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The Form Gallery, Issue #065 - "Top Seven Tips for Creating Forms"
September 09, 2013
Welcome:

Top Seven Tips for Creating Forms

I hope you are having a Blessed day.

I have some great tips on creating forms for those of you that do create some or all of your forms in your church office. I also have a Pastor Appreciation Month Activities Calendar for your members to show their appreciation and love for your Pastor(s) and much more below! :)

Shepherdbase - Are you finding yourself overwhelmed in the office? Shepherdbase will save you a lot of time in your church office. Shepherdbase - Church Membership Database will track memberships (unlimited), contributions, attendance and much more for ONLY $34.99 so Hurry & Enjoy these Savings!

Contents-At-A-Glance

Top Seven Tips for Creating Forms
Pastor Appreciation Month Activities Calendar
More Church Volunteer Forms
FreeChurchForms.com New Web Pages with New Forms
Shepherdbase (Church Membership Database) Special
FCF (Free Church Forms) CD
Church Office Package – Special Limited Offer
Free eBook - ”Top 10 Tips on How to Organize Your Office”
FreeChurchForms.com Table of Contents

Top Seven Tips for Creating Forms

Creating forms for any organization can sometimes be very stressful. The forms can become very complicated if not properly planned out from the beginning. If you have over-complicated forms then you automatically reduce the user’s interest dramatically and this usually creates a very small chance of obtaining the information that you require.

Here are the Top Seven Tips for Creating Forms:

  • 1. Keep Content to a Minimum - When creating your form keep the content and time involved in completing the form to a minimum. Only ask for the information you need and avoid asking for sensitive information that the users may not want to disclose. This is a key factor and is always good to remember because the majority of people don’t like to fill in forms.
  • 2. Indicate Required Fields - If you have any required fields (Name, Address, Phone, etc.) in your form always indicate to the user which fields are required. This is particularly important in a form with lots of fields by only a few required fields. Normally an asterisk (*) is used with a note at the beginning of the form indicating the asterisk marks a required field (*Indicates required field). Try to avoid using optional fields unless necessary.
  • 3. Group Relevant Fields - Always try to group relevant fields (First Name, Last Name, Gender, Date of Birth, etc.) together.
  • 4. Keep Design Simple - The key to making sure that you get the information across in a understanding manner is to make the completion of the fields quick and easy. Always use a simple and clean design with headers (Personal, Employment, References, etc.) to separate grouped fields.
  • 5. Use Checkboxes and Radio Buttons - If possible use checkboxes and/or radio buttons for fields that require limited responses. Example Gender: • Male • Female.
  • 6. Use Efficient Office Programs - When creating your form use a program that is efficient and meets the needs of that particular form. I love Microsoft Office Word for simple forms with no need for calculating numbers. I use Microsoft Excel for forms with numbers that do have a need for auto-calculating. The Microsoft Office Professional software includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher, Outlook and Access programs, which I believe is a must to create databases to track data and saves you lots of time. Whichever program you use to create your forms just make sure it meets all your expectations.
  • 7. Usability Testing - Always before the completion of your form test it on your family and friends for helpful criticism to make it is user friendly but also meets your requirements. Remember to insert your contact information if applicable at the end of your form in the event of questions, etc.

The goal by the completion of the form should be to know the user will have no problem completing it, and will not feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the content. Keep the content simple and to a minimum.

Pastor Appreciation Month Activities Calendar

October is Pastor Appreciation Month and churches everywhere are trying to plan out activities during this month to show their Pastor(s) just how much they love and appreciate them.

Here is another idea for your church during this time of the year. I created this Pastor Appreciation Month Activities Calendar to hang on the church bulletin for members to fill in to sincerely show their Pastor(s) how much they love and appreciate them. The members simply fill in their name and time under the date and activity they plan to do for them. I have three free calendars available below.

Click here to download the free Pastor Appreciation Month Activities Calendar(s).

