ParishSoft Family Suite- How to set up a new family

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To set up a new Family:

Sign in to ConnectNow. You will see the screen below- click on the Family Directory tab.

Click on the green “Add New Family” button, and enter the last name of the person, this will show you whether there is a record already set up for them (we do not want multiple records for the same person).

Only the parish of registration can modify contact information for the family.  A parish may pull a family into their database that is registered at another parish, but will not be able to modify basic contact and family detail information until listed as registered in the new parish.  If the family being added is listed but spelled incorrectly, edit the misspelling and edit the family information as necessary to reflect the proper registration.  Again, if the family is registered at another parish, the parish of registration should be contacted to decide the proper registration status.

Contributor Only: adding a family to your parish is not necessary when they make a one-time contribution if they are already registered at another parish. For example, Mr. Brown is attending your parish as a visitor, as he is attending his nephew’s Confirmation, so Mr. Brown writes a check to your parish. When a person contributes to your parish, but they are registered at another parish, you should import the Family DUID as “Not Registered, Contributor Only”.

If the person has no existing record, click on the drop-down box that says “All Organizations” and choose your parish, Then click  Add New Family button, and a new screen will come up that looks like this:

The pop-up box Find Family will search to make sure this family is not already set up at your parish.

Here is an example: I chose Queen of Peace Parish, and entered “Puglia” in the last name field. This checks to make sure there is no “Puglia” already registered at Queen of Peace. There is not, so I clicked on the green “Add New Family” button, and entered new parishioner Mr. Michael Puglia, entering his information on the left, under “Family Member”. Then click on “Auto-Fill Family Names” under Family Information. Next, add mailing address.

When adding a new family, proper spelling and punctuation are critical. Be sure to capitalize the first letter of each first name, as well as the first letter of the last name.  Failure to do so will cause problems when sending mail merge letters (ie, tax letters) or other communications to that family. Please do not use all CAPS, as that also presents a problem when doing mailings.  If you prefer to use all caps, we can show you how to change to all caps in excel for mail merge.

Save your new parishioner. Next, click on the Add Member Records tab.

Member Fields:

  • Role: every member needs to have a defined role. Married couples should have the roles “Head” (for head of household,) and “Wife”. The role “Head” should also be used for single households.
  • Status: Chose Active if this is a new, active Catholic parishioner. If this is a new member who is not Catholic, choose ActOther (rarely used).  If married and one spouse is Catholic, enter the Catholic as “Head”. For example, if the wife is the Catholic, enter her as “Head” and enter her spouse as “Husband” under Member Status.
  • Birth Date: enter birth date, click enter, and the Age field will populate automatically.
  • Religion: Click on the drop-down box and choose from the list.
  • Address: Primary address should be “Home Address” unless there is a PO Box. In the case of a PO Box, mark the Mailing Address as the Primary Address (using the drop-down box).  Mailing address field: this is where a PO Box should be entered. If there is a Mailing Address entered, it will take precedence over Home Address when we pull data for mailings.

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