Aligned Church
How to run the week with Aligned Church — your website, giving, people, check-in and follow-up — shown on the real workspace.
Getting started
Setting up your church, and how the workspace thinks.
- Find your way around your church workspaceWhere your modules live, how to change pages, search for anything, and get back to the chat.
- Get your church set up, step by stepUse the Getting set up checklist and “What's next?” to finish setup in the order that gets you running fastest.
- Message a real person on the Aligned teamMessage the Aligned team from inside your workspace, and what happens after you press send.
- What uses up a free request (and what doesn't)A guest workspace comes with 8 free requests. Here's what counts, what doesn't, and what happens when you try real work.
- Ask Aligned questions and have it do the workAsk how something works, have Aligned add people and events for you, open pages by asking, and attach files to the chat.
- Choose Aligned Giving or keep your current givingDecide how your church will give. It sets your price and how long you have to get set up, and nothing is charged today.
- Create your Aligned Church accountTurn your guest workspace into a free account with an email and a password, and keep everything you've tried.
- Follow a launch plan you were put in charge ofFor volunteers and staff: open your link, work the dated steps, print the kit and ask how something works. No login needed.
- Get a sermon or Bible study writtenAsk for a sermon, study or lesson in Aligned Church, and it opens in Aligned Leader with your words ready to send.
- Plan the Sunday you launch something newUse Go Live to pick a launch Sunday, name an owner, and get dated steps, a printed kit and messages already written.
- Set your church's brand color and logoPick your color and add your logo once, and your giving page, check-in screens and the other pages your people see all match.
- Sign in or reset your passwordSign in to Aligned Church from any browser, and get back in with a reset link if you've forgotten your password.
- Start Aligned Church if you already use Aligned LeaderOpen Aligned Church from Aligned Leader with the same account, and switch back any time. Your Leader chats and plan stay as they are.
- Switch your plan on so you can publish and sendPut a card on file to switch your plan on. Nothing is charged today, and publishing, sending and connecting open up.
- Try Aligned Church before you sign upWatch the demos on the welcome page, then open a free workspace of your own with no account and no card.
- Update your church's name, address and contact infoChange your church's name, tradition, lead pastor, campuses, service times, phone, email and links in one place.
- Use your church workspace on your phoneThe tabs along the bottom, the More sheet, and where Social, Research and Settings live on a phone.
Your website
Build it, edit it, and put it on your own address.
- Rebuild your current website on AlignedGive Aligned your current site's address and get a new site built from it, with your logo, colors, photos, pages, words and blog posts.
- Add a banner to the top of your sitePut a one-line announcement, like Christmas Eve service times or a closure, across the top of your site, above the menu.
- Add a page or change your menuAdd a new page with a plan Aligned proposes, and reorder, hide or delete the pages in your site's menu.
- Add giving to your Aligned websiteLink the giving page you use today so your site gets a Give button. Giving through Aligned? Your form appears on its own once you're approved.
- Add your photos to your websiteBring photos in from your computer, Google Drive, OneDrive or your website, place one exactly where you want it, or let Aligned fill the empty spots.
- Build a new church website from a short interviewAnswer eight quick questions, most of them taps, and Aligned builds a finished site around your answers that you can keep editing.
- Change your website by telling Aligned what you wantAsk for a warmer homepage, a new page or giving moved higher, see exactly what changed, and publish it when you're happy.
- Change your website's colors, fonts and lookPick a design, set your own colors, choose a hero layout and a headline font, and watch your site change as you click.
- Fix a typo, change a headline or move a sectionClick any words on your site to change them, move a section up or down, and add new sections from the Sections list.
- Fix a website build that won't start or saveWhat to do when your website draft won't save, the build won't start, or Aligned says a field can't be stored.
- List your staff, ministries, beliefs and FAQsAdd, edit and reorder the staff, ministries, events, FAQs, beliefs and testimonies your website shows.
- Publish your website and share itCheck your site on a phone, see what's ready, pick your address, go live, and share the link or QR code.
