Planning Center Best Practices Guide | Adding a New Volunteer to Planning Center
To ensure background checks sync properly with MinistryPlatform and to prevent creating duplicate profiles, all new volunteers must be created in Planning Center People first before being assigned roles or scheduled.
Step 1: Start in Planning Center People
Open Planning Center and ensure you are in the People app (select People from the app switcher in the top-left corner, or click People in the top navigation bar).
Before adding anyone, use the search bar at the top to search for the person by first name, last name, or email address. **Note: Always check for an existing profile first to prevent creating duplicate records.
Step 2: Create or Update the Person's Profile
-
If the person does not exist:
Click Create a new person
Fill in their basic contact details (First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone Number, Campus, DOB, Gender. If, child please mark as child).
Click Save.
-
If the person already exists:
Open their profile and verify that their contact details, campus, and email address are up to date.
Step 3: Add the Volunteer to Your Team in Services
Switch to the Services app using the top navigation/app switcher.
Navigate to your specific Service/Ministry area and select Teams.
Select your team and click Add Volunteer / Add Person.
Type the name of the person you just created or verified in People.
Select their existing profile from the dropdown list—do not select the option to create a brand new person from Services.
⚠️ Important Best Practices Summary for Staff
Never add a person directly from the Services tab
Always create/search profiles in People first.
If a search in People tab turns up with duplicates, please send in a support ticket to [email protected] so that we can merge the accounts.