Decisions & Follow-Up Report: Never Lose a Spiritual Decision Again
When someone texts SALVATION or PRAYER to your church number, that’s a sacred moment. But what happens next? Did someone follow up? A first-time visitor texts CONNECT from the parking lot. A teenager texts BAPTISM after youth group. Someone texts SAVED during the altar call. These are not hypothetical questions. They are the most important moments in your text ministry—real people making real spiritual commitments—and until now, there was no easy way to know who had been followed up with and who was still waiting.
Why Follow-Up Tracking Matters
Every number in the Decisions & Follow-Up report represents a person who raised their hand. Someone who said yes to Jesus. Someone who asked for prayer. Someone who wants to be baptized or is visiting for the first time. These decisions deserve immediate, personal follow-up. When a visitor texts SALVATION and never hears back, they may not return. When someone asks for prayer and gets only an automated reply, they may feel unseen. The report exists so that no one falls through the cracks. No decision. No person. No sacred moment left behind.
Pastoral urgency is built into every section. Four snapshot cards tell you at a glance: total decisions, how many have been followed up with, how many are still pending, and your follow-up rate. A May Need Follow-Up panel surfaces every conversation open for more than five days—with urgency labels so you know who to call first. An AI-powered Pastoral Care Briefing delivers action items in the voice of a seasoned pastor: who needs a call this week, which keywords are driving the most decisions, and what to celebrate. This is not just data. It is a roadmap for care.
Decision Keywords: Make It Your Own
You decide which keywords count as decisions. The report comes with a default list—salvation, prayer, baptism, first-visit, rededication, and more—but you can add or remove keywords directly from the report. If your church uses NEWHERE instead of visitor, or PRAY4ME instead of prayer, add your keywords and the report will capture everything your congregation actually texts. Changes save per domain and apply immediately. The report matches these keywords against chatbot responses and intent titles to identify decisions. Make it your own.
Campus Relevance for Multi-Site Churches
For multi-campus churches, the report supports campus filtering. Use the campus dropdown in the filter bar to view decisions for a specific campus or “All Campuses” for aggregated data. When you open the report from the Text Marketing Reports hub with a campus pre-selected, the report opens with that filter applied. The CSV export appends the campus name to the filename when filtered. Each campus pastor can focus on their location’s decisions without wading through data from other sites.
In this article, we’ll overview the OnlineGiving.org Decisions & Follow-Up Report feature.
Decisions & Follow-Up Report User Guide:
The Decisions & Follow-Up report at /admin/textmessagingreports/decisions tracks every spiritual decision captured through your text message keywords. When someone texts a decision-related keyword (such as SAVED, PRAYER, BAPTISM, or FIRSTTIME), that conversation is counted as a decision. The report shows total decisions, completed follow-ups (Done), pending follow-ups, expired follow-ups, and follow-up rate. You can configure which keywords qualify as decisions, filter by follow-up status and campus, view period-over-period comparisons, and receive an AI pastoral care briefing with actionable recommendations. Access requires the Text Marketing Admin or Donor Admin role and an active Text Marketing plan.
Key Takeaways
- Decision Tracking: Every text response matching a decision keyword is tracked with follow-up status (Done, Pending, Expired).
- Configurable Keywords: Add, edit, or remove decision keywords directly in the report via an editable chip bar. Keywords are saved per domain and applied immediately.
- Follow-Up Pipeline: Visual breakdown of Done (green), Pending (amber), and Expired (red) status with counts and share percentages.
- May Need Follow-Up: Amber-accented panel surfacing conversations open more than 5 days, with urgency labels (Pending, Overdue, Urgent) and engagement scores for prioritization.
- Period Comparison: All metric cards show percentage change vs. the prior equivalent period with up/down arrows.
- AI Pastoral Briefing: GPT-powered analysis with Quick Snapshot, Follow-Up Priorities, Keyword Insights, and Wins & Encouragement. Save as standalone Pastoral Briefing PDF.
- Campus Filtering: Multi-campus churches can filter by campus to see decisions per location.
