Tracking attendance for services and groups

Purpose

1.1. Automates tracking of attendance for services and group meetings within Quaker churches to streamline record-keeping, support pastoral care, and facilitate reporting, analysis, and outreach.
1.2. Purpose extends to automatedly storing attendee data, automating reminders and follow-ups, automating privacy controls for sensitive events, and allowing for automated insights on trends and engagement.
1.3. Enables automating workflows between check-ins, reminders, pastoral follow-ups, and reporting, promoting efficient administrative operations.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. Automated trigger on scheduling a new service or group meeting in the calendar system.
2.2. Automates when participant check-in occurs physically, online, or via form submission.
2.3. Automating the process when attendance thresholds or certain patterns are detected (e.g., recurring absentees).
2.4. Triggered by monthly or quarterly automated reporting schedules.

Platform Variants

3.1. Google Sheets
• Feature/Setting: Google Sheets API – automate insertion of attendance rows via create spreadsheet row function.
3.2. Microsoft Excel Online
• Feature/Setting: Excel Online (Business) API – automates recording attendance in specified table with Add Row.
3.3. Airtable
• Feature/Setting: Airtable API – automate adding records for each attendee into an “Attendance” base.
3.4. Salesforce
• Feature/Setting: Salesforce API – automates creation of custom Attendance objects with REST API calls.
3.5. Church Community Builder
• Feature/Setting: People API – automate posting attendance data using the Attendance endpoint.
3.6. Planning Center
• Feature/Setting: Check-Ins API – automate attendance data retrieval and update processes in event records.
3.7. Elvanto
• Feature/Setting: Groups Attendance endpoint – automatedly record presence of group members.
3.8. FellowshipOne
• Feature/Setting: FellowshipOne API – automates batch submission of event attendance records via POST.
3.9. Pushpay
• Feature/Setting: Custom Workflows – automation for collecting check-ins via event triggers.
3.10. Zoho Creator
• Feature/Setting: Form Submission Trigger – automate attendance data entry and notifications with Deluge.
3.11. Google Forms
• Feature/Setting: Form Responses – automate export and processing through Sheets integration.
3.12. Typeform
• Feature/Setting: Response Webhooks – automates data capture on form completion to storage system.
3.13. Jotform
• Feature/Setting: Webhook Integration – automatedly export attendance submissions to external databases.
3.14. Eventbrite
• Feature/Setting: Event Attendance API – automate attendance log export on event completion.
3.15. Twilio SMS
• Feature/Setting: SMS Response API – automate self check-in for members replying to attendance prompts.
3.16. Mailchimp
• Feature/Setting: Tag Automation – automates tagging contacts who RSVP or check-in for follow-up flows.
3.17. Slack
• Feature/Setting: Slash Commands & Events API – automates recording responses to automated check-in prompts.
3.18. Trello
• Feature/Setting: Card Creation via API – automate attendance tracking by creating/checking off member cards.
3.19. Asana
• Feature/Setting: Task Automation API – automates creation of attendance-reporting tasks per event.
3.20. Microsoft Teams
• Feature/Setting: Automated message polling via Bots or Power Automate to record check-in responses.

Benefits

4.1. Automates attendance tracking to eliminate manual work and errors.
4.2. Automated reminders and follow-ups enhance engagement and retention.
4.3. Automation supports data privacy and access control for sensitive groups.
4.4. Automating the generation of analytics allows actionable insights into participation trends and outreach impact.
4.5. Frees administrative staff for higher-value activities by automating routine record keeping.
4.6. Automation enables standardized procedures and scalable growth for multi-site or growing congregations.