Here's how:

1 copy of Bongo Loves the Bible CD = $25

Each week, a different grade 1-5 class uses Bongo. $25 divided by 5 weeks = $5 per week

You have 2 kids using Bongo at the same time $5 divided by 2 kids = $2.50 per kid.

But wait! There's more...  Bongo has 4 different games!

So you can use it for a total of 20 weeks with five different grades --without repeating a game.
$2.50 per kid divided by 4 games = 62 cents/kid

And Bongo does not go away.
Kids will want to play it again and again and so will you
(repetition is the cornerstone of Bible Memory).

So... if the pastor's daughter plays all 4 games in the 3rd grade, and repeats them two years later in the 5th grade, increasing her mastery of Bongo's core Bible content..... 

62 cents divided by 2 tours through the software = 31 CENTS per kid

And....it gets even lower per kid when you factor in quantity pricing.

So for example, if you had 5 copies/computers of Bongo at the qty price of $105,

then the actual cost PER USE, PER KID = 

~ 26 CENTS per kid ~

btw:  Learn more about Bongo Loves the Bible here!
 

btw: What DOES all that "free" coffee cost that we LAVISH on all the adults and never bat an eye about paying for? 
According to Starbucks, there are 35 to 40 cups in a one pound bag of coffee. Coffee by the pound is anywhere from $8 and up. Let's pick $8. 8 divided by 40 cups =20 cents for the coffee. 5 cents for the styrofoam cup, and 5 cents for the creamer/sugar.

That's 30 cents per cup of "free coffee" nobody ever complains about giving away.
 

MORE MATH....Including: adding-in the cost of the computers

Related articles: Stretching your Software Budget  and  Ordering Tricks and Tips that Save Money

This subject is also discussed in some detail in my book, Teaching with Computers in Christian Education

Results vs Cost

Occasionally someone laments "the cost of software and computers." My first response to them is "compared to what?" Compared to construction paper and markers? Compared to the adults' free Sunday coffee and streusel budget?

More Donut Examples

EXAMPLE #1:  Play and Learn CD:  "The 20 cent CD"

My lab has four copies of Play & Learn Childrens Bible CD. Cost: $12 each x 4 =$48. We use them about 10 lessons a year with our little kids, and in my last church we were going on SIX years using them. That's $48 divided by 60 uses = 32 CENTS every time we've pull out all four Play & Learns. And we're not done using them. We'll be using that CD for several more years, I'm sure.  Final cost per use = somewhere below 20 CENTS per lesson.

EXAMPLE #2: Jesus in Space: "The 22 Cent CD"

Buy 2 copies of Jesus in Space CD and it will cost you $52.00. If you have 20 kids in your ENTIRE Sunday School, that's $2.60 a kid. (You'd bring them in 4 to 6 kids at a time to use those 2 copies).
 

BUT....the CD has 3 stories so you need to divide $2.60 by 3 stories = 86 cents per kid each time you drop the CD in the tray.

 

That's the price of 3 donut holes per kid.

 

But wait! ...there's more! 

You'll most likely use all 3 stories at least TWICE over the next four or five years. That cuts the cost to 43 cents per kid per use.

 

And if you have 2 copies of that CD and 40 kids in your program using each story twice over the next 5 years, your FINAL COST = 22 cents per kid.
 

"But wait a second, Neil, what about the cost of the computers?!%#@&"

Hopefully you got them donated new or used. But let's say you went out and bought them with the church's money...

Here's THE REAL COST of a NEW COMPUTER: 

1 good new computer will last 7 to 8 years in the average Sunday School.

So, let's say you use it 40 Sundays a year (Sept-May). 8 years x 40 weeks of use per year = 320 classtime uses.

A new computer right now can be bought for $500. So....divide $500 by 320 uses and you get $1.57 cost per week for 1 new computer over it's lifetime. (That's about the cost of 6 donut holes.)

Divide that in half because you have 2 kids in front of that new computer, and your BRAND NEW COMPUTER is costing your 75 CENTS per kid per use. That's less than the cost of good art project materials.

Total up the cost of new computers + all the software you need, and you're at about $1.00 per kid every time you step into the computer lab.

Now use the computers another 100 times outside of Sunday School over the next 7 years and watch your costs per use go even lower.

A Getting Started Scenario

Scenario 1:  A "Basic" Library: Let's say I buy $250 worth of software a year -for four years in a row which covers all four computers. Total: $1000 for all 4 years. Seems steep. But remember that ALL the CDs I buy will get used for many more than four years! --I'm going on 8 years of use with many of the CDs. So that $1000 worth of software covers me for EIGHT YEARS.  Thus, my per year cost over eight years is really only $125 worth of software -which covers all four computers for eight years.   That's ONE HUNDRED and TWENTY FIVE BUCKS A YEAR spread over 8 years for a "basic" reusable software library for four computers.   

Divide that $125 a year by 40 Sundays =  $3.12 a week. Thus, it costs you three dollars and twelve cents every time you walk into your computer lab for eight years. And that's a conservative software library budget. Would you be willing to spend $4 or $6 a week on those four computers and 8 kids? I would, if it makes a difference in their lives and our program.

Scenario 2: A Great Software Library... Double the basic library cost of $3.12 a week = $6.24 a week --for all four computers over an eight year period, using the computers 40 weeks/class period a year. Double!  ...and you're still at just $6.24 a week for all 4 computers.  I've done games and drama lessons where I spent more.

CONCLUSION:

A box of  20 "Timbit" donut holes from Tim Hortons is about $4. Add a quart of orange juice for $3... and you're spending MORE on snacks than software per week.

+  A new computer costs you $1.71 per week over its lifetime.

Total it all up and we're somewhere in the neighborhood
of 10 BUCKS PER WEEK to run FOUR new computers with
a decent software library ...for the next 8 years.

We can crunch the numbers a lot of different ways. Your numbers will depend on your kids, the number of computers, and the number of times you repeat lessons from software over the course of 5 to 8 years. But anyway you crunch them, software and computers are not really that "EXPENSIVE" over time. 

Turning child attenders into bored kids and unchurched adults..... now THAT'S Expensive!

Copyright 2006-09, Sunday Software and Neil MacQueen. All rights reserved.