First impressions matter. A simple, consistent follow-up routine turns a one-time guest into a connected member. Here's a workflow you can set up in Gracely today.
1. Capture the visitor
Use a Visitor Welcome or Member Registration form (with Enable Member Creation turned on) so every guest who fills it out is automatically added to your People database. Map a question to the Email (Standard) field so repeat visitors update the same record instead of creating duplicates. See Creating a form that automatically adds new members.
Tip: If you collect cards on paper, you can still add visitors manually in People — the follow-up steps below work the same way.
2. Create a first-contact follow-up
Within a day or two of the visit, schedule the first touch:
Go to Calendar → Follow-Ups and click Create new.
Select the visitor (or several visitors at once).
Set Assign To — usually a pastor or your guest-services lead.
Choose a Type: Phone for a quick welcome call, Message for a text or email, or Visit for an in-person drop-by.
Set the Action to First-Time Visitor.
Set the Follow-Up Date and Follow-Up Time.
Add Notes with anything personal you learned (kids' names, interests, prayer needs).
Click Save.
Gracely will email the assigned person 1 day before and 1 hour before, so the touch actually happens.
3. Invite them into community
Once you've made contact, help the visitor take a next step:
Add them to a relevant Public group (a newcomers group, a small group, or a serving team). See How to add and remove people from groups.
Use the group's Mail or SMS buttons to send a warm welcome with details about meeting times. See How to Send Email or SMS to a Group.
4. Schedule a second follow-up
Connection rarely happens in one touch. Create a second follow-up a week or two out — for example a Phone call with the Action set to Pastoral Care or Event Invitation — to check in and invite them to something specific.
5. Close the loop
When a follow-up is done, open it from the Follow-Ups page and mark it as Done. Track Pending vs Completed items so your team can see at a glance who still needs a touch.
A simple cadence to copy
Day 1–2: First-Time Visitor follow-up (Phone or Message)
Week 1: Add to a Public group + send a welcome via Mail/SMS
Week 2: Pastoral Care or Event Invitation follow-up
Ongoing: Mark each follow-up Done and review Pending items weekly