Contents
- Overview Video
- What you can do with People
- Introduction
- Adding a new person to ChMeetings
- Viewing and editing profiles
- Archiving and deleting people
-
Available features in people profiles
- Member Directory
- Communication features
- Generate QR Code
- Create and manage users
- View and manage the person’s events
- View and manage notes
- View submitted forms
- View submitted forms
- View and export someone’s giving history
- View and manage follow ups
- View and reply to text messages
- View and manage volunteering
- Printing attached images
- Managing family members
- Map People
Watch a 95s video about working with People Profiles
What you can do with People:
- Create customizable profiles
- Communicate (Email, Text, Push & more)
- Add User Accounts
- Link Family Members
- Search with Advanced Filters
- Print Member Directory, Labels, QR Codes, etc.
- Manage People in Bulk
- Archive, Delete, and Restore Profiles
Introduction
ChMeetings allows you to keep a database of people who are part of your congregation. You can easily browse it using the dedicated People module, which you can reach from within the main menu.
Every person within your database has their own profile, which includes their information, as well as their activity, such as follow ups, text messages, forms they have filled out, etc.
You can easily browse or search your list of people, including based on advanced search criteria.
Here is what the module looks like:
In this guide, we will be looking at how to work with People Profiles.
Adding a new person to ChMeetings
There are two ways to add new people to your ChMeetings list. One is automated, via the Import People tool. The other is manual, and this is the method that we will be discussing below.
To add a new person:
- Go to People.
- Click Add Person, at the top left.
- You will now see a window that lets you fill out the profile information related to the person. You can configure what information is requested by setting up your preferred profile fields.
- Please fill out the required information. Note that fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory. To add a photo, click the pencil icon found on the photo placeholder. This will allow you to browse your computer and select a picture file.
- Below is a quick demonstration on filling out someone’s profile info.
The Nickname Field
You can add a Nickname to someone’s profile. Please note that if someone has a nickname, then it will replace their first name in the following areas:
- All Communications: Emails, SMS, Push Notifications;
- Exports: Directory, Name Tags, and Letters;
Additionally, areas such as people tables and search, people excel exports, and the Import People tool will display the nickname along with the first name.
Viewing and editing profiles
Once a person is saved, you can view their profile simply by clicking on their name within the People list. This will display their profile in view mode.
You can edit the profile from within the view mode, by clicking the Edit button at the bottom right.
Alternatively, you can edit an individual profile from within the options menu next to the profile entry in your People list. Simply click the options button corresponding to the profile, then select Edit.
Updating people in bulk
You can update specific profile fields in bulk, by following the steps below:
- Go to People and select the people you want to update - using the checkbox next to their name and profile picture.
- Click More Actions.
- Click Bulk Update.
- In the window that comes up, select the field(s) that you would like to update. If you would like to remove a specific field, click
Below is a brief demonstration of how to update people in bulk.
Archiving and deleting people
Archived people are kept forever in ChMeetings and will not count towards your plan.
Deleted people are kept for 30 days within ChMeetings. During this time, they will not count towards your plan and you can restore them back to your People list, along with their related information. Restoring deleted people is only available for paid accounts. Once people are restored, they will count towards your plan again.
To learn how to archive, delete and restore people, please see the dedicated guide.
Please keep in mind that if you reach your limit, you will not be able to restore people from the archive or from deleted people until you either delete other records or upgrade to a larger plan.
Available features in people profiles
Member Directory
Each person can be set to either be shown or hidden from within the Member Directory, using the Hide me from the Member Directory toggle. This is available when editing a profile as an Admin/Group Leader, as well as a Member.
When hidden, people will not be listed within the Member Directory - both the online version and the printable one that you can generate via the Export feature.
Additionally, any profile field can be visible or hidden within the member directory.
These settings apply to both the printed and the online Member Directory.
Communication features
You can initiate the following communications from within someone’s profile:
- Call,
- Text message,
- Notification (They need to have the mobile app and be logged in),
- WhatsApp message,
- Viber,
- Email.
Generate QR Code
You can generate a QR code for the person you’re viewing, by clicking the dedicated button underneath their profile picture.
Create and manage users
While you are viewing a profile, you will see a User management button, right next to the Edit button. This allows you to manage the person’s account within ChMeetings. If they do not have an account, you will have the option to create one for them. If they already have one, you can edit their account information or their user role.
View and manage the person’s events
By going to the Events tab within someone’s profile, you can have access to the following information and features:
- View a list of events for which the person has registered or checked in.
