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Churches: Change Your Web Hosting Companies!

November 20, 2007 Adam Walker Cleaveland

In the past few weeks, I’ve been appalled with the price that some churches and ministry organizations are paying for their web hosting. It’s not the church’s fault; many of them signed up with web hosting companies years ago, and are still paying the rates from years ago. Here are two examples of groups who I would say are simply being taken advantage of:

  • One church was paying $26.95/month for 100mb of storage space, 1 MySQL database and a limited number of email addresses and very poor customer service. In order to use another MySQL database, they would have to upgrade their account.
  • Another church group was paying $45/month for a “Premier” hosting package that included 100mb of storage space, 24-hr FTP access (I find that funny), up to 20 email accounts(!!!) and “no hidden charges or fees.” Absolutely ridiculous. The same web host charges the following for their “web design:” $425 for the Home page, and $225 for each additional page. Are you kidding me?

I feel like I should start a business that simply contacts every church that has a website and helps them to switch their sites to a new web host. I’d guess that over 90% of churches and small non-profits that have websites are paying 2, 3, 4-times more than they need to for their website/email packages. And it’s not their fault – years ago they just got into a web hosting contract with a company, and they’re not aware of the significant decrease in costs for these types of services now. And that’s how some churches are still paying someone $45/month for 100mb of space, 20 email accounts and 24-hr FTP access.

The other problem is that sometimes these web hosts are church members! It’s an issue of stewardship – and if someone in the church is making the church pay outrageous prices for something that can be as cheap as $5/month, that is just unacceptable. Granted, there may be some reasons why some churches stay with certain providers, but if you are on staff at a church that has a website, I’d encourage you to take a look and see what you’re paying for your web hosting and email services. My guess is that it is probably too much – and while it may take some phone calls and time figuring out how to switch to another host, it will save your church money in the long run.

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Filed Under: Art & Design, Ministry Tagged With: Web-Design, Web-Hosting

Adam is an artist, entrepreneur, pastor, husband and father. He lives in Skokie, Illinois with his wife Sarah (who is also a pastor), their son Caleb, and their dog, Sadie. Read More…

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