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Planning Center Overview

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Key Features

• People Management: Comprehensive contact and member profiles with detailed information
• Giving Management: Advanced donation tracking and fund management
• Batch Processing: Organized donation batches for accounting and reporting
• Fund Designations: Detailed fund categories and designation tracking
• Recurring Gifts: Automated recurring donation management
• Communication Integration: Contact information synchronization for unified communications
• Reporting & Analytics: Comprehensive giving analytics and donor insights

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Integration with WeGive

• Bidirectional Data Sync: Real-time and batch synchronization between both platforms
• Dual Authentication: Support for both OAuth 2.0 and legacy authentication methods
• Automatic Donor Management: Seamless contact creation and updates
• Transaction Batch Processing: Organized gift import with proper accounting structure
• Fund Synchronization: Consistent fund structures across platforms
• Recurring Gift Management: Automated recurring donation tracking
• Comprehensive Logging: Complete audit trail of all integration activities

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Planning Center Services

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People (Contact Management)

• Contact Records: Individual and family contact information
• Communication Details: Email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses
• Family Relationships: Household and family member connections
• Contact Notes: Additional information and communication history

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Giving (Donation Management)

• Donations: Individual gift records with payment details
• Batches: Organized groups of donations for accounting purposes
• Funds: Giving categories and designation options
• Payment Sources: Payment method tracking and management
• Designations: Fund allocation for split gifts
• Recurring Gifts: Scheduled donation management

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Authentication Methods

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OAuth 2.0 (Recommended)

• Secure Authentication: Industry-standard OAuth 2.0 flow
• Automatic Token Refresh: Seamless token management
• Granular Permissions: Specific scope permissions (‘people giving’)
• Enhanced Security: No need to store sensitive credentials

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Legacy Authentication

• App ID/Secret: Basic authentication using application credentials
• Direct API Access: Simple credential-based authentication
• Backward Compatibility: Support for existing implementations

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Getting Started

1. Review the Setup Requirements
2. Configure your Integration Settings
3. Understand the Integration Nuances
4. Review the Data Mapping documentation

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Core Objects

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People Module Objects

• Person: Individual contact records with personal information
• Email: Email address records linked to people
• PhoneNumber: Phone number records with type designations
• Address: Physical address information for contacts

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Giving Module Objects

• Donation: Individual gift records with amount and date
• Batch: Organized groups of donations for processing
• Fund: Giving categories and designation options
• PaymentSource: Payment method information
• Designation: Fund allocation details for gifts
• RecurringGift: Scheduled donation arrangements

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Integration Architecture

• Planning Center API v2: RESTful API for both People and Giving modules
• Rate Limiting: Respectful API usage (70 requests per 20 seconds)
• Batch Processing: Daily scheduled batch jobs for efficient processing
• Real-time Sync: Immediate synchronization for critical updates
• Error Recovery: Automatic retry logic and comprehensive error handling
• Transaction Batching: Organized gift import with rollback capabilities

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Batch Processing Features

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WeGive Import Batches

• Automatic Batch Creation: Daily batches organized by date
• Batch Commitment: Automatic processing after successful import
• Rollback Capability: Error recovery with transaction rollback
• Audit Trail: Complete tracking of batch processing

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Scheduled Operations

• Daily Sync: Automated daily synchronization at 8:01 AM
• Incremental Updates: Efficient processing of new and changed data
• Missing Batch Recovery: Automatic detection and creation of missing batches
• Performance Optimization: Intelligent batching for large data volumes

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Best Practices

• Authentication Choice: Use OAuth 2.0 for new implementations
• Data Quality: Maintain clean, consistent data across both platforms
• Batch Monitoring: Review daily batch processing for any issues
• Fund Management: Ensure proper fund setup and default fund configuration
• Regular Monitoring: Review integration logs for any sync issues
• Test Thoroughly: Always test configuration changes in a safe environment

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Data Flow Considerations

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Fund Assignment Logic

• Specific Funds: Use designated funds when specified
• Default Fund: Fallback to configured default fund when needed
• Fund Creation: Automatic fund creation for missing designations
• Hidden Fund Handling: Proper management of inactive or hidden funds

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Contact Management

• Duplicate Prevention: Smart matching to prevent duplicate contacts
• Contact Information: Complete synchronization of emails, phones, and addresses
• Family Relationships: Coordination with household structures
• Contact Updates: Bidirectional updates for contact information changes

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Performance and Scalability

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API Rate Limiting

• Respectful Usage: Automatic rate limiting compliance
• Batch Optimization: Efficient use of API calls through batching
• Retry Logic: Intelligent retry with exponential backoff
• Performance Monitoring: Real-time tracking of API usage

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Large Data Handling

• Incremental Sync: Process only changed data when possible
• Batch Processing: Organize large operations into manageable batches
• Background Jobs: Use queue system for time-intensive operations
• Progress Tracking: Monitor sync progress for large datasets

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Support and Resources

• Planning Center API Documentation
• Planning Center Support
• WeGive Support: [email protected]