home

MinistryPlatform

RealmMinistryPlatformPDSACSAccountingGivingConnectShepherdGrowth MethodGo MethodMissionInsiteGatherHeadMaster ChildcareTrust Center
RealmMinistryPlatformPDSACSAccountingGivingConnectShepherdGrowth MethodGo MethodMissionInsiteGatherHeadMaster ChildcareTrust Center

What would you like to know more about?

Show Contents

Show Page Sections

thumbnailMinistryPlatform

Tools

Add/Edit Family Tool

Learn more about the Add/Edit Family tool in MinistryPlatform, including tool configuration settings and instructions to add or edit a family using the tool.

The Add/Edit Family tool is your one-stop-shop to add new people to MinistryPlatform or edit information for existing people, whether you're at your desk or on the go.

  • This tool creates or updates a person's contact, household, and participant records all at the same time.
  • If configured, the address search to add and edit addresses autofills, which ensures accuracy.
  • You can add alternate addresses (think: snowbirds) using the Alt Address tab.
    Note: Adding an alternate address does not create an other household record.
  • You can opt to create a donor record, but you can't edit donor records in the Add/Edit Family tool.
  • Select the Heads are Married option to establish a "Married to" relationship for the heads of household. Add "Parent Of" and "Child Of" relationships for heads of household and minor children.
  • The audit log records any changes made with the Add/Edit Family tool. For example, if you update someone's email address through the tool, the audit log of that person's contact record displays the change. The only exception is for addresses you create using the tool - those changes are recorded in the audit log of the household's record. Updates to addresses made in the tool are recorded in the audit log of the address record only.
  • The Add/Edit Family tool does not remove people from households. See Split Households for additional information.
  • You can launch the tool from a page or an open record. If you open the tool from a page, you must search for the family before you add it as a new one.
    Tip: The New Family button only displays after you press the Enter key on your search for an existing family.
  • This tool is available on mobile, making it easy to update families in the moment.

Envelope Numbers

You can assign envelope numbers when you create a new household or family where a member is a donor. You must have a security role with one of the following accesses to the Donors page:
  • Edit (or higher): Users with this security role can use the Assign Envelope Number button and the Envelope Number field to add new envelope numbers, manually edit existing envelope numbers, or delete existing envelope numbers.
  • View: Users with this security role can see the Envelope Number field in the tool. They cannot assign new envelope numbers or edit or delete existing envelope numbers.
Some additional information about using this tool to assign envelope numbers:
  • This feature depends on two configuration settings: TOOLS, ShowEnvelopeNumbers and TOOLS, AssignLowestEnvelopeNumberByCongregation.
  • You can turn off the Assign Next Envelope Number option. Simply set the TOOLS, ShowEnvelopeNumbers configuration setting to False.
  • You can manually add an envelope number in the Envelope No field.
  • You can assign envelope numbers for multiple members of the same household or family. The tool takes into account envelope numbers created for other members of the household or family, so it does not assign the same number more than once.
  • We highly recommend that, if multiple members of the same household or family (for example, a married couple) share one assigned envelope number, you only record the envelope number on one of their donor records.
  • Each time you use the Assign Envelope Number feature, the tool creates a unique number. So you shouldn't be able to assign the same number for multiple donors within the same household or family.
Screenshot of the Add/Edit Family tool with an individual selected and their information displayed
Note: To use this tool, you must have access through your security role. SPoCs can grant user access to this tool.

Add/Edit Family Tool Configuration Settings

This tool relies on several configuration settings:

COMMON, GoogleMapsAPIKey
If enabled, this allows the household address to autofill the household address. See Google Maps API Key for setup information.
COMMON, defaultCongregationID
The default congregation assigned to the household if no congregation is selected.
COMMON, HouseholdSourceID
The default household source that will be assigned to a household created by the tool if no household source is selected.
COMMON, defaultParticipantType
The default participant type that will be assigned to participants created using the Add/Edit Family tool if no participant type is selected.
COMMON, DefaultCountryCode
The default country code applied to any newly created household if no country is selected.
COMMON, State
The default state applied to any newly created household if no state is selected.
CORETOOLS, AgeGroupMemberRoleID
The group role ID assigned to participants added to an age or grade group using the Add/Edit Family tool.
TOOLS, AgeGroupTypeID
The value you define here is used when presenting selections for the Age Group field in the tool.
TOOLS, AssignLowestEnvelopeNumberByCongregation
For new envelope numbers: If set to false, the envelope number generated will add 1 to the highest currently-assigned envelope number in your database. If set to true, MinistryPlatform checks all the envelope numbers currently assigned to donors in the same congregation or parish. If there are any unused numbers within that group, the lowest available number is given. If not, the tool assigns the next number after the highest one currently in use. The default is false.

For duplicate envelope numbers: If set to false, the tool will flag duplicates if the same envelope number has already been assigned to any other donor in the database. If set to true, the tool will only flag duplicates if the same envelope number has already been assigned to another donor in the same congregation or parish.

TOOLS, ShowEnvelopeNumbers
Determines whether envelope numbers are visible on the Add/Edit Family tool. If set to true, the Assign Envelope Number button and text field display in the tool. If set to false, the button and text field do not display. The default is true.

Add or Edit a Family

Before you add someone new through the Add/Edit Family tool, search for them by name or phone number in the tool to prevent duplicate contacts.

  1. Go to a page that displays families or open an individual's record.
  2. Click Tools, then click Add/Edit Family.
  3. If you launched the tool from a person's record, that person is automatically selected. Otherwise, search for the person or family by name or phone number. If no person or family is found, click New Family.
  4. Add or edit the last name, congregation, home phone, and source.
    Tip: To add an international phone number, enter a plus sign (+) in the field. You can then enter up to 15 characters.
  5. Add, remove, or edit the address information.
    Note:
    • If an address is shared among two or more households when you edit it, the tool creates a new address record and the other household's address remains unchanged.
    • If you don't know the address because the family has moved and has not answered your information request, remove the information rather than entering "undeliverable" for the address.
  6. Add or edit the family member information.
    1. If Head of House 1 and Head of House 2 are married, select Heads are Married. This creates a "Married to" contact relationship between the two heads. If you already selected this option, the "Married to" relationship already exists. Clear the checkbox to end date the "Married to" contact relationship.
    2. The Age Group drop-down list displays all available groups with the age or grade group group type. If you select a new or different age group, the tools adds the family member as an active group participant in the selected group with the group role specified in the CORETOOLS, AgeGroupMemberRoleID configuration setting. If you clear an existing age group, the family member's group participant record for that group will be end-dated. Other age or grade groups are not affected.
    3. If the family member is a donor, select the checkbox. Options for the envelope number display if set in the TOOLS, ShowEnvelopeNumbers and TOOLS, AssignLowestEnvelopeNumberByCongregation configuration settings.
  7. Click Add New Family Member to add additional family members to the household. There is no limit to the number of family members you can add to or edit for the household.
  8. Click Save.
    You'll see a confirmation message, and the tool refreshes with a blank form so you can search again if needed.
  9. Close the tool.
The information you entered is used to create or update the household, contact, and participant records.
Troubleshooting
portal
MinistryPlatform
Tools

Last updated: November 24, 2025

Related Articles: