If you utilize Church Community Builder (CCB) as a church management system, using the integration with Text In Church is a great way to keep your contacts, data, and messaging organized and up to date! 🙌 In this article, we'll cover the basics of how the integration works and common FAQs before taking the initial steps to set up the integration. Let's dive in! 🤓
Overview
The integration is with Church Community Builder's "Groups" feature. This allows you to create groups in CCB and then select them to sync into Text In Church. You can choose to create new syncing groups in Text In Church or connect them to existing groups. From here you can add Keyword, Connect Cards, and Automated Workflows to this Text In Church syncing Group to gather new contacts and follow up with ease.
When contacts are added to this group in CCB, they will then be synced into the matching group in Text In Church. Additionally, contacts added to this group in Text In Church will be synced back to this corresponding CCB group.
FAQs
What information is required for a contact to be synced from CCB into Text In Church?
Text In Church can sync in the first and last name, mobile phone number, and email address of records to and from CCB. In order for a record to be synced into Text In Church, they must at minimum have a valid email or mobile phone number on their CCB record.
How are duplicates handled?
Within Text In Church, email addresses and phone numbers cannot be shared between contacts. This would result in duplicate messaging which can easily lead to your emails and texts being filtered as spam. If two contacts sharing the same information are attempted to sync into Text In Church, only one will be synced and the other will be designated as a duplicate. 💡 Learn more about sync failures here!
If a contact is created in Text In Church and the data matches an existing contact in CCB, when the record syncs back to CCB, the records will be matched up and prevent duplicates from being created in your CCB account.
How are opted-out or inactive records handled?
At any time, your people can reply with STOP to opt-out of text messaging. This opt-out will only be reflected in Text In Church and will not affect their record in CCB. 👉 More about opting out here...
If a record is marked as inactive in CCB, the record will not be synced into Text In Church
Do CCB Group Leaders affect the integration?
If you have a Group Leader designated for some of your CCB groups, you have the option to choose between syncing that specific record into the corresponding Text In Church group or not.
Syncing the Group Leader will not automatically give them access to manage this group in Text In Church. For this, you'll want to set them up as an Admin or User within Text In Church. 🔑 Here's how to grant these kinds of permission.
How are Child records handled?
If a record in CCB is a child, they can still be synced into Text In Church.
You'll want to make sure your CCB Groups that are selected to sync into Text In Church only contact the actual contacts you want to communicate with. It is not recommended to sync an "everybody" group that could possibly contain child records since you wouldn't be communicating with the child but their parents instead. Because Text In Church matches records based on phone number/email, only one contact can be synced in with a specific phone number/email. Having a child record with their parents' contact information try to sync into Text In Church may result in the parent profile being flagged as a duplicate. 🔗Learn more about these kinds of sync failures here
Where should I edit or delete records?
CCB will function as the master database in the integration. This means that if you need to edit a person's name or contact information or delete their record, you'll need to make this change on the CCB side. The changes will then be synced into TIC.
If the change is made on the Text In Church side when the sync completes the change will be reverted so that the record matches whatever CCB has on file for this specific record.
How often can I sync my groups?
At any time, you can start a manual sync which will be completed as soon as possible (depending upon how many other accounts are syncing at the same time, and how much data is currently in the queue).
You can set each of your synced groups to sync on their own schedule, either nightly, weekly on a specific night, or monthly on a specific night.
CCB Integration Initial Set-Up Guide
In this guide, we'll walk through the initial steps to take so you can start using the CCB Integration with Text In Church.
1. Create an API Username in CCB
Log into your CCB account.
Click on 'Settings' (Gear Icon). Click on 'API'.
You will see the API summary screen. Under 'Actions' click 'Add a new API User.'
Create a new API User by filling out the "API User Information Form."
Enter your Name
Create a username and password
This will be a unique username and password that you create. It will only be used for the integration with Text In Church.
Do not use your CCB or Text In Church username and password in this form.
Add your Primary Organization Contact Information (Organization Name, Contact Name, Phone, and Email)
This would only be utilized if there was ever an error with the API that required CCB to contact your organization
After completing this form, click on the "Services" tab.
Here in the Services tab, you're going to select the following ten checkboxes.
add_individual_to_group
create_individual
group_participants
group_profiles
group_profile_from_id
individual_search
individual_groups
Individual_profiles
individual_profile_from_id
remove_individual_from_group
Be sure not to skip any of these ten, or select any extra as this will cause the integration to not work properly
Click 'Save' to complete the process of setting up your API Username and Services (located at the bottom, right-hand corner of the form).
Finally, return to the "Summary" tab of the API Settings, and copy the URL within the "Your API URL" box.
2. Enabling the integration in Text In Church
Sign in to your Text In Church account
Click on Settings (Gear Icon). Click on "Integrations"
Click on the "Connect" button by the Church Community Builder integration
Paste your API URL into the designated box, then enter the API Username and Password created earlier
Click "Save" to continue
⚠️ If any errors are displayed during these steps view the Troubleshooting Guide here
3. Selecting Groups to Sync
Within this same page, click the "2. Select Lists" tab
Here you'll be able to search for and select CCB Groups to sync into Text In Church
Click the left checkbox by the name to select this Group. These groups will then be created as new, syncing groups within the "Groups" section of your Text In Church account.
