Organizing Groups by Unit or Parent Group

Overview

As your ministry grows, organizing your groups effectively becomes essential. In Connection Card Pro, each group can be linked to one Unit (if enabled), and one Parent Group — depending on the group type.

This document explains how group belonging works, what combinations are allowed, and how to use this structure to create clear ministry hierarchies.

Group Belonging: The Basics

Each group can be linked to:

✅ One Parent Group (depending on group type rules)
✅ One Unit (if Unit support is enabled)

These two fields are separate — meaning a group can have all two set at once.

Parent Group Rules by Group Type

Not every group can belong to just any other group. The table below shows which group types can belong to which parent types:

Group Type	Can Belong To…
Department	✅ A Division
Division	✅ A Department
Class	✅ A Department or Division
Class Stream	✅ A Class only
Small Group	✅ A Department or Division
Crew	✅ A Department, Division, or another Crew (sub-crew)
Team	✅ A Points Event only
Points Event	✅ A Department or Division

Note: Groups cannot belong to more than one parent group, but they can still be linked to a unit separately. Groups can also instead be linked directly to your organization, such as top-level departments / ministries.

What Are Units?

Units are an optional organizational layer for networks, denominations and associations and are enabled for our Network Partner administrators. Units are stackable, meaning that you can have multiple tiers of units. Units can be used to divide your network by country, region or locality (among other uses).

Units are enabled on a per-account basis
They are separate from group-type structure
A group can belong to a Unit in addition to its Parent Group

Example: A “Tuesday Night Youth Group” might belong to the “Youth Division” but also be assigned to the “Student Discipleship Unit”.

Building a Healthy Hierarchy

A well-structured hierarchy can help ministry leaders:

Keep group lists clean and intuitive
Organize by department, division, and function
Delegate responsibility to the right staff or volunteers

Small Group Example

Unit: Discipleship Pathway
Parent Group: Adult Ministry Division
Group Type: Small Group

Crew Example (Sub-crews)

Parent Group: Sunday Service Crew
Sub-Crew: Tech Booth
Sub-Crew: Greeters
Sub-Crew: Hospitality

Class + Streams Example

Parent Group: Membership Class
Class Streams:
- Fall 2024
- Spring 2025
- Tuesday Night (Fall 2025)
- Thursday Night (Fall 2025)

How to Set "Belongs To", or Unit

Navigate to any group list (e.g., Departments, Crews)
Click Edit next to a group
In the edit form:
- Use “Belongs To” to choose the appropriate parent group
- If available, set Unit
Click Save

Where This Impacts Your Workflow

Group List Filters – You can filter by "Belongs To" or Unit on the group list pages
Automation & Reporting – Tag Binders, workflows, and custom reports may use group structure
Rosters & Scheduling – Helps you view who’s connected under which ministries

Best Practices

Keep the structure clean and predictable
Use Departments > Divisions > Classes or Groups for scalable growth
Assign Units consistently (if enabled)

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