Triggers

A trigger is what kicks off a workflow run. Every workflow needs at least one. GCM ships about two dozen built-in triggers covering members, attendance, giving, forms, schedules, and external webhooks.

Trigger groups

Group	When it fires
Instant	Right when an event happens in the database (member created, donation recorded, etc.)
Scheduled	On a cron expression or one-off future date
Manual	When an admin manually starts the workflow

Instant triggers (member)

Trigger	Fires when
member.created	A new member record is saved
member.updated	Any field on a member changes
member.deleted	A member is soft-deleted
member.birthday	A member's date_of_birth matches today's date
member.marked_lost	lost_at is set on a member
member.recovered	lost_at is cleared on a previously-lost member
member.type_changed	The member type changes (e.g. Visitor → Member)
member.unit_assigned	A member is added to an org unit
member.unit_removed	A member is removed from an org unit
member.group_assigned	A member is added to a small group
member.group_removed	A member is removed from a small group
member.ministry_assigned	A member is added to a ministry
member.ministry_removed	A member is removed from a ministry
member.school_enrolled	A member starts a school program
member.school_graduated	A member completes a school program
member.school_removed	A member is removed from a school program
member.note_added	A note is added to a member's profile
member.tagged	A tag is added to a member

Instant triggers (attendance and giving)

Trigger	Fires when
attendance.marked	A member is checked in to a meeting
attendance.removed	An attendance row is deleted
giving.recorded	A donation is created (manual or online)
donation.refunded	A donation is refunded

Instant triggers (other)

Trigger	Fires when
event.created	A calendar event is created
form.submitted	A public form is submitted (e.g. visitor form)
webhook.received	An external system POSTs to your church's incoming-webhook URL

Scheduled triggers

Trigger	When
schedule	Recurring cron — e.g. every Monday 9 AM
schedule.once	A single future moment
scheduled_query	Periodic database query (e.g. nightly no attendance for 6 weeks check)

The schedule trigger uses standard cron syntax. We translate it to your church's timezone (set in Settings → Organization), so 0 9 * * 1 means "9 AM Monday in your church's local time."

Manual triggers

Trigger	When
manual	An admin clicks the run-now button
manual_enrollment	An admin enrolls one or more members directly

Useful for ad-hoc sends — e.g. a one-off "we have a service change tomorrow" message.

Trigger configuration

Most triggers have extra config:

• Filters — only fire when extra conditions hold. E.g. member.created where member type is Visitor.
• Org-unit scope — only fire for members in specific units.
• Membership type scope — only fire for visitors, members, leaders, etc.

These filters are evaluated before a run is enqueued — non-matching events skip the workflow without creating a run row.

Subject and tokens

Every trigger fires with a subject — usually the member the event concerns. That subject is available throughout the workflow as merge tokens:

• {{trigger.member.first_names}} — for a member trigger.
• {{trigger.donation.amount}} — for giving.recorded.
• {{trigger.attendance.meeting.name}} — for attendance.marked.

The token picker shows what's available based on the trigger you chose.

Multi-trigger workflows

A workflow can have multiple triggers that all funnel into the same action sequence. Common pattern:

• Welcome new arrivals with both member.created and member.recovered as triggers, both leading to a "welcome" send.

The two triggers connect to a trigger junction node which fans out into the shared actions.

Frequency safeguards

Some triggers fire a lot. member.updated will fire every time anyone touches any field. To avoid runaway workflows:

• Use trigger filters to narrow what's eligible (only when status changes).
• Use rate-limiting on the workflow level — at most N runs per member per day.
• Use idempotency keys on send-message actions so retries don't duplicate.

WARNING

The classic mistake: a workflow that updates a custom field on member.updated, causing an infinite loop. The builder warns you if you create this pattern; please pay attention to the warning.

Common questions

Can I trigger on a custom field change? Yes — use member.updated with a filter on the specific field key.

Why isn't my member.created workflow running for bulk-imported members? Bulk import skips workflow triggers by default to avoid messaging the world during migration. There's a checkbox on the import review screen to opt in.

Can a single event fire multiple workflows? Yes. Every workflow with a matching trigger fires independently. Order is not guaranteed.

Next steps

• Actions — what to do after the trigger.
• Multi-step & delays — sequencing.
• Monitoring runs — see what fired and why.