- CSV Export & Email: Full export (Phone, Keyword, Chatbot, Date, Decision Type, Follow-Up Status, Engagement, Lifetime Giving). Schedule automated report delivery.
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Decision Keywords Configuration
- Summary Cards and Period Comparison
- Follow-Up Pipeline
- Decision Insights
- AI Pastoral Care Briefing
- Filters and Sorting
- All Keyword Responses Table
- Multi-Campus Behavior
- Export, PDF, and Email Scheduling
- Frequently Asked Questions
Overview
Accessing the Report
To open the Decisions & Follow-Up Report:
- Log in to the control panel.
- Click “Text Marketing” in the left navigation menu.
- Click “Reports” (or navigate directly to /admin/textmessagingreports).
- Click “View Report” on the Decisions & Follow-Up card, or go directly to /admin/textmessagingreports/decisions.
The report displays a filter bar at the top, four summary cards, the follow-up pipeline, the AI pastoral care briefing, the May Need Follow-Up panel, decision trend chart, day-of-week analysis, keyword performance table, activity feed, and the full keyword responses table with pagination.
Roles and Permissions
Users with Text Marketing Admin or Donor Admin role can access the report. The Text Marketing plan must be active for your domain. If you don’t see the report, check your role and plan status with your administrator.
Decision Keywords Configuration
Decision keywords determine which chatbot conversations qualify as “decisions” in the report. When someone texts a keyword that matches one of your configured decision terms (or when a chatbot intent title matches), that conversation is counted and tracked for follow-up.
Default Keywords
The report comes pre-loaded with common decision keywords. The default list includes: salvation, saved, baptism, christ, accept, decision, prayer, pray, rededication, born again, believe, commit, first time, visitor, visit, altar, respond, follow up, followup, new here, connect. These are matched against chatbot responses and intent titles to populate the report.
How to Add or Remove Keywords
You can customize the decision keyword list directly from the report. In the filter bar, you’ll see an editable chip bar showing your current decision keywords. To add a keyword, type the new term in the input field and press Enter. To remove a keyword, click the X on its chip. Changes are saved per domain via AJAX and the page reloads to reflect updates immediately. If your church uses “NEWHERE” instead of “visitor” or “PRAY4ME” instead of “prayer,” add your keywords and the report will capture everything your congregation actually texts.
Summary Cards and Period Comparison
At-a-Glance Metric Cards
Four snapshot cards appear at the top of the report:
- Total Decisions: Count of all keyword-matched conversations in the selected period.
- Follow-Up Done: Conversations marked as completed (follow-up has been done).
- Pending Follow-Up: Conversations still open, waiting for follow-up.
- Follow-Up Rate: Percentage of decisions that received follow-up (completed / total × 100).
Each card helps you answer: How many decisions did we capture? How many have we followed up with? How many are still waiting? And what’s our overall follow-up rate?
Change Indicators (Up/Down Arrows)
Every metric card shows a comparison to the prior equivalent period. For example, if you select Last Month, the prior period is the month before that. The report displays the percentage change with up/down arrow coloring: green for positive trends (e.g., more follow-ups completed, higher rate), red for negative trends (e.g., more pending, lower rate). This lets you see at a glance whether follow-up is improving or conversations are falling behind.
Follow-Up Pipeline
Follow-Up Status: Done, Pending, Expired
Each decision is assigned one of three follow-up statuses:
- Done (Completed): The conversation has been followed up with. A care team member has made contact.
- Pending: The conversation is still open. Follow-up has not yet been completed.
- Expired: The conversation has been open too long without follow-up and is considered stale. These may need special attention.
The follow-up pipeline is a visual bar chart showing the distribution of these statuses. Done appears in green, Pending in amber, and Expired in red. Summary boxes below show the count and share percentage for each status. Use this to ensure no one falls through the cracks.
May Need Follow-Up (Overdue Attention List)
The May Need Follow-Up panel surfaces every conversation that has been open for more than 5 days. These are people who raised their hand and haven’t heard back yet. Each row includes the chatbot title, keyword, engagement score (color-coded: green ≥70, amber ≥40, red <40), and an urgency label:
- Urgent: Open 14 days or more.
