Conversations Report: Know When Your Chatbot Ministry Needs Follow-Up

When someone texts PRAYER to your church number, a conversation begins. The chatbot guides them through a few questions, collects their request, and perhaps offers to connect them with a pastor. But how do you know if those conversations are actually being completed? Are people falling through the cracks? Which chatbots are performing well, and which ones might need attention? Without the right analytics, you’re left guessing. A few abandoned conversations here and there might seem normal, but over time they add up. Someone who asked for prayer and never heard back. A first-time visitor who texted for more info and went silent. These are pastoral care moments that deserve a second look.

Why Chatbot Performance Matters

Your church’s chatbots handle everything from prayer requests and salvation decisions to baptism sign-ups and first-visit connections. Each conversation is a ministry touchpoint. The Conversations Report gives you a complete picture of how those touchpoints are performing: completion rates per chatbot, an open conversation queue showing who’s waiting, stale detection for conversations that have been open too long, and at-risk tracking for people who may need extra pastoral care. You can see which chatbots are finishing strong and which ones are losing people mid-flow. You can spot conversations that have been open for a week or more and may have been followed up externally—or forgotten.

Stale conversations are those open 7 or more days without resolution. They may indicate a pastor followed up by phone and the chatbot thread was never closed, or they may mean someone was left waiting. The report flags them with visual indicators so you can decide whether to close them or take pastoral action. At-risk tracking surfaces people in open conversations who are flagged by your Stewardship Care system—long-time donors who haven’t given recently, or engaged members whose activity has dropped. When such a person appears in the queue, their risk tier (Priority Care, Personal Outreach, or Gentle Check-in) helps you prioritize which conversations deserve immediate pastoral attention.

Multi-Campus Awareness

For churches with multiple campuses, the report includes a campus filter. You can view aggregate data across all locations or focus on a specific campus. Campus filtering affects the Chatbot Performance cards, completion funnel, open queue, day-of-week analysis, and prior period comparison. Use it to compare performance across locations or to focus follow-up efforts where they’re needed most.

In this article, we’ll overview the OnlineGiving.org Conversations Report feature.

Conversations Report User Guide:

The Conversations Report at /admin/textmessagingreports/conversations provides chatbot conversation analytics for your text ministry. It shows per-chatbot performance metrics, completion rates, an open conversation queue with status labels (Open or Stale), stale and at-risk detection, prior period comparison, day-of-week activity, average days open, platform distribution, and AI-powered pastoral insights. Access requires the Text Marketing plan and a courtesy number. Users with Donor Admin or Text Marketing Admin role can view the report. This is the Reports version of conversations (analytics)—not the admin conversations management page at /admin/chatbot/conversations, which is used to view and manage individual conversation threads.

Key Takeaways

• Chatbot Performance Cards: Per-chatbot metrics showing period conversations, completed count, completion rate, and current open count with clickable links to filter the report.
• Open Conversation Queue: Paginated list of currently open conversations with days open, status labels (Open or Stale), engagement score, at-risk tier, and lifetime giving in CSV export.
• Stale Detection: Conversations open 7+ days without resolution are flagged as “Stale” with visual indicators and may need pastoral follow-up.
• At-Risk Tracking: People in open conversations flagged by the Stewardship Care system appear with risk tier labels for prioritization.
• Prior Period Comparison: Compare conversation volume and completion rate to the previous equivalent period.
• Day of Week Analysis: Which days see the most conversation activity, with peak day highlighted.
• AI Conversation Insights: GPT-powered analysis of patterns, stale alerts, and pastoral recommendations.
• CSV Export & Email Scheduling: Export open queue data as CSV (Phone, Chatbot, Started, Days Open, Status, Engagement, Risk Tier, Lifetime Giving) and schedule automated report delivery.

