If you’d like to get the scoop on how to reduce energy consumption and cut costs at the same time, look to Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Anaheim, California. Their recent implementation of EventU Green™ is a wonderful example of how to turn your church into a “green” church in a matter of weeks.

Vineyard Anaheim’s 2,500 member congregation and Christian school meet at a 250,000 square foot facility on 25 acres. This is not your typical church; however, their concerns about energy consumption and costs are typical to almost every church in America.

Dave Paolozzi, the facilities manager for the church recollects, “When I came on staff about two years ago, I noticed that the HVAC system controls were set for 6am-10pm, almost everyday, whether people were in the zone or not. No one was able to track functionality enough to keep up on it. We were using far too much energy, and we needed to get a hold of what to do about it. In addition, our energy costs were on the rise and we needed a way to cut back and conserve more.”

The church was already successfully using our EventU™ product to manage their facility, resources, and events. Vineyard Anaheim researched HVAC control systems to see if there would be some way to connect EventU data with their HVAC units, but discovered no vendors seemed to offer a solution for connecting online event data to the HVAC controls. “We would have had to enter in all our events a second time into the HVAC system in order to make it work how we wanted,” adds Paolozzi.

Vineyard Anaheim’s Executive Pastor, Dan Mahon, began talking with ServiceU’s CEO, Tim Whitehorn, and found that a solution was already in development. This solution was the EventU add-on component EventU Green™.

Mahon said that they “wanted a solution that would be intuitive and work with our events calendaring system, not work independently.” EventU Green™. was built to automate a facilities’ HVAC system based on the information scheduled in EventU. Now, Vineyard Christian is able to schedule events and control their HVAC system online, 24/7.

Now any organization using EventU can also use EventU Green™ to control their HVAC systems online remotely as events are scheduled.

“EventU Green™is radical because it interfaces directly with a church’s HVAC heating and cooling systems to modify the thermostat settings,” Whitehorn explains. “This means that the HVAC controls will be adjusted automatically as the event schedule changes, thereby saving churches thousands of dollars per year.”

ServiceU estimates that churches can easily save 10-20% of their current heating and cooling bill per year using EventU Green™ automation for their facilities.

If your HVAC system is compatible (check with ServiceU), your facility can be up and running in two weeks or less. ServiceU provides a series of questionnaires to the church in order to determine the layout of their HVAC system and input this info in EventU Green™to set everything up correctly.

Pricing is based on the size of the facility and number of HVAC zones. The cost of EventU Green™ is a fraction of the anticipated savings on utility bills, not to mention the savings of staff time and resources. In addition, organizations that are increasingly concerned with energy usage and becoming more “green” can know that creating a more efficient HVAC management system will put them on the right path.

Since it is necessary for a church to have EventU to schedule and manage events at their facility in order to implement EventU Green™, ServiceU is offering special pricing, for a limited time, for new customers when the two modules are purchased at the same time. Call 1.866.709.7421 or visit http://www.EventUGreen.com to get started.

Dear Friends,
ServiceU is sizzling with good news for summer. While it  may be getting hot outside, we can help you keep the rooms of your church chilled to the perfect temperature for all your summer time events!

It’s hot outside, but not in your facilities

I am pleased to share with you that we had a very successful launch of EventU Green™  at WFX in mid-May. We demonstrated the product to many of our current clients and many who we met for the first time. As you may know, EventU Green,™ is an add-on package to EventU™  Many of you have experienced the convenience of online event, facility and resource scheduling with EventU. Now, with EventU Green™ , you’ll be able to coordinate your heating and air conditioning online based on your EventU™ event schedule.  Learn more about EventU Green and read how our friends at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Anaheim, California have successfully implemented EventU Green™ and are already seeing tremendous savings on their utility bill and labor costs.

And the winner is…

A few months ago, I shared with you that ServiceU was selected as a finalist in the Memphis Business Journal’s Small Business Award. While we were not selected as the winner in our category, we are truly grateful for the recognition of being selected as a finalist. As a finalist, we received a lot of exciting publicity about our company that I would like to share with you.

• Read the Memphis Business Journal article
• Watch the ServiceU video

I share these exciting stories with you not as a way to “toot our own horn,” but as an opportunity to once again thank you for selecting ServiceU as a business partner. We are truly honored and humbled by our recent recognitions, but we know they are meaningless if you, our valued clients and friends, are not satisfied with our service.  I thank you for your loyalty to ServiceU.

Sincerely,
Tim

P.S. Don’t forget to sign up for our Advanced Training Seminar.

Just when you are resting up from all the Easter celebrations, it’s time to move on to what is the biggest outreach event for many churches, Vacation Bible School (VBS). Now is the perfect time to consider using TransactU to help your VBS registrations and payments run even more smoothly.

“Save your church tremendous amounts of time by using TransactU for VBS registration,” encourages Brian Robison, customer service manager for ServiceU. “The staff involved in registration can be freed up to do other things instead of spending so much time on these tedious details.”

Many churches have already benefitted from using TransactU for VBS registrations. Learn about how First Redeemer Church (link to article here) effectively registered more than 2,500 kids last year using TransactU during their two-week VBS outreach program.

When setting up an event in TransactU, you can create event forms for your participants to complete online, and you can add liability forms or the VBS logo to the forms by using the attachments feature.

Don’t forget about the powerful reporting features that TransactU offers. You can easily run reports alphabetically, according to t-shirt size (a popular report to run for VBS), or age/grade breakdowns. These reports will help your staff plan and prepare for the big event.

“Another incredibly helpful way to use TransactU for VBS is to take volunteer registration online as well,” adds Brian. “For some churches, they have almost as many volunteers as they do participants. TransactU can help manage volunteers and keep track of who is doing what to make your VBS a success.”

For churches that charge a fee for VBS, TransactU can also record and process payment information online, saving your administrative staff one more step, and the parents of your VBS participants will be grateful for this convenience.

“Many parents scramble to get everything ready for a typical day,” adds Brian, a working father himself. “Sometimes, the only time for parents to take care of these details is at night when the kids go to bed or on their lunch break. Giving them the option for online registration and payments is a huge convenience for many parents and guests.”

Online registration is also a useful tool for outreach and increasing attendance.

“By offering the online registration, guests and friends may be more willing to sign-up online than going to the church beforehand to register and pay,” Brian notes.

If you don’t have this set up yet, the folks at ServiceU can assist you with getting your merchant account set up in order to take online checks and credit cards right from your church website. For more details on how TransactU can help your church, visit http://www.TransactU.com or call 1.866.709.7420 today!

Did you know that TransactU gives you the ability to attach liability forms, permission slips, maps, photos, logos and much more to your online event registration forms? Keep reading to find out how this feature helps you customize your event registration forms to meet your organization’s needs.

What do I use this feature for?
TransactU’s Attachment Feature is very handy to have when events, such as Vacation Bible Schools, require parents to read a liability form. It is also useful for adding maps and directions, permission slips, photos or logos to your online event registration pages. Some of our clients also use it to attach the first lesson of a Bible Study.
As you enter in the registration information for the event, you will come to an Attachments field where you can attach documents to your event registration form.

Use the Attachment Feature in Three Easy Steps:
1. First, decide what file you want to attach to your registration form. You will be given a chance to enter the title or name of the document. This is the name of the document your registrants will see.
2. Select how the attachment will be displayed. You will be given three choices to select from:
• Show on Form: This option is selected when you want to display a photo or logo below the questions on your event registration form. Simply select this option and upload image files such as JPEGs and GIFs. This is a great way to include the event logo or artwork on the registration form.
• Link on Form: This option is selected when you want to attach non-image files such as Word, Excel and PDF. This is a very useful way to include maps or directions on your event forms. Your attachment will display as a link on the registration form. When registrants click on your link, the document will open in a new window and can then be printed or saved.
• Required Registration Document: This option is selected when you want to require the user to view the document before registration is permitted. In other words, registration cannot be completed without reading this document. This is a great way to make sure parents see the permission slips and release forms. Many of our clients ask the registrants to sign the form and return the form back to the office. Please note: Once users view the form, they may continue with registration. You should consult with your legal advisor as to whether or not your must require a signed liability form.
3. Attach the forms to the event registration: It’s easy! Follow these simple steps… it’s just like adding an attachment to your email.
• Select the Browse button to find the file on your computer.
• Select Upload Attachment to save the file. (The system will allow you to upload any file types, as long as the file size is less than 500KB.)
• Select the Finish button to complete the form.

All done?
You can upload up to 10 attachments to each registration form. Once you have finished adding your attachments, click “Next” and continue developing your event registration page. If you have any questions on how to use the Attachment Feature,please contact one of our Technical Support Representatives at 901-869-5001. We’ll be glad to walk you through this useful feature.