Connection Card Pro Help & Documentation




Last Updated: Jul 31, 2025 5:04 PM

First Steps: Setting Up People in Connection Card Pro

Get Started with Confidence

When launching your account in Connection Card Pro, one of the first areas you'll want to set up is the People module. This is where you’ll manage individual and family records, track involvement, and personalize ministry engagement.

This guide will walk you through your foundational setup — no CSVs, imports, or advanced workflows just yet. Start here to build a solid base.

Contents

1. Set Up Classifications (REQUIRED)

What are Classifications?
Classifications determine the type of person in your system and establish each person's primary role within your church or organization. Every person may belong to only one classification — like Member, Visitor, Volunteer, or Staff.

Each person can also have a different classification to define their role within any group they are part of, and you may use tags to provide even greater filtering and organization, but we'll cover both of those later.

🎯 Think of classifications as high-level categories that define how your church relates to the person.

A handful of preset classifications have been provided for you which you may change, remove or add your own.

How to Set Up:

  1. Go to People > People Settings > Classifications
  2. Add categories that match your church’s structure (e.g. Member, Guest, Regular Attender, Donor)
  3. Set one default (usually “Guest” or “Visitor”)
✅ Start simple — you can always update or reorganize these later as your system grows.

2. (Optional) Create Custom Fields

If you want to track data that doesn’t already exist in the system — like spiritual gifts, dietary restrictions, or any other attribute — use Custom Fields.

To create custom fields:

  1. Go to People > People Settings > Custom Fields
  2. Choose your field type 
  3. Set name, description and other applicable settings. 
  4. (optionally, choose to make the custom field available on each person's journey tab, this is great for tracking sacraments or other key data)
💡 Use custom fields sparingly at first. Don’t try to track everything. Focus on what you’ll actually use.

3. Understand Classifications vs Tags vs Lists

New users often ask:
“Should I use Classifications, Tags, or Lists?”

Feature Purpose Example Unique Notes
Classifications High-level identity/status Member, Visitor Every person may have only one 
Tags Flexible labels, useful for sorting & filtering Young Adult, Baptism Class, Interested in Membership People can have many; used system-wide; fluid
Lists Easily separate individuals Board of Elders, Finance Committee, External Donors Unlimited lists and each person can be included in multiple lists
Smart Lists Saved searches / filters for dynamic grouping All men age 18+ who are active Lists update automatically as data changes
🧠 Best practice:
Use Classifications for big-picture structure,
Tags to track involvement/interests,
and Lists to filter or group without using a formal group structure.
Journey: Anytime a person's classification changes, tags are added or removed, or they are added to or removed from a standard list, those automatically create milestones in that person's Journey, which is a summary of their history within your organization.

4. Add People & Set Up Family Connections

Now that your structure is in place, you're ready to start adding people.

You can:

  • Manually add individuals one at a time (People > New Person)
  • OR import from a spreadsheet (see Importing People)
📥 We recommend importing if you’re moving from another platform or already have your people in a spreadsheet or CSV file.
Households vs Family Connections
  • Households are used to show who is physically living in the same household, which may or may not be related, you can use this to help with mailing, visiting, or dropping off a gift. 
  • Family Connections reflect real relationships (parent, spouse, child, etc.), including grandparents or extended family to help you know how someone is connected to your church or who they're related to.
  • A person can belong to only one household
  • A person can have many family connections (across households)

Adult children who grow up and move out can very easily be added to their own (or another) household without hassle, while keeping their family connection to their parents and sibling intact. 

👪 Example: A divorced father and mother are in two separate households, but both are connected as parents to the same child. The child is assigned to the household he or she primarily resides in. 

See Families and Households for full walkthroughs.

Recap

Here’s what to do first:

  1. ✅ Set up Classifications
  2. 🛠️ (Optional) Create Custom Fields
  3. 🏷️ Understand the roles of Tags, Lists, and Classifications
  4. ➕ Start adding People, and link Households or Families as needed

Next Steps? After this, we recommend:

  • Setting up Tags and/or Lists
  • Moving on to Groups and assigning individuals to groups.

Need Help?

If you feel stuck or unsure how to structure your setup:

  • Reach out to our team — we're happy to advise based on your church's needs. 
  • Check out the full People Module Help Series here
✨ Remember: Your setup doesn’t need to be perfect on Day 1 — you can always adjust as your ministry grows!
Accessible Support Our support team is available to all admin users, not just the account owner. So, feel free to reach out if you have questions.
If you still have questions or require additional help, please contact our support team by clicking on the Help button > Contact Support.
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