I have a great affiliate (ChristianBook.com) that I personally shop with frequently for everything from Pastor Appreciation gifts to Church Bulletins and more. If you would like to help me finance my ministry and at the same time find great Christian materials at a great low price then click the link below and enjoy shopping...Thank You! :)

Click here for Pastor Appreciation Month Bulletins and great gift ideas for your Pastor!

More Church Volunteer Forms

There are five new Volunteer forms below to download, customize and print that I have added to the "Volunteers" web page.

These volunteer forms include:

  • Confidential Renewal Screening
  • Letter of Appreciation to Volunteer
  • Request for Volunteers
  • Volunteer Feedback or Survey
  • Volunteer Inverview

Click Here to download the new free Volunteer Forms.


FreeChurchForms.com New Web Pages with New Forms


I will be continually adding new forms...so don't miss an issue!

Shepherdbase (Church Membership Database)

Shepherdbase (Church Membership Database) for ONLY $34.99. You will also receive 2 Offering Envelope Templates and Offering Count Sheet free as a Bonus for purchasing Shepherdbase! Hurry and Enjoy these Savings!
Shepherdbase (church membership database) will:
  • Track member's information along with a place for member's picture and automates First Time Visitor Letters for new members
  • Track member's contributions and automates Annual Contribution Letters at the end of the year
  • Filter church member's information with the click of a button
  • Track Church Attendance and automates Attendance Report

Shepherdbase is a very simple and user friendly database, but very powerful.

If you purchased Shepherdbase before Sept. 2011 and would like to receive the latest new updated version of "Shepherdbase" free of charge contact me.

FCF (Free Church Forms) CD

This great CD has all the free church forms, certificates, flyers...on FreeChurchForms.com along with 4 Bonuses as a Thank You for purchasing the CD all for one special price of $13.99 plus shipping and handling ($7.00 in the U.S. or $27.00 outside the U.S.).

The FCF CD includes:

  • Free church forms, certificates, flyers...(600+ forms each in PDF and Microsoft Office Word format - some in Excel). Also continually updated to include the latest forms created.

  • FreeChurchForms.com Table of Contents that includes folders/subfolders named the page in which they were generated and the name of the files under the folders.

  • Bonus#1 - Church Offering Envelope Templates#2 (short and long) are included in the CD.
  • Bonus#2 - Expense Report in MS Excel format that will automatically calculate expenses.
  • Bonus#3 - Beautiful 12 Month Photo Auto-Year Calendar in Microsoft Office Excel format that you can easily automate any year you want with the click of a button and change any of the photos very easily on any month you choose.
  • Bonus#4 -eBook - "Top Ten Tips on How to Organize Your Office".
Click here to purchase the Free Church Forms CD.

Church Office Package – Special Limited Offer!

The Church Office Package includes Shepherdbase - Church Membership Database and the FCF (Free Church Forms) CD along with all the Free Bonuses for only $40.99 plus shipping and handling ($7.00 in U.S. or $27.00 outside the U.S.)! Hurry and Enjoy these Savings!

Click here to purchase the Church Office Package Deal

Free eBook - ”Top Ten Tips on How to Organize Your Office”

This eBook is free to my newsletter subscribers as a special "Thank You" for subscribing to my newsletter. I have worked in several different secretarial areas with different jobs and I have learned the hard way how to organize more than one office. Take advantage of these tips in this free eBook and they will help get your office organized. Just click on the link below to download your free copy today.

"Top Ten Tips on How to Organize Your Office"

FreeChurchForms.com Table of Contents


The FreeChurchForms.com Table of Contents is available here. You will now have access to all of the free church forms...listed in alphabetical order. I update it with new church forms...as I create them. I have them in categories so that you can just click on the form you want and it will lead you to that page. Just click on the link below for the free FCF Table of Contents. Enjoy! :)

FreeChurchForms.com Table of Contents

If you have any questions, you can easily contact me through my email: terressa@freechurchforms.com or reply to this newsletter. I will get back promptly with any questions you might have.

Have a Blessed Day!

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