Table of Contents

1. Report Overview
   • How to Access the Report
   • Plan and Role Requirements
   • Reports vs. Conversations Management
2. Filters and Sorting
   • Date Range
   • Chatbot Filter
   • Status Filter
   • Campus Filter
   • Sort and Pagination
3. At-a-Glance Metric Cards
4. Chatbot Performance Cards
5. Completion Funnel and Platform Distribution
6. Prior Period Comparison
7. Day of Week Analysis
8. Conversation Health Summary
9. Open Conversation Queue
   • Status Labels (Open vs. Stale)
   • Engagement Score and Risk Tier
10. Stale and At-Risk Detection
    • What Does Stale Mean?
    • How Are At-Risk Conversations Identified?
11. Multi-Campus Filtering
12. AI Conversation Insights
13. CSV Export and Email Scheduling
    • CSV Export
    • Email Scheduling
14. Frequently Asked Questions

Report Overview

How to Access the Report

To open the Conversations Report:

1. Log in to the control panel.
2. Click “Text Marketing” in the left navigation menu.
3. Click “Reports”.
4. Click “Conversations” (or navigate directly to /admin/textmessagingreports/conversations).

Plan and Role Requirements

Access to the Conversations Report requires the Text Marketing plan and a courtesy number. Users must have the role Text Marketing Admin or Donor Admin. If you do not see the report, verify your plan and role with your domain administrator.

Reports vs. Conversations Management

The Conversations Report at /admin/textmessagingreports/conversations is an analytics report. It shows aggregate metrics, completion rates, and the open conversation queue. Use it to understand chatbot performance and identify conversations that need follow-up. The Conversations link under Text Marketing (at /admin/chatbot/conversations) is the conversations management page. Use that to view, search, and manage individual conversation threads. Both pages link to each other where appropriate—for example, clicking a phone number in the report opens the full conversation in the management view.

Filters and Sorting

The report includes a persistent filter bar at the top. Use it to narrow results by date range, chatbot, status, and campus. Quick range segments (Current, Last Week, Last Month, Last 90 Days, Last Year, Year to Date) provide one-click date changes. Click “Run Report” to apply your selections.

Date Range

Use the date range picker to select a custom start and end date. Preset ranges are also available: Current (this month), Last Week (previous Monday through Sunday), Last Month (previous calendar month), Last 90 Days (rolling 90-day window), Last Year (previous calendar year), and Year to Date (January 1 through today). The report defaults to the current month when no range is specified.

Chatbot Filter

Filter by a specific chatbot or “All Chatbots”. Selecting a chatbot narrows the Chatbot Performance table, completion funnel, and open queue to that chatbot only. Use this when you want to analyze performance for a single chatbot, such as your prayer request or salvation decision flow.

Status Filter

Filter the open conversation queue by All, Open Only, or Stale (7+ days). Open Only shows conversations that have been open less than 7 days. Stale shows conversations that have been open 7 or more days without resolution. Use Stale when you want to focus on conversations that may need pastoral follow-up.

Campus Filter

For multi-campus organizations, a campus dropdown appears in the filter bar. Select “All Campuses” to see data across all campuses, or choose a specific campus to filter the report. Campus filtering affects the Chatbot Performance table, completion funnel, open queue, day-of-week analysis, and prior period comparison.

Sort and Pagination

The open conversation queue supports sorting by clicking column headers. Default sort is by Days Open (highest first). You can also sort by Started, Chatbot, or Phone. The table paginates at 25 rows per page with Previous/Next navigation.

At-a-Glance Metric Cards

Four metric cards appear at the top of the report:

• Total Conversations: Total conversations initiated in the selected period, with percentage change vs. prior period.
• Completion Rate: Percentage of conversations that completed the chatbot flow vs. abandoned. Includes change vs. prior period.
• Open Queue: Number of currently open (in-progress) conversations, with average days open.
• Stale Conversations: Number of open conversations that have been open 7+ days without resolution. Highlighted in amber when greater than zero.

Each card includes a trend indicator (up/down) with percentage change vs. the prior period where applicable. Use these cards to quickly assess whether your chatbot ministry is improving or needs attention.

Chatbot Performance Cards

The Chatbot Performance table ranks your chatbots by conversation volume. Each row shows:

Use this table to identify which chatbots are performing well and which may need flow improvements or follow-up attention.

Completion Funnel and Platform Distribution

The Conversation Funnel shows how conversations flow from start to finish: Started (total initiated), Completed (successfully finished), Open (currently in progress), and Abandoned (expired or left incomplete). Completion and abandonment percentages appear at the bottom. Use this to understand how many people complete your chatbot flows versus drop off.

The Platform Distribution section shows where conversations happen: SMS, web chat, or other platforms. Each platform displays a count and percentage share. Use this to understand whether your congregation prefers texting or web-based chat.

