Follow-Ups

Follow-ups are tasks that help your team stay on top of pastoral care, visitor outreach, and other important action items. You can create follow-ups for individual people, assign them to team members, set priorities and due dates, and track them to completion.

Why Use Follow-Ups?

Without a system, it is easy for well-intentioned plans to fall through the cracks. Follow-ups ensure that:

• Visitors get a welcome call within the first week
• Hospital visits are scheduled and completed
• Prayer requests are acted on
• Membership inquiries receive a timely response
• No one is forgotten -- every task has an owner and a due date

The Follow-Ups Dashboard

TimelyChurch provides a dedicated Follow-Ups page where you can see and manage all follow-up tasks across your church.

1. From the left sidebar, click Follow-Ups.
2. You will see a list of all active follow-ups, with the most urgent and overdue items at the top.

Dashboard Statistics

At the top of the page, you will see quick stats:

• Total Open -- All pending and in-progress follow-ups
• Overdue -- Tasks past their due date that have not been completed
• Due Today -- Tasks due today
• Due This Week -- Tasks due within the current week

Filtering Follow-Ups

Use the filter options to narrow down the list:

Creating a Follow-Up

From the Follow-Ups Dashboard

1. On the Follow-Ups page, click Create Follow-Up.
2. Fill in the form:
   • Person (optional) -- Search for and select the person this follow-up is about. You can leave this blank for general tasks.
   • Category (required) -- Choose the type of follow-up:
     • General
     • Pastoral Care
     • Home Visit
     • Hospital Visit
     • First-Time Visitor
     • Baptism Preparation
     • Prayer Request
     • Event Invitation
     • Volunteer Opportunity
     • Membership Update
     • Meeting
     • Phone Call
     • Equipment Repair
     • Equipment Maintenance
     • Equipment Issue
     • Facility Maintenance
   • Method (required) -- How should this follow-up be done?
     • Phone Call
     • In-Person Visit
     • Message/Email
     • Meeting
   • Due Date (required) -- When should this be completed?
   • Due Time (optional) -- A specific time, if applicable.
   • Assigned To (optional) -- Which team member is responsible? If left blank, it will be assigned to you.
   • Priority (required) -- How urgent is this?
     • Low
     • Normal
     • High
     • Urgent
   • Description (optional) -- Additional notes or context about what needs to be done.
   • Enable Reminder (optional) -- Turn on reminders to be notified before the due date.
3. Click Create.

Tip: The title is generated automatically based on the category and person name. For example, selecting "First-Time Visitor" for "Sarah Johnson" will create a follow-up titled "First-Time Visitor - Sarah Johnson."

From a Person's Profile

1. Open the person's profile.
2. Go to the Follow-Ups tab.
3. Click Add Follow-Up.
4. Fill in the same fields as above (the person is pre-selected).
5. Click Create.

Managing Follow-Ups

Updating a Follow-Up

1. Find the follow-up on the dashboard or on a person's profile.
2. Click the follow-up to open it.
3. Edit any of the fields: category, method, due date, assignee, priority, description, or status.
4. Click Save.

Changing the Status

Follow-ups move through these statuses:

To change the status, either:

• Edit the follow-up and select a new status from the dropdown, or
• Use the Mark Complete button for a quick completion.

Completing a Follow-Up

1. Find the follow-up.
2. Click Mark Complete (or edit and change the status to "Completed").
3. Optionally add Completion Notes to record what was done (e.g., "Called and left a voicemail. Will try again Thursday.").
4. Click Save.

The completion date and the person who marked it complete are recorded automatically.

Deleting a Follow-Up

1. Find the follow-up.
2. Click Delete.
3. Confirm the deletion.

Tip: Instead of deleting, consider marking follow-ups as "Cancelled" if they are no longer needed. This preserves a record of what was planned, which can be useful for accountability and reporting.

Follow-Up Priority Levels

Priority helps your team focus on what matters most:

Overdue urgent and high-priority items appear at the top of the Follow-Ups dashboard.

Follow-Up Categories Explained

Tip: The four equipment/facility categories are typically generated automatically when staff log a note on a Resource (such as a sound board or van). They can also be created manually for ad-hoc maintenance tasks.

Best Practices

1. Create follow-ups for every first-time visitor -- A timely phone call or email within the first week dramatically increases the chance they will return.
2. Assign a specific person -- Tasks without an owner tend to be forgotten. Always assign someone.
3. Set realistic due dates -- Do not set everything as urgent. Reserve urgent priority for truly time-critical situations.
4. Add completion notes -- When marking a follow-up as complete, briefly note what happened. This creates a valuable record for the team.
5. Review overdue items weekly -- Make it a habit to check the Follow-Ups dashboard at the start of each week and address anything overdue.

Related Articles

• Person Profile Overview
• Managing Your People Directory