- View the person’s event attendance statistics.
- Register the person for an event.
- Export the list of events that the person has registered for or attended.
View and manage notes
You can easily add, edit and delete notes related to a specific person, from within the Notes tab of the profile.
View submitted forms
The Forms tab lets you view the form submissions that are associated with a particular person. Clicking the form name will allow you to view the information that has been submitted by the person you’re looking at.
View and export someone’s giving history
The Giving tab lets you view and filter the list of contributions that the person has made to the church. You can also export to Excel, print or email a statement.
View and manage follow ups
The Follow Up tab lets you view a list of follow ups associated with the person you’re looking at, as well as edit, mark them as “Done” or delete them. You can also export them to Excel.
View and reply to text messages
The Text Messages tab allows you to view the person’s text messages history, as well as to reply to them.
View and manage volunteering
The Volunteering tab lets you view and manage a member’s volunteering activity.
-
Block dates when the member cannot participate in events. You can set a specific date or a date range.
-
View and manage event volunteering: You can see the member’s upcoming and past volunteering assignments. You can accept or reject the assignment on the member’s behalf and undo any of these choices as needed. Additionally, you can see who else is volunteering in the same event. Seeing other volunteers is available by default for Admins. Members have access if you enable the dedicated permissions to Allow members to see who else is volunteering in the same event.
Printing attached images
If your people profiles contain image attachments, all you have to do is access the profile, click the image, and then click Print.
Managing family members
While editing someone’s profile, you can create or link the profiles of their family members as well. You can do so from within the Family Members section, accessible while editing a profile. Family Members can be added while creating a profile, or later, by editing it.
You can either add an existing person (someone who already has a ChMeetings profile), or a new person.
Add a Family Photo
You can add a family photo which will replace individual photos for everyone in the family when displayed in the Family View of the Printed Member Directory or Online Member Directory. Click Update and upload an image file to add a Family Photo.
Note that any family member can update the family photo.
Add an existing person as a family member
To link an existing person as someone else’s family member, please follow the steps below:
- Go to People,
- Edit the profile to which you would like to add family members.
- Scroll to the Add Family Members section.
- Click Existing Person.
- Next, select the person you would like to link to the profile you’re currently editing. Click Add Person when you’re ready.
- Once the person has been added, their role will default to Other. Please choose the appropriate one. Available roles include Primary, Spouse, Child, Sibling, Parent, Grandparent, and Other.
- Please Save when you’re ready.
Once added, the Family Members section will link you to the profiles of everyone within that family, regardless of which of their profiles you are viewing.
Add a new person as a family member
You can add a new person to ChMeetings and at the same time link them as someone else’s family member.
To do so, scroll to the Family Members section of the primary profile and click New Person.
You will be taken to a new profile window, where you can add the new person as shown above, within Adding a new person.
Once you save the new person, you will have the option to set the person’s role within the family.
All family members’ profiles will link to the profiles of everyone else.
Remove family members
You can remove a family member by clicking the Delete (⊖) icon next to their name.
Manage Addresses for Members of the Same Family
When you connect people in ChMeetings as family members, some of them may share a common address, but others might not; even if you manage their records as part of the same family. So, you can use “Apply The Same Address To All Family Members” to manage these situations.
The “Apply The Same Address To All Family Members” checkbox will automatically apply the same address to all family members on whose profile this field is checked. If there is anyone connected to the same family, but has a different address, please uncheck this field for them and add their own address to the profile.
Any changes you make to the address set to any member of the same family who has thie field checked will be applied to all other members who have the field checked. The change will not apply to family members who have this option unchecked. You must manage their addresses separately.
Map People
The Map People feature allows you to see, at a glance, where your congregation is located. This is particularly useful, for example, if you want to organize an event and want to see which area would allow your church to gather a larger group of attendees. It can also be beneficial when your church needs to organize visits to members because it allows you to see who lives in the same area.
For this feature to work correctly, please ensure that your member profiles contain a valid address, including a ZIP code. This allows the map to locate each person and display their location to you accurately.
To map people, follow the steps below:
- Go to the People section in ChMeetings.
- Select the people you want to map or select all using the checkboxes on the left.
- Click More Actions > Map People.
-
You will now see a map window that shows pins pointing to where your selected people are located. The map also shows your location, highlighting it as “You are here.” You can use your mouse to zoom in and out or to scroll through the map. On the right side of the map, there is a list of people where you can see and perform the following:
- Clicking someone’s name will animate the pin that corresponds to their location.
- Under each name, you can see the distance between your and the member’s location.