Getting Started with Follow Ups

Summary: Assign follow-ups to staff or volunteers to reach out to new visitors, people interested in membership, potential volunteers, or any other task you'd like to track. Using Follow Ups ensures that people don't fall through the cracks, provides accountability for ministry leaders, and ultimately helps you serve your community better.

Before You Begin

• How They Work: Imagine a visitor fills out a connection card indicating interest in the youth group. You can create a follow-up that automatically alerts the youth pastor. Once the pastor reaches out, they can mark the assignment complete and add notes detailing the interaction.

• Role Permissions: A user must have the appropriate permissions enabled in their Role to view, assign, edit, or delete Follow Ups. A full breakdown of these permissions is located at the bottom of this guide.

Navigating the Follow Ups Dashboard

When you navigate to the Follow Ups section, you will see several tabs to help you manage tasks:

• Assigned to Me: Quickly see follow-ups that have been assigned to you, tasks requiring action, and those you have previously completed.

• Assigned By Me: View all the follow-ups you have assigned to others, check their completion status, and read any notes the assignee has left.

• All Assignments: Search for all completed and incomplete Follow Ups across the database. You can filter by assignment option, download results to Excel, use the Action Panel to contact people, and adjust columns to view additional details.

• Options: Manage the Follow-Up templates available to assign, including setting the default assignee and the default timeframe for completion.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Creating New Follow Up Options

1. Navigate to Follow Ups > Options.

2. Click Add New Option in the upper right.

3. Fill in the specific fields (Name, Description, Assigned To, Time to Complete).

4. Click Create to make this an eligible option when assigning future follow-ups.

Setting Up Follow Up Progressions (Automations)

Follow Up Progressions allow you to link specific follow-ups together. When one follow-up is marked complete, the next one is automatically assigned!

1. Go to Account Settings (⚙️) > Automations.

2. Click + Add Task.

3. Select Follow Up Progression.

4. Choose the initial follow-up that will act as the trigger upon its completion.

5. Choose the subsequent follow-up that should be automatically assigned.

6. Click Add Task.

   • Tip: You can stack multiple progressions! For example, when "1st week visited" is completed, it triggers "2nd week visited". Then, create a second progression so when "2nd week visited" is completed, it triggers "3rd week visited".

Assigning a Follow Up

There are three convenient places to assign a follow-up to someone:

1. From within the Follow Ups tool: Navigate to Follow Ups, click "Assign Follow Up", and search for the person.

2. From a Profile: Navigate to an individual's profile, click the Follow Ups tab on the left, and assign it directly to them.

3. When Adding a New Person: While entering a new profile, click the "Assign Follow Ups" button on the right side of the screen before saving.

Editing or Reassigning a Follow Up

1. Navigate to the specific follow-up by searching for it under All Assignments.

2. Click the edit icon (pencil) to the right of the follow-up.

3. Make your changes to the due date, notes, or assigned user.

4. Click Save.

Deleting an Assigned Follow Up

1. Navigate to the specific follow-up by searching for it under All Assignments.

2. Click the delete icon (trash can) to the right of the follow-up.

3. Click OK to confirm the deletion.

Follow Up Role Permissions

Role permissions determine exactly what a user can see and do within the Follow Ups tool.