How Simple Groups Work

Simple groups are the essential tool for segmenting your community based on the different categories within your organization (sections, teams, member types, etc.). This segmentation can be done manually or automatically based on a defined criterion.

They also let you delegate part of the management by appointing administrators who can access select features of the main platform.

This article covers the following topics:

• Types of simple groups
• Creating a simple group
• Key features

Types of simple groups

When creating a group, you can choose between two types: fixed groups and dynamic groups.

Fixed group

A fixed group lets you add a person manually to a group, or automatically through a form (adding the user to a group at sign-up).

For example, if you have a volunteer group and Erica joins the team, you simply add her to the existing "Volunteer" group.

Dynamic groups

In contrast, a dynamic group automatically assigns people to a group based on the information in their profile.

For example, you assign to a "Pacific Northwest Volunteers" group all people living in that region who are tagged as volunteers in your Community.

Any time you add a person who matches these criteria, they will automatically be added to the group.

Creating a simple group

Fixed group

To create a simple group, go to Community > Groups and click New group.

Then select Fixed group in the window that opens.

Name your group and click Create group.

If you manage both individuals and legal entities (Structures) on your platform, you will be prompted to choose (in this example, we selected "Persons").

Check the members you want to add to the group, then click Add to group. You can also bulk-import people via an Excel file.

You can also add members to an existing group from the Contacts module on your platform.

Note: There is no limit to the number of people that can be added to a group, regardless of group type. However, if you use a Membership Campaign to add people to a group (fixed or dynamic), you can limit the number of people who can sign up through that campaign.

Dynamic group

You create a dynamic group from the same page, by selecting the Dynamic group option.

Members are added to the group based on a criterion:

• You select a field and a value to match — for example, "Address" and "City = Chicago";
• The platform automatically adds any members who meet that criterion.

Assignment to a dynamic group is instant: if someone moves from Chicago to Los Angeles and their address is updated in the database, they will automatically be removed from the group.

The following can be used as criteria:

• Default information fields (address, phone, gender, etc.) provided by the platform.
• Custom Fields you have created.
• Information related to donations and memberships.

While the platform automatically adds members who match the criterion, you may sometimes need to enter the criterion value yourself — particularly for Custom Fields.

Creating a group from Community > Contacts

You can also create a dynamic group from the search criteria available in the advanced search section.

To do so, go to Community > Contacts, click Advanced search, and define your criterion. Then click Create a group.

Creating a dynamic group from the Contacts module gives you access to additional criteria specific to that page (password, last login, organizations, etc.).

Key features

Appointing a group administrator

You can restrict an administrator's access to a single group or delegate management of that group to them.

You can appoint one or more administrators per group. They will be able to manage their own space, add people to their group, and use the features available at the group level.

Due to a technical limitation, a person who has per-application rights at a higher level (main platform or advanced group) and is also appointed as a simple group administrator will automatically be granted full administrator rights at that higher level.

If you appoint multiple people as administrators of a group, they will all have the same rights within that group. If you want to distinguish their roles (for example, a group leader and a co-leader), we recommend creating a Custom Field called "Role" under Community > Settings and filling it in on each person's profile. For more advanced needs, consider using advanced groups.

Delegating features

A simple group is primarily designed to segment your community and includes only a subset of the main platform's features. Specifically, group administrators can:

• Use Attendance Sheets,
• Send individual emails and email campaigns.