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Tools

Inactivate Tool

Learn how to activate contact, participant, and household records, and how to reverse an inactivation.

Warning: There is no way to automatically undo the changes made with this tool. You must manually undo any changes by referencing the audit logs of each affected record. Be careful using this tool.

With the Inactivate tool, you can mark the records of people or companies that no longer participate in your church.

  • The tool is available on the Contacts or Participants or Members page. You can launch the tool on its own, from a selection of records, or from an open record.
  • Using this tool, you can update multiple areas of a person's record, including:
    • Contact status
    • Participant type
    • End dates for the participant and current groups
    • Publications the contact subscribes to
    • Current donor pledges
    • Current donor envelopes
    • Participant notes
  • When you save, the tool updates multiple records, and the audit log notes these changes.

Screenshot of the Inactivate tool showing a contact and the options to inactivate

Note: To use this tool, you must have access through your security role. SPoCs can grant user access to this tool.

Inactivate Contact or Participant Records

  1. Go to Contacts or Participants or Members.
  2. Open the record or select records, if needed.
  3. Click Tools, then click Inactivate Tool.
  4. In the Contact Status field, select a new status for the contact record from the drop-down list. "Inactive" is the default.
  5. In the Participant Type field, select a new type for the participant record.
  6. In the Participant/Group End Date field, enter or select the end date for participant and group records.
  7. Use the Unsubscribe Publications toggle to select whether to unsubscribe the contact from any publications.
  8. If applicable, use the Discontinue Donor Pledges toggle to select whether to discontinue the donor pledges.
  9. If applicable, use the Cancel Donor Envelopes toggle to select whether to cancel the donor envelopes.
  10. If needed, use the Notes field to add any relevant notes for the participant record.
    You could note why you're inactivating the record. MinistryPlatform adds this note to any existing notes.
  11. Click Save.
  12. Click Yes to confirm that you want to inactive the selected record(s).
    A success message displays.
  13. If needed, repeat these steps for another contact or participant.
  14. When you're finished, close the tool.
The tool updates the relevant records.
  • For the contact record, it does the following:
    • Changes the contact status on the General tab.
    • Changes the unsubscribed status of any publications on the Subscriptions tab.
  • For the participant record, it does the following:
    • Changes the participant type on the General tab.
    • Adds a participant end date on the General tab.
    • Appends any additional notes on the General tab.
    • Adds an end date for any current groups on the Groups tab.
    • Changes current and future registrations to "Canceled" on the Events tab.
    • Sets Closed to Yes for any open responses on the Responses tab.
  • For the donor record, it does the following:
    • Sets Cancel Envelopes to Yes on the General tab.
    • Changes pledge status to Discontinued for any open pledges on the Pledges tab.
  • For the user record, it does the following:

The audit log notes all changes.

Inactivate a Household

To inactivate an entire household, include each household member in your selection when you use the Inactivate tool. You can inactivate each household member individually or as a group of household members.
Inactivate Household Members Individually
  1. Go to the Contacts or Participants or Members page.
  2. Select each household or family member.
  3. Use the Inactivate tool accordingly.
Inactivate a Group of Household Members
  1. In the navigation menu, click Households or Families.
  2. Click to open a household or family.
  3. Click the Household Members tab.
  4. Select all the household or family members.
  5. Click thetwo stacked arrows, with the top arrow pointing right and the bottom arrow pointing leftbutton.
  6. Select the Contacts page.
  7. Click Transfer.
  8. Use the Inactivate tool accordingly.

Reverse an Inactivation

Forget to clear your selection? Include the wrong "Bob Smith"? It happens to the best of us! If you accidentally inactivated a record, use the audit log to reverse the changes.
Reverse an Inactive Contact Record
  1. In the navigation menu, click Contacts.
  2. Open the contact record.
  3. Click the audit log to expand it.
  4. On the General tab, click Edit Record.
  5. In the Contact Status field, select the contact status that was previously listed in the audit log.
  6. Click Save.
  7. Click the Subscriptions tab.
  8. Click to open the relevant publication(s), and click Edit Record.
  9. In the Unsubscribed field, select No.
  10. Click Save.
Reverse an Inactive Participant Record
  1. In the navigation menu, click Participants or Members.Open the Participant record.
  2. Open the participant record.
  3. Click to expand the audit log.
  4. On the General tab, click Edit Record.
  5. In the Participant Type field, select the participant type previously listed in the audit log.
  6. In the Participant End Date field, click the X to clear the field.
  7. In the Notes field, include the information previously listed in the audit log.
  8. Click Save.
  9. Click the Groups tab.
  10. Click to open the relevant group(s), and click Edit Record.
  11. In the End Date field, click the X to clear the field.
  12. Click Save.
  13. Click the Event tab.
  14. Click to open the relevant event(s), and click Edit Record.
  15. In the Participation Status field, select to appropriate status.
  16. Click Save.
  17. Click the Responses tab.
  18. Click to open the relevant response(s), and click Edit Record.
  19. In the Closed field, select No.
  20. Click Save.
Reverse an Inactive Donor Record
  1. In the navigation menu, click Contributions > Donors.
  2. Open the donor record.
  3. Click to expand the audit log.
  4. Verify whether there was a change to the Cancel Envelopes field before the inactivation. If so:
    1. In the General tab, click Edit Record.
    2. In the Cancel Envelopes field, select No.
    3. Click Save.
  5. Click the Pledges tab.
  6. Open the relevant pledge(s), and click Edit Record.
  7. In the Pledge Status field, change the status to the appropriate status.
  8. Click Save.
Reverse an Inactive User Record
  1. In the navigation menu, click Administration > Users.
  2. Open the user record.
  3. Click the Roles tab.
  4. Click New User Security Role.
  5. In the Security Role field, select the security role the person should have.
  6. Click Save.
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Last updated: November 24, 2025

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