- Overdue: Open 7 to 13 days.
- Pending: Open 5 to 6 days.
Click any row to jump to that conversation. The footer encourages prioritizing by engagement score so you can reach the most connected members first. The panel is limited to 15 rows for readability.
Decision Insights
Decision Types Breakdown
A horizontal bar chart ranks chatbot/keyword types by volume. Each type shows the chatbot title (linked to the intent editor when available), a proportional bar with color coding, and the count and share percentage. When more than 6 types exist, the section supports expand/collapse. A total row appears at the bottom.
Keyword Performance Table
The keyword performance table ranks the top 10 keywords by decision volume. For each keyword, you see total decisions, completed follow-ups (green), pending follow-ups (amber), and its share of all decisions as a visual progress bar. Click any keyword name to go to its autoresponder configuration. Use this to see which keywords drive the most life-changing responses and whether they’re being followed up effectively.
Decision Activity Feed
A timeline-style feed shows the 8 most recent decisions. Each entry displays an avatar with initials, the person’s name (linked to their profile), the keyword they used, a status icon (completed, open, or expired), and a relative timestamp (“2 hours ago”) linked to the conversation view. Pull up the report after Sunday service and watch decisions come in. Share it during your Monday morning staff meeting.
Decision Trend Chart
A line chart shows daily decisions and completed follow-ups over the selected period. The Decisions line (solid blue) and Completed line (dashed green) let you see if your team is keeping pace. Use this to spot patterns and ensure follow-up velocity matches decision volume.
When Decisions Happen (Day-of-Week)
A horizontal bar chart shows decision distribution across all 7 days. The peak day is highlighted in green; active days use a blue gradient; inactive days appear gray. Percentage labels appear inside bars when wide enough. A footer shows total decisions and active days count (e.g., “5/7”). If most decisions happen on Wednesdays during midweek service, schedule your care calls for Thursday morning.
AI Pastoral Care Briefing
The AI Pastoral Care Briefing is a GPT-powered panel written in the voice of a seasoned pastor. It analyzes your decision data and delivers four structured sections:
- Quick Snapshot: The big picture in 2–4 bullet points: total count, follow-up rate, trend direction, any notable patterns.
- Follow-Up Priorities: Actionable items for this week—which keywords have overdue decisions, urgency flagging.
- Keyword Insights: Top-performing keywords, timing patterns, strategy suggestions.
- Wins & Encouragement: Celebrations, Scripture references, pastoral encouragement.
You can expand or collapse the full briefing with “View Full Briefing” / “Collapse Briefing”. A Save Briefing PDF button exports just the AI section as a portrait-oriented PDF—perfect for printing and handing to your care team leader at the next staff meeting.
Filters and Sorting
Date Range
Use the date range picker to select a custom start and end date, or click a quick link: Current (this month), Last Week (previous Mon–Sun), Last Month (previous calendar month), Last 90 Days (rolling 90 days from today), Last Year (previous calendar year), or Year to Date (Jan 1 through today). All boundaries respect your organization’s default timezone.
Follow-Up Status Filter
Filter the report by All, Done, Pending, or Expired. Use this to focus on decisions that still need follow-up or to review completed conversations.
Campus Filter
For multi-campus churches, use the campus dropdown to filter decisions by campus. Select a specific campus to see that location’s decisions, or leave at “All Campuses” for aggregated data.
Sorting and Pagination
The All Keyword Responses table supports sorting by Date (default), Keyword, or Type. Click a column header to sort; click again to toggle ascending/descending. Pagination shows 25 rows per page with Previous/Next navigation and a “Page X of Y · N total” indicator.
All Keyword Responses Table
The main table lists every matched conversation in the selected period. Columns include:
- Keyword: Chip-styled keyword, linked to the autoresponder editor.
- Type: Chatbot title, linked to the intent editor.
- Date: Date of the decision, linked to the conversation view.
- Follow-Up: Status badge (Done, Pending, Expired).
- Engagement: Score badge with color coding.
- Lifetime Giving: Dollar amount for donor context.
