eCatholic Year in Review 2021: Growth & Gratitude

Last June we celebrated eCatholic’s 16th anniversary by sharing some of the major events that have occurred throughout our history. Over the years, our story has grown beyond what I ever dreamed and we're humbled and blessed to have shared the journey with you.

The year 2021 will always stand out as the year we acquired ChMS and added a church management software to our product suite. At our annual team retreat in June, I was in awe standing in front of our expanded team of some of the most talented and passionate individuals, and I'm even more so today. We are all so grateful for the opportunity to serve you and help you fulfill your mission.

Let’s celebrate all the things that transpired from another remarkable year.

Marking milestones with gratitude 

1

Welcoming ChMS

The most notable moment of 2021 will always be acquiring ChMS, and welcoming our new team members at eCatholic’s annual team retreat. I knew it was becoming time to expand our product suite with a leading ChMS technology, and the moment we learned the story and met the people behind what is now eCatholic ChMS, it couldn’t have been more providential.

2

Customer Service Recognition

eCatholic was honored to be recognized by the popular customer service platform for communication tools, HelpScout. Celebrating customer service month, the HelpScout Custom Service Award gave eCatholic the #2 spot for B2B businesses.
 

3

Aggie 100 List for a fifth year

For a fifth time, eCatholic was recognized as a member of the Aggie 100, an annual award that honors the 100 fastest growing Aggie-owned or -led businesses in the world. The award recognizes entrepreneurial endeavors and success as business leaders.

New products and features released in 2021 

1

Top Features

Thanks to your inspiration, our eCatholic development team created more awesome new features. These four were the most celebrated from customer feedback and creative implementation.

• QR codes instantly engage others with website resources like donation pages
• Copy Page button saves website staff contributors hours of rework
• Schedule Publish allows you to “set it and forget it” when creating new content
• Headline Section offers a versatile design tool to spotlight major content

2

New technology integrations 

As technology and website expectations continually change, our eCatholic team is always seeking solutions to simplify your work with digital communication solutions.

• AccessiBe - There’s a growing desire for websites to meet ADA and WCAG guidelines in order to serve those who experience the internet differently. eCatholic got in touch with our friends at AccessiBe to create a solution that works with your eCatholic website.
• ChMS - After ChMS joined our product suite, our team created integrations for the ChMS technology to pull and use data collected by an eCatholic website. Customers enjoying both an eCatholic website and ChMS can now experience real-time reporting of payment contributions, and automatic transferring of family registrations.

3

Three new free themes

Adding to our growing library of free-theme website designs, these latest additions offer even more options for unique style and function.

• Lucca - eye-catching colors, bold hover graphics, and unique art-deco style
• Damascus - contrasting colors, bold design, and collapsible side navigation
• Cyprus - detailed backgrounds and crisp font choices

Making the switch: All of these themes are now available in your website’s Design Studio. If you’d like to activate one today, here’s how.

Best practices inspire effective communication

1

Enhanced webinars and learning panels

We increased the number of webinars focused on best practices and opportunities to help you stay ahead with digital technology. These online sessions focused on topics to help increase ministry, online giving, communication, and engagement. Here were some of the most popular ones from last year.

• Inspire End-of-year giving - engaging others to think of your mission 
• Understanding Google Analytics - strengthening your website experience
• Identifying Phishing emails and digital scams - steps to help you stay safe

2

Sharing your stories and inspiration

The eCatholic team loves hearing from our customers as you inspire us with your stories. Last year, we shared some of your feedback and experience to help inspire others. Here are a few that were a big hit.

• Best websites of 2021 - the inspiring designs of our customers
• Connecting a church, school, childhood center - a branding story
• Catholic Schools letting the world know their story - ways on being heard

Working on tomorrow, together

So here I am surrounded by an ever-growing team of new faces, incredible talent, and all dedicated individuals who show up and bring it 100 percent - a team I don’t deserve. However, it’s you, the unseen heroes, that brought us here. We are humbled to continue to share this journey and this growth with you. From everyone at eCatholic, thank you!

Here's to 2022, and to the next 16 years! Thanks be to God for blessing us with a remarkable journey. St. John Paul II and St. Gabriel, pray for us!