- Put your website on your own addressConnect yourchurch.org to your Aligned site: type your domain, add two records where you bought it, and Aligned makes it secure.
- Remove the “Powered by Aligned Church” creditSwitch off the small credit line at the bottom of your site's footer. It's free, and it stays off.
- See your website trafficCheck your site's visits, top pages and where people come from, or add your Google Analytics or Meta Pixel ID.
- Show your Planning Center events on your siteConnect Planning Center so your upcoming events fill your site by themselves, then hide or reword any single event.
- Undo a change or restore an earlier versionStep back your last edits with Undo, or preview and restore any earlier version of your site from Version history.
- Update service times and address on your siteChange your service times or address in one place, and your site and your church's record both use the new ones.
Giving
Receive gifts online, by text and on repeat — and report on them.
- Let people give with a textClaim a keyword on Aligned's shared giving number so your people can give by text message, with nothing to register.
- Print year-end giving statements for your donorsPrint every donor's giving statement for the year in one go, or open one donor's when they ask for it.
- Start receiving gifts onlineRegister your church for Aligned Giving on the Setup page or in the chat, and know what happens after you press the button.
- Add a building or missions fundCreate a fund donors can choose when they give, then rename it, retire it or make it your default whenever you need to.
- Announce online giving to your churchUse the Giving launch plan to pick your Sunday, have staff give first, and send the announcement with the slide and pew cards ready.
- Customize your giving pageChange the words, the amounts people tap and the funds they can pick, then see the page exactly the way donors do.
- Fill in your giving applicationWho signs for the church, your church's details, expected giving and the bank account, then one signature and you're in review.
- Find a gift or a donor's giving historySee what came in, find any one gift, and look up everything a donor has given, down to their manage link.
- Find out if your giving is approvedWhere your giving application stands, how long the bank's review takes, and what to do the moment you're approved.
- Fix a giving application that was sent backWhat to change when underwriting flags your giving application, how to resubmit it, and what a decline means.
- Get your giving into QuickBooks or XeroMatch each fund to an account in your books, then download each month's giving as one journal entry your app imports.
- Get your own text-to-give numberRegister a number that belongs only to your church, so people can give by text with no keyword and you can text your church from it too.
- Let your treasurer see givingMake a Treasurer role that opens Giving, reports and statements, without handing over the rest of your church's account.
- Put a Give button on your Squarespace, Wix or WordPress sitePaste one snippet into the website you already have, and it becomes a Give button that opens your giving page.
- Record Sunday's cash and checksStart a batch for each service, key in the plate gifts and checks, then post the whole count to your giving records at once.
- Refund a giftSend all or part of a donation back to the donor's card, right from the gift itself.
- Run giving reports and exportsGive your treasurer giving by fund, month or donor, and download every donation as a spreadsheet.
- See and manage recurring giftsSee who gives on a schedule, spot a card that has stopped working, and stop a recurring gift when a donor asks you to.
- Share your giving link and QR codeCopy your giving page's link and download its QR code for slides, bulletins, connect cards and emails.
- Take gifts on a lobby tabletSet a tablet up in the lobby so people can give before or after the service, one person after another.
- Understand giving fees (and let donors cover them)What each gift costs your church, and how to have “cover the fees” ticked for your donors by default.
People & groups
Your directory, households, groups and follow-up.
- Add people and group them into familiesAdd someone with a short form, add a whole family in one sentence, and group people into households.
- Archive or restore a personTake someone who moved away off your roster without deleting a thing, and bring them back if they return.
- Ask members to update their own infoEmail someone a link to check their own contact details, or copy the link to their member page and send it yourself.
- Change many people at onceTick the people you mean and set their status, add your church's wording, start a follow-up plan or archive them, all in one go.
- Collect and pray through prayer requestsGather requests from your website and your own notes in one inbox, approve them, and pray through the list one at a time.
- Export your people to a spreadsheetDownload your whole directory, group rosters, attendance or song usage as a spreadsheet, or just the list on your screen.
- Find someone in your directoryJump straight to anyone's profile from the find box, narrow your roster to visitors or members, or search the table.
- Follow up with every newcomerSet up a newcomer follow-up plan, put new people in it, and move each person through the steps until they're connected.
- Keep notes, reminders and files on a personLog a pastoral note, set a private reminder to call, follow someone's news, and attach a signed form to their profile.
- Let people join a group onlineShare a group's join link, list it on your website, announce it in your app, and place the people who ask to join.
- Make a list you can email or textBuild a saved list, like this fall's new visitors, that keeps itself up to date and is ready whenever you email or text.
- Merge duplicate peopleScan your directory for people who are in it twice, and combine each pair into one record.
- See how your church is doingGet the week at a glance, see members and visitors and who you can reach, and track goals like first-time guests each week.
- See where your families liveMap where your people live and find everyone near a family, for neighborhood groups, meal trains or a ride on Sunday.
- See who changed whatRead your church's change history (what was added, updated, archived or imported, by whom and when) for everyone or for one person.
- See who has a birthday this monthOne button on People lists who has a birthday this month, and you can save the list to send an email or a text.
- Start a small group and add peopleCreate a group, add its members from your directory in one go, and choose who leads it.
- Take small group attendanceTick off who came to group tonight, count your visitors, and save it, right from your phone.
- Track a benevolence or care needOpen a care case when someone needs help, log what your church does and gives, and close it when the need is met.
- Track baptisms, allergies and other detailsAdd your own fields, like a background check date, allergies or a T-shirt size, and check off milestones like baptism on anyone's profile.
- Update someone's details or statusFix a phone number or a name right in the People table, mark someone a member or a visitor, and add your church's own word for it.
Check-in
Kids and guests checked in safely on a Sunday.
- Check kids in safely on Sunday morningSet up a check-in station, open it on a lobby tablet, decide on guest check-in, and plan the Sunday you start.
- Check a family in without a kioskCheck people in from the welcome desk or the office, and hand the family their pickup code.
- Check kids out at pickupMatch the parent's security code, check the family out, and note who else is approved to pick up a child.
- Print name tags and choose a label printerPrint a name tag for each child and a pickup receipt at the check-in station, and know which printer and browser will work.
- See how attendance is trendingRead today's check-ins and the week-by-week trend, ask the chat how attendance is going, and download every check-in as a spreadsheet.
Forms, events & volunteers
Connect cards, sign-ups, prayer requests and serving.
- Add a prayer or plan-a-visit form to your siteSwitch on your website's built-in plan-a-visit and prayer forms, choose what they ask, or place a form you built on any page.
- Add an event to your calendarPut a one-time or repeating event on your church calendar, then edit it, cancel it, add a photo or book a room.
- Get a permission slip signed onlineWrite a permission slip or waiver once, email it to a parent to sign on their phone, and see when it's signed.
- Make a digital connect cardBuild a connect card or sign-up form, share its link, and close or delete it when you're done collecting.
- Plan your order of service and songsBuild Sunday's run sheet from last week's, print it for the team, and keep a song library whose chords change key on the spot.
- Require a background check before someone servesRecord each volunteer's background check date, require a current one on a team, and see who isn't cleared yet.
- Schedule volunteers for SundaySet up serving teams, ask people to serve on a date, see who confirmed, and plan around the weeks people are away.
- See who filled out your formsGet an email for every response, review what came in, add people to your directory, and find your website's plan-a-visit and prayer responses.
- See who signed up for an eventSee everyone registered for an event, with their party and answers, move someone up from the waitlist, and download the list.
- Show your calendar on your website or phonePut events on your Aligned website, share one event's page, and subscribe to the church calendar in Google, Apple or Outlook.
- Take registrations for an eventOpen a signup with a spot limit and your own questions, share its link, and close or reopen registration any time.
Texting & email
Reach your people where they actually read.
- Check that your email went out and read repliesSee how many people each email reached and how many were skipped, and read email that arrives at your church's Aligned address.
- Choose where your church email comes fromSend church email from your own address on aligned.church, turned on in one tap, or from your church's Gmail or Outlook.
- Email the whole church or one listWrite an email, see exactly who will get it and who's left out, then send it.
- Fix a texting registration that's on hold or sent backWhen your texting registration is on hold or the carriers send it back, fix the one thing named and resubmit. Your other answers are saved.
- Get your church's texting number approvedRegister your church's own texting number with the phone carriers once, in chat or on a form, and follow it to approval.
- Handle STOP replies and texting consentWhat happens when someone texts STOP to your church's number, how they opt back in, and which part of consent stays your church's job.
- Schedule an email for laterWrite an email now, pick the day and time it goes out, or cancel a scheduled one before it sends.
- See replies to your textsRead what people texted back to your church's number, and find out who sent a reply.
- Send a push notification to your church appSend a short announcement to your team: everyone on it who turned on notifications in the Aligned app or their browser.
- Text your whole church or one groupSend a text from your church's own number to everyone, one list or one group, once your number is approved.
Automations
Follow-up that happens even on your busiest week.
- Build your own automationSet up your own “when this happens, do that”, by hand or by describing it, including team chat posts and webhooks from other apps.
- Change, pause or delete an automationEdit what an automation says or does, pause it for a season, or delete it for good.
- Check whether an automation ranSee what your automations did today, what they skipped and why, and what to fix when one didn't fire.
- Connect Planning Center, Breeze or your giving platformConnect the apps your church already uses, disconnect one, or ask about an app that isn't in the list.
- Put follow-up on autopilotStart from a ready-made recipe, like a welcome text or a prayer alert, and turn on your first automation.
- Send birthday texts automaticallyTurn on the birthday recipe so everyone gets a happy-birthday text from your church on their day.
- Test an automation before it goes liveSee who an automation would have caught last week, watch what it would do, and send its email or text to yourself before you turn it on.
- Text first-time visitors automaticallySend every first-time guest a welcome text the first time they check in at one of your stations.
Moving from another system
Bring your people and giving history with you.
- Bring your people over from your old systemConnect Planning Center, Breeze, Elvanto or Church Community Builder and bring your people across, with their families, groups and events, approving every change.
- Bring over donors and giving historyImport donors and past gifts from Planning Center, Breeze, Donorbox, Givebutter or any platform's export file. They arrive as records, and no money moves.
- Bring over Planning Center lists and workflowsImport your Planning Center lists with the same people on them, and rebuild your follow-up workflows as automations that wait for your OK.
- Import people from a spreadsheetUpload a CSV of your members from any system or spreadsheet, match its columns once, and bring everyone in without duplicates.
- Move donors' saved cards and recurring giftsChoose Full Carryover and send one short request. The Aligned team moves your donors' saved cards and schedules, so nobody has to set their gift up again.
- Move your giving from Tithe.ly, Pushpay or another platformChoose Fresh Start or Full Carryover, and see what happens to your donors, their history and their recurring gifts.
- Pull your old website's details inScan your current website to bring your service times, address, story, staff, ministries and photos across, and see all of it before anything lands.
- Switch your giving to Aligned Giving to pay $0Kept your own giving platform? Set up Aligned Giving, bring your donors along, and your Aligned Church plan drops to $0.
- Tell donors about the moveEmail your donors a branded invite, see who has moved their recurring gift, nudge the rest, and know when to cancel the old platform.
- Undo an import or fix one that failedRoll back your most recent import by asking the Manage chat, or fix an app that says it couldn't read part of your old system.
Team, plan & billing
Staff seats, roles, your plan and what it costs.
- Understand what Aligned Church costsThe price of each module, when it's all $0, how long your free window runs, and where to see exactly what your church pays.
- Add or drop a moduleChange which modules are on your plan from Settings, see the new monthly total before you save, or add one you skipped.
- Cancel Aligned Church (and what happens to your work)Stop your plan from Settings in a minute, what cancelling does and doesn't do, and how to start again later.
- Choose what each staff member can see and doGive someone just the website, just your people, or more, with roles you can edit, and change what they can open any time.
- Delete your Aligned Church accountDelete your account from Aligned Leader's Settings, see exactly what goes with it first, and when your Aligned Church plan is cancelled before anything is deleted.
- Find your Aligned Church billing receiptsWhere Aligned Church receipts go, what the charge is called on your card statement, and who to ask for a copy.
- Get more time to set up givingUse the one-time 30-day extension from the email we send before any first charge, and check your new date.
- Invite your staff to your church workspaceInvite your secretary or staff by email, copy the invite link if the email goes astray, or cancel an invite you no longer need.
- Join your church's workspace from an inviteFor staff: accept your invitation, make your login with the right email, and what to do if it keeps asking you to get set up.
- Keep sensitive information privateChoose what each role can open, mark fields sensitive and care cases confidential, and know what to do when someone asks to be removed.
- Keep your church's files where your team can find themUpload bylaws, budgets and handbooks to Files, sort them into folders, and hand any of them to Aligned in the chat.
- Message your staff in team chatPost to your whole staff, make channels for smaller teams, and hand a request from the chat to Aligned with one tap.
- Update your billing card or fix a declined paymentChange the card your Aligned Church plan bills to, or sort out a charge that didn't go through, with a person who handles it for you.
For your members & givers
Share these with your congregation.
- Cancel your recurring giftStop a recurring gift yourself from Your giving, or skip or pause it if you only need a break.
- Give online to your churchGive a one-time gift on your church's giving page, whether you reach it from a link, a QR code, its website or the lobby tablet.
- Add your church's calendar to your phoneSubscribe to your church's calendar link so its events show up, and stay up to date, in your phone's calendar.
- Change, skip or pause your recurring giftChange the amount or how often, skip one gift, or take a break until a date you pick, all from Your giving.
- Check your kids in on SundayFind your family on the check-in screen, tap who's here, and get the security code you'll show at pickup.
- Download your giving statement for taxesOpen Your giving, pick a year, and print or save the statement your tax preparer asks for.
- Fill out a form from your churchComplete a connect card, interest form or survey your church sent you, with no account needed.
- Find service times, sermons and eventsUse your church's website to find service times and directions, catch up on a sermon, and see what's coming up.
- Get your church's app on your phoneInstall your church's app from the App Store or Google Play, or keep its website on your home screen like an app.
- Give with a text messageText your church's keyword, reply with an amount, finish on the giving page the first time, and answer YES after that.
- Join a small groupAsk to join a group from its link or your church's website, and a leader follows up with you.
- Keep your gift going after your church switchesFinish setting up the recurring gift your church brought over, or confirm the card that moved with it.
- New here? Add your family at check-inAdd your family at the check-in screen on your first visit, then check your kids in with one more tap.
- Pick up your kids after churchType the security code from check-in to check your children out. Everyone who shares it goes together.
- Plan a visit or send a prayer requestUse your church website's short forms to say you're coming, share a prayer request, or ask a question.
- Say yes or no to serving this SundayAnswer the serving request your church emailed you with one tap, and change your answer if plans change.
- Set up a monthly giftGive on repeat (weekly, monthly, every three months or yearly), starting today or on a date you pick.
- Sign a document your church sentOpen the signing link, read the document, and sign by typing your name, with no account and no printer.
- Sign in to give faster next timeSign in with a code so your details and saved card are ready, and sign out on a shared phone or computer.
- Sign up for an eventReserve spots for yourself and your family at a church event, or join the waitlist when it's full.
- Stop texts or emails from your churchReply STOP to your church's texts or unsubscribe from its emails, and start them again if you change your mind.
- Update the card you give withPut a new card on your recurring gift, or fix a gift that didn't go through, from Your giving.
- Update your contact info with your churchChange your phone, email or address from your church's link, and see your church life in one place on your member hub.
Social media & getting found
Posts, scheduling, search and your church app.