Getting Started: The GroupFinder

If you’d like to save administrative time and empower people to connect to a group on their own, the GroupFinder is going to be a valuable tool for you.

To turn on the GroupFinder

1. Click on the gear icon in the top-right (visible to admins only).

2. Click on "ADD-ONS" in the drop-down.

3. Click on the "ENABLE" button for the GroupFinder.

4. Click on the "SETTINGS" button for the GroupFinder to adjust the colors and more. When turned on, you’ll have your own GroupFinder map, with a list view as well.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Each group listed on the GroupFinder will be an open group and the leader or staff have opted to show the group on the GroupFinder.
• The leader or staff can hide the group from the GroupFinder at anytime by going to the group’s profile, clicking on the "Edit" tab, scroll down to the GroupFinder settings and toggle the Show on GroupFinder to OFF.
• You can also toggle on or off to hide the exact location for privacy purposes in the GroupFinder settings for each group or, you can toggle this globally via the GroupFinder settings in the Add-Ons area.
• Groups that show up as a circle on the map mean that the leader has opted to hide the exact location of that group.
• The group types listed in the drop-down come from the group types that you set in your group settings area.
• If more than one group meets at the same location, it will show up as a circle with a number in the middle, representing how many groups meet at that location. They can click on the circle to see a list of the groups that meet there.
• If someone needs help finding a group, they can fill out the contact form at the bottom of the GroupFinder. You can hide this box in the GroupFinder settings area. After someone fills out the form, they’ll show up in the Prospect Pipeline under the Prospects column and the staff member responsible for prospects will receive an email notification to make a follow-up.
• You can link to your GroupFinder will preset filters in place. We call these quick links and you can learn more about them here.

Here’s how the GroupFinder will work: (Example)

Let’s say Steven Hyde is looking to join a group at your organization. On the group’s page of your website there can be a button or link that will take Steven to the GroupFinder when clicked on.
Once on theGroupFinder (mobile friendly), he can choose to see groups in the list view or the map view.

When he wants to see more details about the group, he can click the View Profile link.On the group’s profile page, Steven can get more details about the group and see how many spots are left.

So Steven is interested in the Saturday group. His next step is to fill out the contact form on the right. Note that the contact form will only appear if there’s an active group leader or group admin with an email address on file.

After Steven fills out the form, two emails are sent out.

1. The first email goes to Steven to confirm that you received his submission.

2. The second email goes to the group leaders. Inside that email will be all of Steven’s information and two possible buttons for the leader to click on. I’ll go over that in just a minute.

Steven will also enter into the Prospect Pipeline, directly in the Connected stage. Under his name it says GroupFinder, so you know how he became a prospect. If you click on his card here, it will pull up a window where you can get more details, such as the group that he contacted on the GroupFinder.

If you were to go to the Saturday’s group profile, you’ll see Steven here listed as a prospect.

Once Jordan, the group leader of the group clicks on the Accept button in the email, Steven will instantly become a group member. Logging in isn’t required when accepting or declining someone into the group. If you'd like to disable to the accept/decline and have the person immediately become a group member or guest,  then click here to learn more about how to do that.

If Jordan had decided to decline Steven from joining the group, only the staff member who’s responsible for prospects will receive an email notification about that, not Steven. This is the staff member’s queue to follow-up with Steven and encourage him to try a different group.

On the prospect pipeline, it will also show that acceptance status.

At this point, Steven will automatically move over to the Needs Follow-up stage after the Saturday group meets again. This is the staff’s queue to follow-up with Steven to see if he went to the group and if he did, how it went. Often times, people forget to show up that first time or, they did show up, but never go back and never get followed-up with.

After you follow-up with Steven, you can then drag and drop him into either the Joined a Group box or the Didn’t Join box to remove him from the Pipeline.