People database health for Planning Center
A People database your whole team can trust
Keep your Planning Center People database accurate, and see who is engaged. Tend reads your People database every night, finds what is missing, duplicated or contradicting your own rules, and shows leadership who is engaging, in figures they can check.
For churches that use Planning Center, and the staff who look after its People database.
The demo runs on sample data. Tend is in early access with a few Planning Center churches.
Needs attention
Sample- Can't be reachedNo usable email and no phone86
- No householdActive, with no household214
- Membership not setBlank membership301
- Not updated in 2 yearsThe record, not the person127
- Likely duplicates9 strong6 medium24 low
// the problem
Every People database drifts the same way
Today
- 1Someone fills in a form a second timeA new profile appears, spelled a little differently.
- 2A family's details changeOne profile is updated. The other keeps the old email.
- 3One box is ticked, another isn'tThe class was taken, but the membership was never set.
- 4The list goes quietly wrongNobody notices until an email misses people, or a report doesn't add up.
With Tend
- 1Tend reads the whole directory, every nightNot a sample. Nothing new for your team to keep up.
- 2Each problem is counted and listedWith the people behind every number, for the staff who fix them.
- 3You fix it in Planning CenterEvery name links to its profile there. Tend never changes a thing itself.
- 4The count goes downThe next read sees the fix, and the trend shows your progress.
// what tend finds
The problems nobody has time to go looking for
Each finding is a plain rule with a plain name, counted over your active adults, with everyone on file one click away.
Incomplete profiles
People who can’t be reached by email or phone, adults with no household, and membership left blank, with every word your church uses for membership laid out.
Likely duplicates
Pairs sorted strong, medium and low, with the reasons in words. You merge in Planning Center; “not a duplicate” is remembered, and reopens if something new ties the pair.
Contradictions in your own rules
Write the rules your church already follows, from plain conditions like “is ticked” or “is empty”. Tend checks every profile against them every night.
Who is new, and who is engaging
New adult profiles and first-time families, who came back after a first visit, and guest forms with no later engagement. Records untouched for two years are labelled for what they are: not updated, never “left”.
Likely duplicates
Sample- Sam Rivera and Samuel RiveraStrong
Same email address · names match
- Dana Okafor and Dana E. OkaforMedium
Names match · same household
Your own rules
Sample- “Baptism date” has a value, but “Baptized” isn’t ticked14
- Membership is Member, but “Membership class” is empty22
Made-up names and figures, not any church’s.
// for leadership
The figures for your leadership meeting, already counted
Overview, Growth, Pathway and Volunteers turn what Planning Center records into trends: check-ins, serving schedules, form submissions and registrations. Tend only counts what Planning Center actually recorded, so it speaks of engagement, never attendance.
Overview
SampleActive engaged
742
last 90 days
First-time families
11
last month
Active volunteers
186
last 90 days
New adult profiles
23
last month
What most needs attention
First-time families are down 18% on the same three months last year.
33 families, Jun to Aug · 40 in the same months a year earlier
- Who is new, and who came back after their first visit
- How people move through your next steps
- Who serves, how the load is spread, and next month’s gaps
- Plain-worded cards when something changes, with the number and the comparison beside it
- One frozen report each month, ready to print
- Viewers never see a count from 1 to 4: it reads “fewer than 5”
// access & permissions
Who can do what in your Planning Center, at a glance
For your administrators only: how many people hold each level in each Planning Center product, and the few things worth fixing. Red flags only, no noise.
- More than 3 Organization Administrators
- An administrator without two-step verification
- Admin or edit access on an inactive record
- A shared-looking account with admin access
- A Services editor with no sign-in for 6 months
Access & permissions
Sample · admins only- Organization AdministratorsMore than 35
- Admins without two-step verificationFix in Planning Center2
- Edit access on an inactive recordFix in Planning Center1
// who it’s for
For churches that use Planning Center
And the staff who look after its People database.
The staff who look after People
Start with Needs attention, fix each profile in Planning Center, and mark what isn’t really a duplicate.
Leadership
Overview, Growth, Pathway and Volunteers, plain-worded cards when something changes, and one frozen report each month for the leadership meeting.
Your administrators
Access & permissions: who holds each level in each Planning Center product, and the few red flags worth fixing.
// privacy
Facts, not identity
Tend’s subject is your whole directory, most of whom never signed up for anything. So its database holds ids, dates, counts and yes-or-no facts: whether someone has an email, never the email itself.
Reads, never writes
Tend never changes anything in Planning Center. Merging and fixing happen there, by your staff.
No names on file
Names are fetched live, with your own sign-in, when a screen needs them, and never saved.
People only, at sign-in
Staff sign in with Planning Center and are asked for People access alone. One account your church nominates also grants the products Tend counts.
Kept out entirely
Giving records, notes, form answers, background checks, and health or emergency-contact details are never read.
// how it works
Three steps, and the work finds you
- 01
Sign in with Planning Center
Your staff use the Planning Center accounts they already have. Tend asks for People access, and your church decides who gets in.
- 02
Tend reads overnight
A full read of your People database every night, plus the products your church uses. Refresh any time to pick up recent People edits.
- 03
Work the list
Start with Needs attention. Fix each profile in Planning Center, mark what isn't really a duplicate, and watch the numbers fall.
// questions
Questions about Tend
Does Tend change anything in Planning Center?
No. Tend reads your Planning Center data. It never changes anything there and never sends mail on your behalf. Merging and fixing happen in Planning Center, by your staff.
Does Tend measure attendance?
No. Tend measures engagement, not attendance. Planning Center holds no record of adult attendance unless a church checks adults in, so Tend works from what is there: serving on a team, check-ins, forms, registrations and progress on next steps.
What does Tend store about people?
Facts, not identity: ids, dates, counts and yes-or-no facts, such as whether someone has an email, never the email itself. Names are fetched live, with your own Planning Center access, when a screen needs them, and never saved.
Who is counted?
By default, active adults: people not marked inactive and not marked a child in Planning Center. “Everyone on file” is one click away. A person Tend cannot classify is counted, not left out.
Does Tend merge duplicates?
No. Duplicates are suggestions, never actions. You merge in Planning Center, and the pair drops off the list after the next nightly read. A “not a duplicate” mark stands until the pair gains a new reason, such as a shared email.
How current are the figures?
A full read of Planning Center runs every night. Refresh picks up recent People edits between reads. A banner appears if no complete nightly read has finished in 36 hours, or reading Planning Center has started failing.
What does Tend never read?
Giving records, notes, form answers, background checks, and health or emergency-contact details are never read.
How much does Tend cost?
Tend is in early access with a few Planning Center churches and is not on general sale yet. Ask us about early access.
See your People database clearly
Tend works on the Planning Center you already have. Nothing to install, and nothing new to keep up. It is in early access with a few Planning Center churches.
Tend is one of the wtxLabs church apps. With the wtxLabs Hub, one Planning Center sign-in opens Sync, Shield and Tend, on one bill.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Planning Center.