Ministry Brands’ acquisition part of larger strategy to serve churches with streamlined, comprehensive technology; allows ACTIVE to further invest in innovative technology and industry-leading data solutions for its core markets
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., March 17, 2016 – Ministry Brands, a growing Christian software company, announced today it has acquired ACTIVE Network’s faith division, including its Fellowship One software product that provides a suite of programs to smoothly integrate church administrative functions. By acquiring ACTIVE’s faith division, Ministry Brands adds more than 4,500 churches to its portfolio.
The acquisition represents strategic decisions by both companies. For Ministry Brands, the acquisition is part of a larger strategy to serve churches with streamlined, comprehensive technology, allowing pastors, other church leaders and administrators to focus on ministry. For ACTIVE, the divestiture will allow ACTIVE to focus on core competencies and customers in the sports, communities and outdoors markets.
Details of the transaction were not disclosed.
“Ministry Brands strives to reduce the friction between technology and the church by unifying the church’s most important software programs,” said Brad Hill, Ministry Brands’ executive vice president of platform services. “The mission of ACTIVE’s faith division and the Fellowship One product is right in-line with our goal to create holistic, impactful technology that helps build Christ-centered communities in the 21st century. We look forward to adding their passion and expertise to our growing family.”
“The sale of ACTIVE’s faith division to Ministry Brands is a strategic decision for ACTIVE,” said Darko Dejanovic, chief executive officer of ACTIVE Network. “This decision allows ACTIVE to have a concentrated focus on our core divisions and markets, and we will deepen our investment in our industry-leading, cloud technology solutions and data insights for our sports, communities and outdoors customers.”
The Fellowship One software product offers church management software (ChMS) for churches of all sizes. Fellowship One helps to unify ministry data in a single-source, cloud-hosted database that provides a complete view of members’ involvement, needs and contact information to ministers and lay leaders anywhere with Internet access.
Ministry Brands also announced that Rick Chatham, co-founder of Fellowship Technologies, the company that became Fellowship One, will return as general manager to oversee the company.
“I think Ministry Brands is deeply committed to the church community, and it is a real privilege to pick up this mantle that is dear to my heart,” said Chatham.
About Ministry Brands
Ministry Brands is the country’s leading SaaS provider for churches, parachurch ministries and other faith-based organizations in the United States, serving more than 45,000 customers. Under the leadership of a Christian management team, the Knoxville-based company seeks to equip the 21st century churches and faith-based organizations with cutting-edge software solutions that allow pastors and church executives, technology professionals and administrators to carry out their Biblical mission with excellence, relevance and efficiency. Ministry Brands’ suite of solutions includes church management, giving and payment processing and website development software. For more information, visit www.ministrybrands.com.
About ACTIVE Network
ACTIVE Network is the leading global marketplace for activities and events, connecting participants and activity organizers, while offering unparalleled business intelligence through our industry-leading data solutions and insights platform that helps organizers drive increased participation and revenue. ACTIVE Network annually processes nearly 100 million registrations and more than $3B in payments for over 47,000 organizers and 200,000 activities and events worldwide. Our enterprise-level ACTIVEWorks platform offers organizers leading-edge SaaS technology that streamlines the administration of activities and events. Founded in 1999, ACTIVE Network is headquartered in Dallas, Texas with offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
