# Group finder

> The open Planning Center groups that fit each person, on their page and their next step, and the groups worth launching where nothing near fits.

For: Pastor, Admin, Owner
Canonical: https://giftwell.app/docs/group-finder

![Groups to launch, on the Overview: who is in no group, how many an open group already fits, and where nothing near fits.](/docs-img/group-finder.png)

## What it reads

From Planning Center, once every few hours, each group's:

- **Name, type and tags.** They say who a group is for: students, young adults, families, couples, empty nesters or seniors, and men or women. Tags in a tag group named for an area ("Area", "Region", "Neighborhood", "Campus") name where it meets.
- **Schedule.** The day, and whether it falls on a Sunday morning, a weeknight or a weekday.
- **Location.** The town it meets in, or online.
- **Enrollment.** Whether it takes new people, and how many spots are left when it has a limit.

Who is in a group is never read for this.

About each person, GiftWell uses what it already holds:

- **Life stage**, worked out from their Planning Center age band and household: someone with a child at home is in the families' stage, someone 18 to 34 is a young adult, and so on. It is never asked and never shown as a label on anyone.
- **Gender**, only so men's and women's groups go to who they are for.
- **The town they live in**, from their Planning Center address. Only the town is kept, never the street.
- **When they are free**, from the assessment, if they shared it with the team.
- **Their lead gifts**: a Bible study draws on Teaching, a dinner group on Hospitality, a care group on Mercy.

## How a group fits

A group is left out when it is full or closed, when they are already in it, or when it is for someone else: a men's group for a woman, a seniors' group for a young adult. Students' groups go only to people under 18, and people under 18 are offered only students' groups. Nothing is suggested to a child.

The rest are ordered by:

1. **Near them**: in their town, or online.
2. **Their stage of life**.
3. **A time they said they are free**.
4. **A gift it draws on**.

Each group shows why it fits as small badges: the day, near them or online, who it is for, the gift and the spots left.

## Where it shows

- **A person's page.** When their next step is joining a group, the three that fit best sit under it. **Groups that fit** on the Path tab lists up to five for anyone in no group yet. Each links to the group's Church Center page.
- **[People](/docs/people).** The **Group** filter finds who is in no group, and who has an open group that fits. A small badge beside their stage counts the groups that fit; hover it for their names.
- **The [Overview](/docs/overview)**, for pastors and up: **Groups to launch**.

## Groups to launch

Everyone in no group is counted once:

- **Ready to invite**: an open group near them fits. The button opens People with just them.
- Everyone else is grouped by life stage and town. Where three or more people share one, the card shows them:
  - **No group like it**: nothing for that stage meets near them.
  - **Full**: groups like it meet near them but are full or closed. Opening a spot may be enough.

**See who** opens People with the people in that row.

## Who sees what

- Pastors, admins and owners see groups to launch. Anyone who can open a person's page sees the groups that fit them.
- The Overview card is counts only. Names appear only on People.
- Nothing here contacts anyone or writes to Planning Center. Inviting someone, and adding them to a group, stays with your team. Planning Center tells GiftWell when they join, and the pathway step counts it.
- GiftWell needs Planning Center connected with Groups. Without it, the finder doesn't show.
- AI agents and [Ask AI](/docs/ask-ai) can use the same finder with *find-groups* (pastors and up): for one person, or groups to launch as counts.