Optionally, select the "Leader Sync" check box to allow the leader of this CCB Group to sync into this Text In Church
Select the frequency you would like this specific group to sync, either nightly, weekly, or monthly.
Set Sync Destination:
From the dropdown menu, select the destination for the sync.
You can choose from the list of existing, non-syncing Text In Church groups to connect to
Alternatively, you can select "Create New Group" to generate a new syncing Text In Church group, which will be automatically connected.
Once you've selected all the needed CCB Groups, click the "Next" button to move to the "3. Sync"
4. Running the First Sync
Toggle on the "I have received permission" so that you'll be able to send text/email to your synced people.
Toggle on the "Enable automatic sync" so that the integration will sync automatically as determined by each group's set sync frequency.
Click "Schedule Sync" to begin your first sync.
If you have a large number of people to sync, this first sync could take a few hours to complete. You can close Text In Church or continue using any other part of the application while the sync is running in the background. When completed, the synced groups within the "Groups" section of Text In Church will be populated to match their connected CCB Group.
The "Last Synced" section will display the time and date of when the last sync of the integration was completed.
Next Steps: Using the CCB Integration
General Syncing Groups
The CCB Groups that you've selected should now be auto-generated as new, Syncing Groups in your Text In Church "Groups" Section. These groups will be designated with a 🔁 icon and the description designating where the group originated from.
Just like a non-syncing Group in Text In Church, you can set up Keywords, Connect Cards, and Automated Workflow for your Syncing Groups. Check out the guides below on how to set up and use each feature if needed:
After the first sync has been completed on your account, these Syncing Groups should now be populated with members. Additionally, if you were to add any people to this Syncing Group in Text In Church, they will be synced back to CCB when the next sync is completed. ...More about what information can be synced and how duplicates are handled in the article here!
You may see that some contacts were not synced into the Group as you were expecting. In this case, you'll want to open this Group in Text In Church, then review the "Sync Failures" tab for specific information about why these contacts could not be synced. ...More about troubleshooting sync failures in the article here!
First Time Guest Follow-Up with CCB Integration
As we've talked about, the way the integration with Church Community Builder works is that CCB is the master holder of contact details. Upon sync, any selected groups from CCB will then push to into the new Syncing Group in Text In Church. Let's talk about how the integration works specifically for first time guest follow-up. 💡
Create your API User in CCB and complete the initial set-up for the CCB Integration, and select your guest follow-up group to sync from CCB into Text In Church 👉 Tutorial is linked here!
If you don't have an existing group in CCB, go ahead and create one now.
Once you've selected this guest follow-up group to sync into Text In Church, decide if you want to connect it to an existing Text In Church Group, or Create a New Group.
Next, you can enable the Keyword, Automated Reply, and Connect Card for this Syncing Group so that people can text in to receive the Connect Card and be automatically added to this group.
Finally, you'll want to set up your Automated Workflow. There are 3 ways you can do this:
After that is set up, anytime someone texts in the Keyword you've assigned to that Group and/or fills out the Connect Card, they will be created as a person record in Text In Church. When the next sync completes, they will be synced into CCB. If they are new to CCB, a record will be created for them. If they match an existing record in CCB no duplicates will be created 🤩
You can also manually add any CCB records to this group in CCB and they will be synced into this Syncing Group in Text In Church; the Automated Workflow messages will then begin sending to them when they are synced into the Text In Chruch Group.
Un-Syncing a Group and Disconnecting the CCB Integration
We totally understand that there may come a time when you need to remove a Syncing Group or disconnect the CCB integration from Text In Church entirely. Here are some common questions Members ask before deciding to remove a group or disconnect the integration:
What happens to People records synced from CCB if I remove or disconnect the integration?
The records will not be deleted from Text In Church. They will remain in your Text In Church People section, and the designation that they were created via CCB Integration will remain on their profile.
What happens to Groups synced from CCB if I remove or disconnect the integration?
The Group will now be designated as Non-Syncing and the description will still indicate that this group originated from CCB. It will not be deleted. Instead, it will function just like your other groups in Text In Church. The members, Keywords, Workflow, etc., will not be impacted by this change.
Because CCB is treated as the Master database, if you need to fully delete a group, you'll need to do this first in CCB. Then you can delete the group from Text In Church and it won't be automatically re-created upon the next sync.
How to Un-sync a Group
Sign in to Text In Church, then select the Settings icon
Select Account Settings and then Integrations
Click View by the CCB Integration
Within the "2. Select Lists" tab, click the left checkbox by the Group you'd like to un-sync to unselect this Group
How to Disconnect the Integration
Sign in to Text In Church, then select the Settings icon
Select Account Settings and then Integrations
Click View by the CCB Integration
Within the "1. Connect" tab, click the "Disconnect" button and confirm your selection
This will prevent data from syncing between CCB and Text In Church. Data will not be deleted from Text In Church because of this change.
The previously Synced Groups in Text In Church will now be designated as Non-Syncing and the description will still indicate that this group originated from CCB. It will not be deleted. Instead, it will function just like your other groups in Text In Church. The members, Keywords, Workflow, etc., will not be impacted by this change.
Still have questions about the CCB Integration? No worries! Feel free to reach out to our Member Support team at support@textinchurch.com We're always happy to help!
