Welcome to Rock! We hope that over time Rock becomes more than software to you. Our desire is that it becomes a foundation for your ministry. We want you to come to work actually looking forward to using Rock because it empowers you throughout your day. The Roadmap We aim to take advantage of Rock's easy update capabilities by releasing new features often. You won't be waiting years for a pile of new features. We believe we should release early and often. While we can’t make it "all things to all people," we built it on a powerful framework you can extend. You can visit the Rock Shop to install plugins or check out our Developer Documentation to share your own work. We also work with a variety of Partners who provide hosting, support and consulting. What's This Gonna Cost Me? Our first principle is making sure that Rock is accessible to all organizations who need it. Simply put, it needn't cost you anything. While there is no cost for the software, you should consider these implementation expenses: Hosting: You can host on your own servers, in the cloud, or with a hosting partner. Migration: Many partners offer packages to help move your data. Check-In Hardware: Check your label printers to ensure they work with Rock check-in. Digital Services: You will need an email delivery service like Mailgun and a payment processor.Training: Options range from free resources to Rock Master Classes and Rock U. To partner with us, we ask that you invest back by donating at least $4.45 per average attendee per year to the Spark Development Network. These donations help fund the expansion of our efforts. (e.g. That's $4,450 annually for a church of 1,000 average weekend attendance.) Currently just under 50% of churches running on Rock have made the commitment to support the core development team, most at this requested donation level. These donations help fund the expansion of our efforts and pay for expenses. Prepare Now Success follows a simple equation: Success = (Technology + Process) * Effort. Before you install Rock, meet with your team to discuss your goals. We recommend building a team with these roles: Rock Administrator: Someone passionate about getting the organization on a solid platform.Champion: A senior leader to eliminate roadblocks.Technical: Someone with experience in SQL or ASP.Net.Ministry Leaders: To help determine first priorities like groups, check-in or contributions. Prepare Your Staff Think of a CMS as a jet airliner. You’re about to change engines mid-flight. Ministry happens non-stop, so things may get a little bumpy. Keep moving through the turbulence, help with the clean-up and communicate with your teams. Make the process fun to create a great experience: Provide “Ask Me About Rock” t-shirts from our Promo Shop. Reward engagement with Rock logo stickers or Chip stickers.Surprise staff with a visit from Chip the Rock Lobster! For more details on getting started, you can view our Internal Hosting or Azure Hosting guides.