If you’ve ever wondered why someone hasn’t found a way to bridge the gap between different software systems, you probably use your computer the way you drive your car (able to get around town but completely ignorant of what goes into the engine of a car.) It’s true that many software products don’t play “nice” together, but we’ve got a surprise for you:
There is a way to integrate disparate systems. It’s called an Application Programming Interface, or API. For two companies to merge usability of their different systems, technical bridges must be built. One company must build an platform (API) that gives secure, select, back-door access to its users’ databases, and the other company must configure their software to that API. This is a time-consuming proposition on both ends, but it has huge implications for the expanding Internet ecosystem. Through APIs, vendors can seamlessly connect to one another to form a mash-up of applications, ultimately increasing the value to the end user (you!) far beyond what one vendor can do alone. Examples are Google, Facebook and Salesforce. Another value to this ecosystem is that companies can focus on their core competencies and create better products than if they are forced to be “jacks-of-all trades, and masters of none.” Fellowship One has an API. Currently, the following companies have “built bridges” to integrate through the F1 API:
BombBomb for email list management
Brushfire for event management, including registration and reserved seating
Capacity Assessor for increasing a culture of generosity
CRMail by Saleswave for direct mail ads
GivingKiosk for touch screen kiosks as well as online and mobile giving
iMinistries Church CMS for church websites
Kindrid for smartphone donations via text message
mobileAxept for text giving with fund designations and mobile keyword purchasing
Mercury Flight for creating personalized SMS, voice, and email communications
Protect My Ministry for background checks
Planning Center integration (F1/PCO Sync) for syncing with Planning Center
Pushpay for categorized smartphone giving
SecureGive for digital kiosk giving
Signup Kiosk for turning ipads and iphones into customizable registration stations
Simple Donations for 60-second online giving
SiteOrganic for total web solutions
The Table for customized, internal social media
TXT2GIVE for fund-specific mobile giving via text
Webconnex for syncing customer and transaction records from GivingFuel, RegFox, TicketSpice and RedPodium
Yaptap for multi-channel ministry communication
And given that it’s not an easy thing to do, we think that the fact that 20 companies have built to our API ought to tell you something! Fellowship One churches are also creating their own expanded functionality around their F1 databases. Our API is just one thing that sets us apart from other church management software (ChMS) systems. Visit our developer site to learn more about how these vendors integrate with Fellowship One or to submit your own app.
