Articles on: People

Create and manage contacts

With the Contacts module, you can centrally manage all the people connected to your church or parish – such as members, volunteers, baptism parents, donors, or other interested individuals.

These are not necessarily ChurchDesk users – a contact does not need to have a login or a role in ChurchDesk (more on this below).

Each contact profile allows you to store and keep track of relevant information in one place – such as name, address, phone number, birthday, group memberships, notes, tags, and more.

Create a contact

In addition to the option to import multiple contacts at once, you can also create and edit contacts manually.

Go to the People module and click “+ New contact”:

You can now fill in the available information for the contact:

Note: Email addresses and phone numbers can only be used once. ChurchDesk uses them to identify contacts and prevent duplicates.

Edit a contact

In the top right corner, you’ll find a search bar that lets you quickly find a specific contact.

Once you’ve found the person, click their name to open their contact profile. Here, you can view their details, communication history, contributions, and edit their information.

Profile

The Profile tab shows key information about the contact:

Personal information: Click Edit to add or change name, address, birthday, phone number, etc.
Family: Link contacts together as family members by clicking Edit > Add member.
Custom information: Add additional fields or custom data that fits your church’s needs.

Activity

The Activity tab shows a timeline of emails and text messages sent to the contact, as well as any contributions made or forms submitted:

Settings

In the Settings tab, you can:

Add tags to categorise and organise your contacts
Define messaging preferences (Email, SMS or both)
Review the consents the contact has given

Pastoral notes

Use this space to keep confidential notes about the contact – visible only to you, not to the contact or other team members unless they have the proper permissions:

Delete a contact

If you want to delete a contact, click “More” in the top right corner and select “Delete contact”:

Using contacts in the ChurchDesk app

You can also access and manage contacts in the ChurchDesk mobile app. This allows you to view important details on the go – for example during visits, events or spontaneous questions.

Features in the app:

Search for and view contacts
View tags and contact details
Read and add pastoral notes
Add new contacts on the spot

The app provides a streamlined version of contact management. For more advanced options, we recommend using the browser version.

Contact ≠ User

Not every contact is a ChurchDesk user.

A contact is simply an entry with personal information – for example to manage people groups, send communications, or track participation.

A user has a ChurchDesk login, a defined role (e.g. Editor, Volunteer), and access to specific areas within the system.

You can convert a contact into a user anytime – and removing a user does not delete the contact record.

ChurchDesk is fully compliant with GDPR when storing and processing contact data:

All data is stored securely and encrypted.
People with the rights to, can access, update, or delete contact data at any time.
ChurchDesk includes GDPR tools such as consent management and data export.
Only authorised users within your organisation can access your contact data.

Learn more

Updated on: 28/07/2025

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