Managing Groups

Groups are such an important part of the church community. They help the church experience go beyond Sunday and build lasting and REAL connections in the community. 

This article will walk you through two ways to create and manage small group registration within the app. 

Manage Registration Through Forms

Both of the registration options are created using your FACTS Forms. These are located at the top of your management portal - just click the Forms tab.

Groups Registration Option 1: Single Form For All Groups

With this option, you will use a single registration form for all of your small groups. The user can scroll and see ALL the groups and their details on a single page, select their interest in a group, and submit their information.

With this option, it's really easy for the user to scroll and see it all in one place and not have to flip back and forth.

Groups Option 1 Workflow

1. User selects the group(s) they would like to join and submits the form.
2. Admin receives an email with form submission information (this can go to multiple email addresses).
3. Admin forwards the specific group registrations to the corresponding group leader.
4. Each group leader reaches out to that group's registrants about the group details. 

Create Option 1 Form

1. First, navigate to your Forms tab in your management portal. 
2. Next, type the name of the form (e.g., Small Groups Signup) and click Create.
3. Create a description for the form using the Paragraph field, including any necessary details about the signup process. 

4. Next, create a section for each small group, including the who, what, and when, along with a detailed description of the group and the group selection feature.

- Use Headline Text for the group name
- Use Paragraph for the description
- Use Checkbox to create the group selection option
- Use Image by URL or Image Upload to add an image to your form
- Consider using a Spacer to divide each group, or use a Page Break to create a new page for each group. With multiple pages, the viewer has the option to click Next or Back to move from page to page, but must scroll through all pages before submitting the form.

Here's an example of what the outward-facing form will look like:

5. Add the Profile element to collect the user's personal information. If the user already has a verified profile in-app, this information will pre-populate in the form. 

6. Add Email Notification and/or Text notification. Since this option uses a single form, you could have a single person manage all of the responses and forward them to the appropriate group leader, or you could set up notifications for all group leaders and have each leader respond when their respective group is selected. 

Groups Registration Option 2: Separate Form for Each Group 

With this option, you will create a form for each group. If the user is interested in multiple groups, they will have to fill out multiple forms. 

With this option, each small group leader can receive an email notification when someone registers for their group. Each leader manages the registrations and communications separately from the other groups.

Groups Option 2 Workflow

1. User fills out and submits a form for each group they are interested in.
2. Specific group leader receives an email notification that someone registered for that group.
3. Personal outreach by group leader welcoming them and providing more group details.

Create Option 2 Forms

1. First, navigate to your Forms tab in your management portal. 
2. Next, type the name of your first form (e.g., Women's Small Group) and click Create.
3. Create a description for the form using the Paragraph field, including any necessary details about the signup process.
4. Next, add all the details for the group, including the who, what, and when, along with a detailed description of the group and the group selection feature.

- Use a Heading for the group name
- Use Image by URL or Upload to add an image to your form
- Use Checkbox to create the group selection option
- Consider using a Spacer throughout the form to create light dividing lines in the form

5. Add the Profile section to collect the user's personal information. If the user already has a verified profile in-app, this information will pre-populate in the form.

6. Add Email and/or Text notifications. Since this option uses a form for each group, you could have each group leader manage their respective group's responses. To do that, add the contact information of the group's leader to the Notifications section in that group's form.

Repeat these steps for each group.

Here's an example of what one of your outward-facing forms will look like:

View and Share Your Forms

• Locate the form's URL
  • Go to the Forms tab and select the ellipses to the right of the form you want to share. Select Copy Public Link (this will copy the URL onto your computer's clipboard) and share the link in your app and across the web.
• Sharing the form link inside your app
  • You can use a Link feature to link to this form anywhere in your app. Keep in mind a Link feature can be placed inside of a Feature Hub as well. 
• Sharing the form link outside of your app
  • You can share the URL for this form anywhere on the web, such as your website, social media, or email. 

Take Groups Beyond Registration

After people register for groups, use some of your other app tools to manage those groups and communicate with group members. 

Tags

Manually add people who join a particular group to a tag associated with that group. You can use tags to:

• Send segmented push notifications

• Send segmented text messages

• Display segmented calendars in-app

• Enable Chat for certain groups

Read all about how you can use tags in your app here!

Forms for Group Attendance

Use forms to take group attendance. You can create a form for group leaders to easily take attendance during each group meeting, or create a form that allows group members to "check-in" to the group during each meeting. A record of attendance allows leaders to easily follow up with anyone who may have missed a week. 

FACTS Demo App 

Download our demo app in the App Store and Google Play Store to see group registration in action!

If you have any questions or need help, send us a note at communitysupport@factsmgt.com!