Planning Center Updates: What’s new this Summer 2025?

Planning Center is always innovating and pushing their suite of products forward, often based on your feedback and requests. This summer's updates involve various aspects, from improved processes in People to major updates in Giving. PCO also released a highly requested feature on emails inside of People! Grab your favorite ice cream and let’s jump into what’s new in Planning Center!

Streamlined List Management: Delete Function Now More Accessible

Managing multiple lists just got easier with a small but impactful update to PCO People. Previously, users who needed to delete lists had to navigate through several clicks, drilling down into each individual list to access the delete function. This process became particularly inconvenient for users who frequently create one-off lists or need to perform bulk cleanup operations, as those extra clicks quickly accumulated into a time-consuming task. (Read more here)​

The People team has now addressed this friction point by adding a delete icon directly to the main lists page, positioned alongside the existing duplicate and edit icons. This enhancement allows users to remove unwanted lists with a single click right from the overview screen, eliminating the need to open each list individually. While it may seem like a minor change, this improvement significantly streamlines the list management workflow, especially for users who regularly maintain and organize their list collections.

New CSV Export Feature in Groups Simplifies Multi-Group Event Attendance Reporting

Church administrators often struggle with tracking and analyzing event attendance across multiple groups, making it difficult to identify which groups need support due to low attendance or which high-performing groups could share best practices. Previously, combining attendance data with other church information for presentations and reports was cumbersome due to limited data access. To address these challenges, a new CSV export feature has been launched for multi-group event attendance reporting, giving admins streamlined access to comprehensive group event data. (Read more here)​

Profile Information Gets More Intuitive Organization in People Lists

The PCO people team have heard from many admins on profile organization in lists, particularly how essential contact information, demographics, and membership details were buried under a "Personal" condition option rather than being easily accessible alongside other key profile data like names and photos. This placement made critical information hard to locate, creating inefficiencies in daily administrative tasks and profile management workflows. (Read more here)​

In response to this feedback, PCO has eliminated the "Personal" section entirely, moving all its conditions to the top level where they belong with other primary profile information. The update also includes improved organization through the addition of helpful labels and logical grouping of similar conditions to enhance discoverability. Additionally, two conditions received clearer naming: "Authorized Application" is now called "Mobile & third-party app usage," and "Applications" has been renamed to "Planning Center access," making their purposes immediately apparent to users navigating profile settings. Additionally, rather than scrolling, you can type to search for the category you are looking for within this menu.

New Dashboard Widgets in the Home Dashboard Enhance Information Sharing and Organization

The Home dashboard has been enhanced with two powerful new widgets designed to improve information management and team collaboration. The Notepad widget allows users to jot down important notes directly on their dashboard, while the Quick Links widget provides easy access to essential pages and resources both within and outside the platform. These widgets can be added to any Home dashboard by selecting Home as the product and choosing from the new widget options. (Read more here)​

While both widgets can be useful on your personal dashboard, they truly excel when used on shareable dashboards, opening exciting possibilities for team collaboration. Event coordinators can create dedicated dashboards for large events, using the Notepad widget to store vendor lists and contact information in one accessible location. Ministry teams can establish centralized hubs by utilizing Quick Links to direct members to crucial resources and pages, ensuring everyone stays aligned and focused on key priorities. By combining these information-sharing capabilities with existing dashboard widgets, it allows teams to stay aligned and focused on what matters.

New archive feature and email formatting updates for workflows

Admins have long faced a dilemma when dealing with outdated workflows that still contain valuable historical data and notes they want to preserve. Previously, there was no convenient way to remove these workflows from active view without completely deleting them and losing all associated card data in the process. The only workaround available was the cumbersome practice of adding prefixes like "ZZZ-" to workflow names, forcing them to appear at the bottom of the workflow list while keeping the important historical information intact. That’s not the case any longer! We can now archive workflows! (Read more here)​

Workflow card emails have been upgraded to include the same convenient features we enjoy, now supporting rich text formatting options and the ability to utilize email templates, bringing significant time-saving capabilities to communication within workflows. (Read more here)​

Changed: Dedicated 10-digit numbers now required for Text2give in Giving

Mobile carriers have implemented new regulations that discontinue support for shared short codes and require enhanced security measures for text-based donations, prompting significant updates to the Text2Give program. The previous system using shared short code 84321 allowed multiple organizations to send messages from the same number, which unfortunately led to spam complaints, misuse by bad actors, and reduced SMS deliverability. To ensure compliance with these carrier requirements and improve overall security and reliability, all churches using Text2Give must transition to a new system before June 2, 2025.

The update introduces three key changes: churches must register a dedicated 10-digit phone number ($5 monthly fee), donors must include the keyword "GIVE" followed by the donation amount, and all donations now require confirmation through a secure web link. While existing fund keywords will continue working and other donation methods remain unaffected, the REFUND keyword is no longer supported, requiring donors to contact their church directly for refund requests. Churches can register their dedicated numbers through Account Settings and will receive comprehensive communication tools including customizable templates, QR codes, and donor lists to help facilitate a smooth transition for their congregations. (Read more here)​

Services update! Turn Pages in Music Stand with a Wink, Nod, or Smile

Musicians can now focus entirely on worshipping without worrying about page turns, thanks to the new Facial Gesture Detection feature in Music Stand. This innovative hands-free system allows musicians to flip pages using natural facial expressions—whether their hands are occupied with a piano, guitar, or microphone. The feature offers three gesture options: mouth movements, head twists, or winks, each working in both left and right directions to navigate forward or backward through music charts without any physical contact with the device.

The system is designed for flexibility and ease of use, with customizable sensitivity settings and a built-in preview mode that lets musicians test and fine-tune their gestures before using in a service. Users can access the feature through Music Stand settings under the Control section, where they can enable facial gestures, adjust sensitivity levels, and practice using the gesture preview tool. The feature works best on devices with front-facing camera support, though some older iPads may have limited compatibility. Musicians who prefer traditional methods can still use foot pedals and swipe gestures, giving them complete control over how they interact with their digital music library. (Read more here)​

Custom email senders or in other words send emails on behalf of someone else!

Finally! A highly requested feature is being introduced: the ability to send emails in PCO People with custom senders. With this change, admins can now choose a custom name and reply-to email address to send on behalf of someone else or ministry. (Read more here)​

Stay Informed

We invite you to explore the latest features and enhancements in your Planning Center account. For detailed information on each update, visit the official Planning Center What’s New page and browse the support documentation on their website. We’ll continue providing quarterly updates to keep you in the loop.

Sam Fahl

Client Success Specialist, Threefold Solutions

P.S. We assist with coaching, training, strategy, and support.

#1: Need help with implementation? Reach out to us at info@threefold.solutions or contact us here.

#2: Want to learn more? Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

#3: Stay in the know with our weekly newsletter, The Fold. Each week we discuss topics on church growth and management, volunteer and staff engagement, leadership development, and more.