Use Lists To Organize People
While not everyone gets excited about lists and organization, trust us when we say that lists are going to be your friend in your Nucleus People database. Lists are a super helpful tool to group and categorize people unique to your church.
In this guide, we'll cover the following topics. Click on any one to jump ahead.
- Connection Lists
- Custom Lists
- Create A List
- Add A Person To A List
- Create An Audience For Message Campaigns
Connection Lists
Nucleus offers two types of lists you can use to organize people into:
- Connection Lists
- Custom Lists
Connection Lists are lists of people who match a specific Connection Type. Which Connection Type a person record has added to their profile will determine which Connection List that person appears in.
Note: Connection Lists are automatically created with each Connection Type that exists in your Church Settings. This means you cannot technically create Connection Lists; rather, they are created when you create a new Connection Type. See below to learn how to create a new Connection Type.
Connection Lists are a helpful way to quickly see who’s listed as a visitor, a member, or just a regular attender - or whatever other forms of connection/relationship people can have with your church. For instance, perhaps someone is part of your regular online community and you want to create a new Connection Type based on that. Go for it! Then, anyone who has that Connection Type added to their profile will appear in that particular Connection List.
And since Connection Lists are inherently linked with Connection Types, we’d be remiss to not explain the powerful privacy control Nucleus offers. Connection Types help the rest of your Nucleus products know whether or not someone can access a specific Flow (Prayer, Giving), or other feature protected by Nucleus Privacy Controls.
For example, Nucleus Prayer features the Prayer Wall, a digital space to display shared prayer requests within your church community; however, for privacy, you don’t just want this information visible by anyone who visits your website. That’s where Connection Types come into play.
To view the Prayer Wall, you need to be logged into the Launcher and have the appropriate Connection Type added to your person record. (What Connection Type that needs to be, is up to you as an admin. To learn more specifically about setting privacy controls on your Prayer Wall, click here.)
This is just one illustration of how Connection Types are gateways to allow - or limit! - access to particular parts of your Nucleus suite: Prayer, Giving, Flows and more!
Because Connection Types are used across multiple products, you can view and manage your church’s unique Connection Types in your Church Settings here.
Read below for how to manage a person’s Connection Type (i.e. how to add someone to a Connection List).
Custom Lists
Nucleus offers two types of lists you can use to organize people into:
- Connection Lists
- Custom Lists
Custom Lists are unique to Nucleus People and provide a way for you to better organize your people records. How in-depth you want to organize your database is completely up to you.
For instance, you might only want to create a list for those in the senior age range and call it a day. Or perhaps you want to create a bunch of granular lists that each contain their own small group members, along with lists that contain each type of volunteer at your church. The possibilities are endless, and can be as unique as you need them to be!
Custom lists are always a great way to create an Audience in Messages so you can send a specific group of people emails specific to them. But more on that later.
You can access your custom lists (and create new ones) in Nucleus People under Lists here.
Read below for how to add a person to a list.
Lastly, for a more in-depth look at Connection Types, click here.
Create A List
Connection Lists
As described above, you cannot technically create a Connection List, but Connection Lists are automatically created with each Connection Type. So to create a Connection List, you must create a Connection Type.
To manage your Connection Types, go to your Church Settings and click on Church Info. Then choose Connection Types. Click here for a quick link.
By default, there will be three types created: members, regular attenders & visitors.
To create a new one, click the + Add New Connection button. Then, simply add a name, description and save your changes.
To edit (or delete) a Connection Type, click the down arrow and select your desired option.
Note: Deleting a Connection Type cannot be undone, so make sure you are certain that you do not need it before deleting it as it will be removed from everyone who had it assigned to their person record.
For a more in-depth look at Connection Types, click here.
For every Connection Type, there is a Connection List. To view your Connection Lists, go to People, select Lists, and then choose Connection Lists. Click here for a quick link.
Custom Lists
To manage your custom lists, go to People and then select Lists in the main menu. Click here for a quick link.
By default, there will be two lists created: pastors, and staff. These are just placeholders / lists to help you get started. Feel free to edit, delete, or keep them! We won’t be offended either way 😎
To create a new list, click the + Add New button. Then add a name, description and save your changes.
To edit (or delete) a list, click the down arrow and select your desired option.
Note: Deleting a list cannot be undone, so make sure you are certain that you do not need a list before deleting it.
Add A Person To A List
Connection List
To add someone to a Connection List, you must add a Connection Type to a person’s record. To start, while viewing All People in your database, click View Profile to view their record.
If the person doesn’t have a Connection Type, you will see Connection Type showcased. Click on the dropdown menu, select a Connection Type, and now that particular Connection Type will appear.
Note: While you can add someone to multiple custom lists, you can only add one Connection Type to a person record. (For instance, you can’t be both a visitor and a member.)
Once a person has a Connection Type added to their profile, you will be able to see them listed in that specific Connection List here.
Custom Lists
Once you’ve created a list, there are two ways to add someone to it.
The first way is in your Custom Lists in People. Click here for a quick link.
Click to view the list you want to add a person to, then, click the + Add to list button. Search for the person you want to add to the list then click the Save Changes button.
The second way is while viewing a person’s record. While viewing All People in your database, click to view the person you want to add to a list.
Then select Lists in their record and click + Add to a list.
Search for and select a list to add them to and click the Save Changes button.
For a more detailed understanding of how to manage lists and Connection Types, click here.
Create An Audience For Message Campaigns
You can easily populate an Audience for a Campaign in Messages using a people list. Need to send emails to a specific group of volunteers? You can! Want to send out a quarterly events calendar to all your seniors? You can! Want to automatically follow-up on anyone who’s a visitor? You can!
In Messages, click the + Add New button.
Next, Name your Campaign and save your changes, then click the Begin Setup button to establish your Audience.
Choose either Fixed or Dynamic (based on how you want your Audience in the future to be handled), and then select either a Connection Type or a People List.
You can then choose from the dropdown menu what list you want to use to populate your Audience. Below, you’ll see a preview of all the people in that Connection Type or custom list.
Once you’re happy with your choices, save your changes and you should be all set 😎👍
For a more detailed guide on creating Campaigns and sending emails, click here.
What Next?
If you weren’t a fan of organizing people into lists before, hopefully you are now 😁
Let’s press on in your journey with Nucleus People. Click on any of the links below for other helpful guides: