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Notifications

ChurchCRM sends several types of notifications — to administrators, to members, and to parents at kiosk check-in. This page explains each notification type and how to configure it.

System Notifications (Banners)​

ChurchCRM periodically checks for important system announcements (e.g., security advisories, new release notices) and displays them as a dismissible banner at the top of every admin page.

  • Banners appear once per session after a new notice is fetched
  • Each notice can be dismissed per user — it won't reappear for that user after dismissal
  • Version matching supports wildcards (7.1.*, 7.*) so notices apply to a range of versions
  • Notices are fetched from a public feed; no account or API key is required

No configuration is needed. To suppress a notice, click Dismiss in the banner.

Email Notifications​

ChurchCRM sends transactional email for specific events. Email delivery requires a working Email Setup configuration.

TriggerRecipientsNotes
New user account createdThe new userIncludes temporary password if set
Password reset requestedThe userContains a reset link
Kiosk parent alertParent email on recordSent when a child is checked out (if configured)
Event reminderEvent attendeesMust be triggered manually from the Events page
Volunteer scheduling and remindersVolunteers, team leaders and ministry coordinatorsSent by Volunteer Management (v2). Queued when the action happens and delivered by the background jobs — see below

Volunteer email needs the background jobs​

Volunteer Management v2 never sends email at the moment you click: assignment messages, reminders and coordinator alerts are queued and delivered by ChurchCRM's background jobs, which also top up the volunteer schedules once a day. Run the scheduled-task runner from cron every 15 minutes (0,15,30,45 * * * * /usr/bin/php /path/to/churchcrm/cli/timerjobs.php; the exact line is shown on Admin → Ministry Settings). Without cron the jobs run on page loads at most every 15 minutes, so reminders can be late. Run background jobs now on Ministry Settings delivers the queue immediately, and the same page shows how many messages are queued, how many failed after five attempts, and when the jobs last ran. The messages themselves are listed on Volunteer email and reminders.

Configuring email​

Open Communication → Email and click Email Settings. SMTP Host is one field. Encryption is None, TLS, or SSL. The copy address is Copy Church Email. See Email Setup.

Kiosk Parent Alerts​

When a child is checked out at a kiosk station, ChurchCRM can send an email or SMS to the parent or guardian on record.

Email alerts​

Email alerts are sent automatically if:

  1. The child's parent has an email address on record
  2. The kiosk is configured to send checkout notifications (in kiosk settings)

SMS alerts (Vonage plugin)​

SMS checkout alerts require the Vonage SMS plugin:

  1. Go to Admin → Plugins and enable the Vonage SMS plugin
  2. Enter your Vonage API key and API secret in the plugin settings
  3. In kiosk settings, set Checkout notification method to SMS

Once configured, parents receive an SMS when their child is checked out.

OpenLP Integration (Notifications → Worship)​

The OpenLP plugin allows ChurchCRM to push data (member names for announcements, attendance counts) to an OpenLP worship software instance running on the same network.

  1. Go to Admin → Plugins and enable the OpenLP plugin
  2. Enter the OpenLP host, port, and authentication credentials
  3. Use the Send to OpenLP button on any list or attendance page to push the data

Google Analytics (GA4)​

ChurchCRM includes GA4 event tracking on authentication pages (login, 2FA, password reset). No notification is sent to users — this is server-side analytics reporting to your GA4 property.

To configure:

  1. Enable the Google Analytics plugin under Admin → Plugins
  2. Enter your GA4 Measurement ID in the plugin settings

Can't find what you need? Ask in Discord, or open an issue on the ChurchCRM repository.