Use this table to drill into individual decisions, open conversations, and update follow-up status from the conversation view.
Multi-Campus Behavior
For multi-campus churches, the Decisions & Follow-Up report supports campus filtering. Use the campus dropdown in the filter bar to view data for a specific campus or “All Campuses” for aggregated data. When you open the report from the Text Marketing Reports hub with a campus pre-selected, the report opens with that campus filter applied. The CSV export appends the campus name to the filename when filtered.
Export, PDF, and Email Scheduling
CSV Export
Click “Export CSV” to download the full decision data. The export respects all active filters and date range. Columns include: Phone, Keyword, Chatbot, Date, Decision Type, Follow-Up Status, Engagement, and Lifetime Giving. Use the CSV for spreadsheets, care team handoffs, or archiving.
PDF and Print
Use “Print” to print the report from your browser. Use “Save as PDF” to download the full report. Use “Save Briefing PDF” in the AI panel to export just the pastoral care briefing as a standalone PDF. Print-optimized styles hide interactive elements and remove animations for clean output.
Email Scheduling
Click the email (envelope) icon to open the Email Notification Settings modal. Configure automated delivery of the report on a recurring schedule (daily, weekly, or monthly). Select recipients from your admin email list or text marketing admins. Reports are sent at the configured frequency with the selected period. Set up a weekly email and your care pastor gets the Decisions & Follow-Up report every Monday morning without logging in.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I set up decision keywords?
On the Decisions & Follow-Up report page, use the editable chip bar in the filter area to add or remove decision keywords. Type a new keyword and press Enter to add it. Click the X on a chip to remove it. Changes are saved per domain and the page reloads to reflect updates immediately. The report matches these keywords against chatbot responses and intent titles to identify decisions.
What counts as a “decision”?
A decision is any chatbot conversation that was started by a text message matching one of your configured decision keywords, or where the chatbot intent title matches. Common examples include salvation, prayer, baptism, first-visit, rededication, and connect. The report tracks every such conversation and assigns a follow-up status (Done, Pending, or Expired) based on whether the conversation has been completed.
How do I mark follow-up as complete?
Follow-up status is updated when a care team member completes the conversation in the conversation view. When a chatbot conversation is marked as completed or closed, the decision appears as “Done” in the report. Ensure your care team knows to close or complete conversations after they’ve made contact so the report stays accurate.
Can I filter by campus?
Yes. For multi-campus organizations, the campus dropdown in the filter bar limits the report to decisions associated with that campus. Leave it at “All Campuses” to see aggregated data. When you open the report from the Text Marketing Reports hub with a campus pre-selected, the report opens with that filter applied. The CSV export includes the campus name in the filename when filtered.
What if I haven’t configured keywords yet?
The report comes with a default list of decision keywords (salvation, saved, baptism, prayer, first time, visitor, connect, and more). If you haven’t customized the list, the report uses these defaults. You can add or remove keywords at any time from the chip bar on the report page. Until you add your church’s custom terms, the report will capture conversations matching the default list. If you use different keywords (e.g., PRAY4ME, NEWHERE), add them to ensure nothing is missed.
What’s the difference between Pending and Expired?
Pending means the conversation is still open and follow-up has not yet been completed. Expired means the conversation has been open too long (typically without follow-up) and is considered stale. Expired decisions may need special attention or a different outreach approach. The May Need Follow-Up panel surfaces conversations open more than 5 days with urgency labels (Pending 5–6 days, Overdue 7–13 days, Urgent 14+ days) so you can prioritize who to call first.
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 days from today), 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. All boundaries use your organization’s default timezone.
Can I schedule the report to be emailed automatically?
Yes. Click the email (envelope) icon in the page header to open the Email Notification Settings modal. Configure the frequency (daily, weekly, or monthly), select recipients, and save. Reports will be sent automatically at the configured schedule. This keeps your care pastor and follow-up team informed without requiring them to log in.
Need help setting up or interpreting the Decisions & Follow-Up Report? Contact us at support@onlinegiving.org or (615) 206-4000. OnlineGiving.org provides courtesy setup assistance for our customers.