Prior Period Comparison

The report compares current-period metrics to the previous period of equal length. For example, if you select Last Month (March 1–31), the prior period is February 1–28 (or 29 in a leap year). The metric cards show percentage change for Total Conversations and Completion Rate. The Conversation Health Summary includes the prior period’s total conversations and completion rate. Use this comparison to answer questions like: “Are we receiving more chatbot conversations than last month?” “Is our completion rate improving?” “Are we resolving conversations faster?”

Day of Week Analysis

A horizontal bar chart shows which days of the week see the most conversation activity. The peak day is highlighted with a teal gradient. Each row displays the day abbreviation, proportional bar, and count. Use this to understand when your congregation is most likely to text in and when to expect higher chatbot volume.

For example, if Sunday shows the highest volume, your church is likely receiving most chatbot conversations during or after services. If Wednesday evening is strong, you may be seeing midweek engagement. Align your follow-up staffing with these patterns.

Conversation Health Summary

A compact stat row appears below the day-of-week chart with four summary metrics:

• Avg Days Open: Average number of days open conversations have been waiting. Color-coded: red when >7 days, amber when >3 days.
• At-Risk People: Number of people in open conversations who are flagged by the Stewardship Care system.
• Active Chatbots: Number of chatbots with conversations in the period.
• Prior Period: Total conversations and completion rate from the previous equivalent period.

Use this summary to quickly gauge conversation health before diving into the open queue.

Open Conversation Queue

The Open Conversation Queue is a table of all currently open (in-progress) conversations. Each row represents one conversation that has not yet been completed. Columns include:

• Phone: Formatted phone number. Click to open the full conversation in the conversations management view, or the user profile if the person is in your system.
• Chatbot: Which chatbot flow the person started.
• Started: Date the conversation began.
• Days Open: Number of days the conversation has been open. Stale conversations (7+ days) are highlighted in red.
• Status: Open (active, <7 days) or Stale (7+ days without resolution).
• Platform: SMS, web, or other.
• Engagement: Engagement score (0–100) if the person is in your system. Color-coded: green for 70+, amber for 40–69, red for <40.
• Risk: At-risk tier (Priority, Outreach, Check-in) if the person is flagged by the Stewardship Care system.

When any conversation is stale, a yellow warning banner appears above the table summarizing how many stale conversations exist and how many are from at-risk individuals.

Status Labels (Open vs. Stale)

Open means the conversation has been active for less than 7 days. These are typically in-progress conversations that may still be resolved by the chatbot or by staff. Stale means the conversation has been open 7 or more days without resolution. Stale conversations may have been followed up externally (e.g., a pastor called the person) or may have been forgotten. The report flags them so you can decide whether to close them or take pastoral action.

Engagement Score and Risk Tier

The Engagement column shows a 0–100 score for people who are in your donor/user system. Higher scores indicate stronger engagement (giving, form submissions, text activity). Lower scores may indicate someone who is disengaging. The Risk column shows at-risk tier labels (Priority, Outreach, Check-in) for people flagged by the Stewardship Care system. These individuals may be long-time donors who haven’t given recently, or engaged members whose activity has dropped. Use these columns to prioritize pastoral follow-up.

Stale and At-Risk Detection

What Does Stale Mean?

A conversation is marked Stale when it has been open for 7 or more days without being completed or closed. Stale conversations may indicate that the person was followed up externally (e.g., a pastor reached out by phone) and the chatbot thread was never formally closed. They may also indicate conversations that were abandoned and never resolved. The report surfaces stale conversations so you can review them, close them if appropriate, or take pastoral action if someone is still waiting.

How Are At-Risk Conversations Identified?

At-risk detection comes from the Stewardship Care system (the At-Risk / Pastoral Care report). That system analyzes giving history, engagement patterns, and activity to flag people who may be disengaging. For example, a long-time donor who hasn’t given in several months, or an engaged member whose form submissions have dropped, may be flagged. When such a person appears in an open chatbot conversation, the Conversations Report shows their risk tier (Priority Care, Personal Outreach, or Gentle Check-in). This helps you prioritize which open conversations deserve immediate pastoral attention.

