Case Study: How One Indiana Parish Unified Volunteer Coordination
St. Alphonsus Liguori moved beyond cumbersome signups to make volunteer management simpler for leaders and parishioners across its many ministries, programs, and events.
At St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church in Zionsville, Indiana, staff members organize dozens of programs, events, and ministries. Each one relies on volunteers.
With so many people involved, the parish saw an opportunity to make it easier for leaders to create and manage signups—and for parishioners to get involved.
The Problem: Cumbersome signup processes
St. Alphonsus Liguori used SignUpGenius, but staff and parishioners alike struggled with the platform. Communications Manager Lyn Mettler described it as clunky and cluttered.
“A lot of our staff found SignUpGenius difficult to use. We have a busy parish with many different volunteer groups, so I wanted something that would be easier for everyone."
They needed a more intuitive way to create and manage volunteer signups across the parish.
The Solution: One simple system for every opportunity
When Lyn discovered Unison, its simplicity stood out.
“I liked the design right away. Unison felt much cleaner and more intuitive. I could see it working for all these different groups without making things complicated.”
She started moving events from SignUpGenius to Unison and inviting other parish staff members to manage them. Today, seven leaders have administrative access, with several programs and events managed in it.
“Once we saw how we could organize events in Unison, we started using it for everything. We have outreach, coffee & donuts, OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults), funerals, religious education—there are so many different signups in there now.”
The Impact: More ways to serve, centralized in one flexible system
Today, St. Alphonsus Liguori uses Unison to coordinate volunteers across the parish, including:
- Faith Formation: OCIA teachers, prayer leaders, and hospitality volunteers
- Youth Ministry: Teen volunteers, parent drivers, and chaperones
- Funeral Luncheons: Volunteers bring requested dishes and serve meals
- Outreach: Food drives, food pantry volunteers, and service projects
- Parish Hospitality: Coffee & Donuts and Welcome Weekend volunteers
And those are just a few of the ways parishioners serve throughout the year.
The leaders closest to each program create and manage their own signups, while Lyn helps promote their needs through parish communications. Each group has the flexibility to organize its own opportunities, all within one shared system.
MSP for liturgical ministries. Unison for everything else.
St. Alphonsus Liguori started using Ministry Scheduler Pro in 2014 to organize liturgical ministries. Now, Unison brings that same level of organization and ease-of-use to volunteer opportunities and events at the parish.
Together, MSP and Unison help St. Alphonsus Liguori support parishioners everywhere they serve, while giving staff one connected way to keep it all organized.
