lead, and communications lead roles.
- Import a pilot member list (100–300 records) with phone numbers normalized.
Day 2–3 — People data
Clean duplicates before full import—match on phone and email. Map families and assign default branch. Train two power users to edit profiles and upload photos. Document naming conventions (legal name vs preferred name) so reports stay consistent.
Day 4 — Attendance pilot
Run one service with digital check-in or manual entry immediately after service. Compare counts to ushers’ paper for reconciliation. Fix role permissions if volunteers see too much pastoral data.
Day 5 — Communications
Submit sender ID if required. Send a test SMS to leadership phones. Schedule a template for mid-week devotional or event reminder. Confirm credit balance and top-up process with finance.
Week 2+ — Finance & welfare
Open finance when treasurers have chart of accounts ready. Start with recording last Sunday’s offering, not ten years of history. Welfare cases can begin digital when pastors understand privacy settings on notes. ChurchDek onboarding wizard mirrors this sequence—use it as a checklist, not decoration.