Multi-Campus Filtering

For organizations with multiple campuses, the Conversations Report includes a campus filter in the filter bar. Select “All Campuses” to see aggregate data across all locations, or choose a specific campus to focus on that location. Campus filtering affects:

• Chatbot Performance table (conversations are counted per campus when applicable)
• Completion funnel and platform distribution
• Open conversation queue
• Day-of-week analysis
• Prior period comparison

Campus is determined by the fund or giving context associated with the conversation when available. Use campus filtering to compare performance across locations or to focus follow-up efforts on a specific campus.

AI Conversation Insights

An expandable AI panel provides GPT-powered analysis of your report data. The AI summary includes:

• Quick Snapshot: 3–4 bullets on overall conversation health.
• Pattern Analysis: Completion trends, chatbot performance, day-of-week patterns.
• Stale Alerts: When stale or at-risk conversations exist, the AI highlights them and suggests follow-up.
• Pastoral Recommendations: 2–3 specific, actionable next steps for your care team.

The panel is collapsible with a “View Full Analysis” / “Collapse Analysis” toggle. A “Briefing PDF” button (or “Save Briefing PDF”) generates an executive-style PDF of the AI summary only for sharing with leadership. The briefing is cached per domain and date range for performance.

CSV Export and Email Scheduling

CSV Export

Click “Export CSV” to download the open conversation queue as a CSV file. The export includes columns: Phone, Chatbot, Started, Days Open, Status, Engagement, Risk Tier, Lifetime Giving. The export respects the current filters (date range, chatbot, status, campus). Use the CSV for spreadsheets, external analysis, or sharing with your pastoral team. Exports up to 10,000 rows.

Email Scheduling

Click the email (envelope) icon to open the Email Notification Settings modal. Configure automated delivery of the report on a recurring schedule (e.g., weekly, monthly). Select recipients from your admin email list or text marketing admin emails. Reports are sent at the configured frequency with the selected period. This keeps key staff informed without requiring them to log in.

You can also send the report immediately to selected recipients. Use “Print” to print the report from your browser, or “Save as PDF” to download the full report including all charts and tables.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Stale mean?

Stale means a conversation has been open for 7 or more days without being completed or closed. These conversations may have been followed up externally (e.g., a pastor called the person) or may have been abandoned. The report flags them so you can review and decide whether to close them or take pastoral action.

How are at-risk conversations identified?

At-risk detection comes from the Stewardship Care (At-Risk) system. That system analyzes giving history, engagement patterns, and activity to flag people who may be disengaging—for example, long-time donors who haven’t given recently. When such a person appears in an open chatbot conversation, the report shows their risk tier (Priority Care, Personal Outreach, or Gentle Check-in) so you can prioritize pastoral follow-up.

How are risk tiers assigned?

Risk tiers (Priority Care, Personal Outreach, Gentle Check-in) are assigned by the Stewardship Care system based on giving history, engagement patterns, and activity. The system flags people who may be disengaging—for example, long-time donors who haven’t given recently. When such a person appears in an open chatbot conversation, the report displays their tier so you can prioritize follow-up.

Can I filter by campus?

Yes. For multi-campus organizations, a campus dropdown appears in the filter bar. Select “All Campuses” to see aggregate data, or choose a specific campus to focus on that location. Campus filtering affects the Chatbot Performance table, completion funnel, open queue, day-of-week analysis, and prior period comparison.

What’s the difference between the Conversations Report and the Conversations management page?

The Conversations Report at /admin/textmessagingreports/conversations is an analytics report. It shows aggregate metrics, completion rates, and the open queue. Use it to understand chatbot performance and identify conversations that need follow-up. The Conversations link under Text Marketing at /admin/chatbot/conversations is the management page. Use that to view, search, and manage individual conversation threads. Both pages link to each other—clicking a phone number in the report opens the full conversation in the management view.

What date range presets are available?

The report supports: Current (this month), Last Week (previous Mon–Sun), Last Month (previous calendar month), Last 90 Days (rolling 90-day window), Last Year (previous calendar year), and Year to Date (Jan 1 through today). You can also select a custom date range using the date picker.

Can I schedule the report to be emailed automatically?

Yes. Click the email (envelope) icon on the report to open the Email Notification Settings modal. Configure the frequency (e.g., weekly, monthly), select recipients, and save. Reports will be sent automatically at the configured schedule.

Need help setting up or interpreting the Conversations Report? OnlineGiving.org offers courtesy setup assistance. Contact us at support@onlinegiving.org or (615) 206-4000.