Yearbook reporting gets new look

New in 2020 for the January – March 2021 reporting period: Alex – Data for Disciples. Gone are the paper forms mailed in January to congregations. Gone is the clunky online form to fill in attendance data averages for the whole year.

This online reporting system is free to congregations and offers features not available in previous modes of yearbook data collection.

1. Congregations can enter attendance and giving data weekly, along with notes, so they can track trends in real time. This info is entered via a web portal, so you can do it from any device that has an internet connection. Even in a year like 2020, there are interesting trends to see. Perhaps your online attendance spiked the week you hosted a special musician. Perhaps your giving peaked just after an email appeal.
2. Congregations can keep up their contact information in real time. Did you initiate your first website during this period? Make sure it is listed in the Alex contact information so it will eventually show on the Disciples.org website. Keep your phone number, staff, and email addresses up to date as well.
3. Congregations can more easily get in touch with other congregations. Part of the Alex site for congregations is a directory of every congregation in the U.S. and Canada with any available contact information (website, phone, email, etc.).
4. From early January through March 15, the yearbook reporting tabs will be unlocked and congregations can easily enter additional data. Their attendance will automatically roll up for the calendar year. Any Disciples Mission Fund contributions and special day offerings received through Treasury Services will also automatically appear.
5. The expanded reporting capabilities of Alex will allow for collection of additional info. For instance, your congregation can indicate it is a Green Chalice or Open & Affirming congregation.

Some congregations may be reticent to put this kind of data online. Please rest assured that other congregations cannot alter or see your information until the yearbook is published. This is not a change in privacy of data.  

All congregations for which regions had email contacts should have received in invitation to log in. If your contact did not login within 24 hours of receipt of the email, the link in the original email will not work. (This is a security measure recommended by the vendor.)

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If you want to change the username and/or contact email, the person who initially received the email can follow steps 1-4 to login and then go to “settings” and change the information to the desired contact information then click on “save”. Settings is also where you can change your dashboard to Spanish headers.