A great form gets you the information you need without scaring people off. These practices help you collect clean, useful data while keeping submissions high.
Ask only for what you'll use
Every extra question lowers your completion rate. Before adding a field, ask: "Will we actually act on this answer?" If not, leave it out. You can always follow up later.
Match the field type to the answer
Using the right field type keeps your data tidy and easier to act on:
Short text for names and single-line answers
Long text for prayer requests and open comments
Email and Phone number for contact details (these validate the format for you)
Number for counts like "How many people in your household?"
Date for birthdays or event dates, Time for preferred times
Multiple choice when there's one right answer; Checkboxes when several can apply
Tip: Email and Phone number fields enforce a valid format, so you get usable contact data instead of typos.
Mark only the essentials as required
Make a field Required only when a blank answer makes the response useless (usually name and email). Keep "nice to have" questions optional so people aren't blocked.
Group questions with section titles
Use the text/section button to add headings like "Your details" and "Your interests." Short sections feel faster to complete than one long list.
Let forms do the data entry for you
If your form gathers contact details, turn on Enable Member Creation so submissions create or update People records automatically. You'll need at least one Email question, and you must map a question to the Email (Standard) field — Gracely uses the email to match people and prevent duplicates. See Creating a form that automatically adds new members.
Keep optional "insight" questions truly optional
Questions like "How did you hear about us?" or "Which ministries interest you?" are great for insight — just leave them optional and, if you don't map them to a member field, the answers are still saved with the submission for reference.
Preview before you publish
Click Preview to fill out your own form as a visitor would. Check the order, wording, and which fields are required, then Publish.
Make it easy to find
Share the form link on your Church Portal, by email, or by SMS — and embed it on your website so people can respond without leaving your site. See Embed form on your website.