Last updated on
Company health
Ratings
Planning Center Groups description
Planning Center Groups is a software designed to help churches manage their groups and members. It offers tools for scheduling, communication, attendance tracking, and reporting. As part of the Planning Center platform, it seamlessly integrates with other church management tools, using a shared database for simplified administration. This approach allows churches of all sizes to streamline group management, boost engagement, and centralize member information.
Who is Planning Center Groups best for
Planning Center Groups is ideal for churches seeking to manage groups, members, and events. We find that the scheduling, communication, and attendance tracking features are particularly beneficial. It’s a good fit for churches of all sizes that value integration with other church management tools. Based on user feedback, the ability to streamline group management, facilitate member connection, and customize group organization is highly valued.
-
Great for small to medium-sized churches seeking to boost engagement, streamline admin, and simplify member management.
-
Perfect for Non-profits/Government organizations needing to create and manage communities, track attendance, and centralize communication.
Planning Center Groups features
Supported Community Management: Organize groups of all kinds to organize people and create communities. Cultivate community in your church by making small groups for people to connect. Organize your groups how you want, like by stage of life or day of the week, and share them on your church app or website for people to easily find the group they want to join. |
Supported Empower Leaders: Equip group leaders to care for and communicate with people. Give your leaders the tools they need to support and guide groups. Take attendance. Track who’s coming, who’s missing, and keep attendance data current. Communicate with group members. Make group-wide announcements and facilitate discussion through chat. Manage events. Manage the group calendar and facilitate materials with group members so they can stay engaged with the group. |
Supported Group Engagement Reporting: Track individual group attendance. Use attendance reports from groups to monitor involvement, follow up with anyone who stops attending, and track the amount of visitors you’ve had. |
Supported Centralized Communication: Centralized group communication. Keep everyone in the loop and facilitate important discussions with announcements and integrated chat features, all in one place. Keep your groups informed of important updates, changes in plans, prayer requests, and more. Facilitate discussions and foster connections within your group through an intuitive platform built for all users. |
Supported Event Management: Simplified event management. Plan and manage group events seamlessly, ensuring every member has the information they need to actively participate. Manage the group calendar and facilitate materials with group members so they can stay engaged with the group. |
Supported Customizable Group Organization: Customizable group organization. Create and structure groups based on your specific needs and preferences. This can include options based on life stages, meeting times, or other relevant categories. Organize groups based on specific life stages, interests, and meeting days or times. Organize your groups how you want, like by stage of life or day of the week, and share them on your church app or website for people to easily find the group they want to join. |
Supported Attendance Tracking and Reporting: Attendance Tracking and Reporting. Monitor group attendance and participation with detailed reports and insights. Track who’s coming, who’s missing, and keep attendance data current. Use attendance reports from groups to monitor involvement, follow up with anyone who stops attending, and track the amount of visitors you’ve had. |
Supported Seamless Integration with Church Center: Seamless Integration with Church Center. Extend group management functionalities to your church's mobile app and website for enhanced accessibility and engagement. Organize your groups how you want, like by stage of life or day of the week, and share them on your church app or website for people to easily find the group they want to join. |
Planning Center Groups reviews
We've summarised 24 Planning Center Groups reviews (Planning Center Groups G2 reviews) and summarised the main points below.
- Easy to set up, administer, and train users on.
- Integrates well with Church Center and the broader Planning Center platform.
- Streamlines group management and communication.
- Facilitates member connection and simplifies group joining process through a public directory.
- Useful features for attendance tracking, resource sharing, and event creation within groups.
- Customizable group names and photos.
- Comprehensive security options.
- Sliding cost scale based on usage.
- Limited multi-site church functionality; can only assign one campus to a group.
- Events from Registrations don't sync well with Groups.
- Difficult to manage a very large number of groups (1000+).
- Limited reporting features, lacking specific filtering options.
- No dedicated mobile app.
- Duplicate accounts created when members join a group despite having an existing account in another Planning Center product.
- Inability to email groups through the Church Center app.
- Members are unable to see that they are in a group on their app, limiting use for staff only.
- Calendar feature lacks interaction with other group calendars and Planning Center Resources.
- Confusing "tagging" system for groups with too many options.
Planning Center Groups pricing
The commentary is based on 1 reviews from Planning Center Groups G2 reviews.
We find that users generally consider Planning Center Groups' pricing worthwhile, given its robust features. However, some have noted that the costs can escalate quickly as your church or organization grows.
See the Planning Center Groups pricing page.
-
Planning Center Groups has a free plan.
-
Planning Center Groups has a free trial.
Planning Center Groups alternatives
Planning Center PublishingChurch websites and apps, simplified content creation and sharing.Read more
Planning Center Product SuiteStreamlines church management, boosts engagement, simplifies admin.Read more
Planning Center Groups FAQ
Planning Center Groups helps churches organize and manage their small groups, memberships, and events. We find that it simplifies communication, tracks attendance, and integrates with other Planning Center tools for streamlined administration. It's a valuable tool for churches seeking to strengthen community engagement.
What is Planning Center Groups and what does Planning Center Groups do?
Planning Center Groups helps churches organize and manage their small groups, memberships, and events. We find that it simplifies communication, tracks attendance, and integrates with other Planning Center tools for streamlined administration. It's a valuable tool for churches seeking to strengthen community engagement.
We find that Planning Center Groups integrates seamlessly with other Planning Center products like Services, Check-Ins, and Giving. This shared platform approach streamlines data management and simplifies administrative tasks. It also connects with Church Center, extending group functionality to your church's website and app.
How does Planning Center Groups integrate with other tools?
We find that Planning Center Groups integrates seamlessly with other Planning Center products like Services, Check-Ins, and Giving. This shared platform approach streamlines data management and simplifies administrative tasks. It also connects with Church Center, extending group functionality to your church's website and app.
We find that Planning Center Groups' main competitors include Realm, which offers a mobile-first church platform. Within the Planning Center suite, related products like People, Calendar, and Church Center offer overlapping functionalities for community and event management.
What the main competitors of Planning Center Groups?
We find that Planning Center Groups' main competitors include Realm, which offers a mobile-first church platform. Within the Planning Center suite, related products like People, Calendar, and Church Center offer overlapping functionalities for community and event management.
We find Planning Center Groups to be a legitimate and helpful tool, especially for churches seeking improved group management. It integrates well within the Planning Center ecosystem and offers useful features, though some users have noted limitations in multi-site functionality and reporting.
Is Planning Center Groups legit?
We find Planning Center Groups to be a legitimate and helpful tool, especially for churches seeking improved group management. It integrates well within the Planning Center ecosystem and offers useful features, though some users have noted limitations in multi-site functionality and reporting.
Planning Center Groups is included with a Planning Center subscription. A free 30-day trial is available, and the People app is free with all plans. There are additional processing fees for online payments. We recommend checking their website for specific pricing details.
How much does Planning Center Groups cost?
Planning Center Groups is included with a Planning Center subscription. A free 30-day trial is available, and the People app is free with all plans. There are additional processing fees for online payments. We recommend checking their website for specific pricing details.
We find that Planning Center Groups' customer service is generally considered quite good and helpful. However, some users have noted difficulties managing a large number of groups, which might require extra assistance from their support team.
Is Planning Center Groups customer service good?
We find that Planning Center Groups' customer service is generally considered quite good and helpful. However, some users have noted difficulties managing a large number of groups, which might require extra assistance from their support team.
Reviewed by
Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.
Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.
An AI tool that observes your work, finds inefficiencies, and suggests smarter ways to do things. Maybe you can use your tools better, automate tasks, or switch software.