Mail a postcard the moment someone joins a Planning Center List.
Connect Planning Center once. Pick a People List. MailStream prints and mails a real postcard to every new member, then writes a Note on their profile. Lapsed students, first-time visitors, birthdays, first-time givers. From $0.58 a card, postage included.
How it works
Three steps. No spreadsheets, no print rep.
The setup takes about ten minutes and lives entirely inside two screens you already know: Planning Center Lists and the MailStream Integrations page.
Step 01
Connect Planning Center
Open Integrations in MailStream, click Connect, and approve on the Planning Center consent screen. One scope, "people", nothing else. Your team never shares a password.
Step 02
Pick a People List
Any List you already have in Planning Center works. Turn on nightly auto-refresh, and the List keeps adding people who match your rule while you sleep.
Step 03
MailStream mails each new member
Name the automation, choose a front and back, set a cooldown, and save. When a person joins the List, a real postcard prints and mails, and a Note lands on their profile.
Use cases
Four Lists most churches already want.
Each recipe is a single Planning Center List rule paired with a postcard and a cooldown. Build the List once, turn on nightly refresh, and the mail runs itself.
Recipe 1
Youth not checked in for 14 days
Grades 6 to 12, checked in at least once ever, and not checked in during the last 14 days.
- Postcard
- We Miss You
- Cooldown
- 60 days
Recipe 2
Birthday this week
Birthday falls within the next 7 days. Refresh nightly and every member gets a card before the day.
- Postcard
- Happy Birthday
- Cooldown
- 300 days
Recipe 3
First-time giver
First donated within the last 7 days. A thank-you in the mailbox the same week the gift cleared.
- Postcard
- Thank You for Giving
- Cooldown
- 365 days
Recipe 4
First-time visitor
First attended within the last 7 days. Guests and regulars in, volunteers out.
- Postcard
- Thanks for Visiting
- Cooldown
- 90 days
Postcard templates
Five church postcards, ready to personalize.
Each 4x6 template has a front and a back, pulls the person’s first name from Planning Center, and opens in the MailStream Designer so you can swap the church name, colors, and offer.
We Miss You
Pairs with: Lapsed youth
Thanks for Visiting
Pairs with: First-time visitor
Happy Birthday
Pairs with: Birthday this week
Thank You for Giving
Pairs with: First-time giver
Holiday Invitation
Pairs with: Any List, seasonal
Pricing
From $0.58 a postcard. Postage included.
No minimums, no setup fee, no contract. You buy Print Points, each card debits its points when it is created, and a skipped send costs nothing.
- $0.58
- per 4x6 postcard, postage included
- 0
- minimum order. One card is a campaign.
- 24hr
- from List join to printed and in the mail
Nonprofit rate coming. Churches and ministries with nonprofit postage authorization will get a lower per-card rate. The exact number is being finalized. Ask us to be notified the day it goes live.
Walkthrough
Watch a church go from zero to first postcard.
Video walkthrough coming soon
A four-minute screen recording covering connect, pick a List, build an automation, first send, and the Note on the profile.
Built for church data
Minimal access. Full visibility.
- People scope only.
- MailStream reads names, birthdates, and mailing addresses for people who join a connected List. Nothing else is requested.
- A Note on every profile.
- Each card writes a Note under the "Mailstream" category so your team can see who was mailed and when.
- Cooldowns stop double sends.
- Set 1 to 365 days per automation. A person who rejoins the List inside the window is skipped, not mailed twice.
- Same price as every other card.
- An automated postcard goes through the same order path and Print Points balance as one sent from the app or API.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the integration do?
- MailStream mails a postcard automatically whenever a person joins one of your Planning Center People Lists. You choose the List, the front and back of the card, the postage class, and a cooldown. After the card is created, MailStream writes a Note on that person’s Planning Center profile so your team can see it was sent.
- What triggers a card?
- Only one event: a person joining a List. People who are already on the List when you create the automation do not get a card. Check-Ins and Giving events are not triggers on their own, but a People List can contain Check-Ins and Giving conditions, so build the rule into the List.
- Which plans include it?
- Every plan: Starter, Growth, and Enterprise. Postcards start at $0.58 each including postage on the Growth plan. An automated card costs exactly the same as one sent from the app or the API.
- How does billing work?
- MailStream bills in Print Points. When an automation creates a card, the points for that card are debited at that moment. If your balance cannot cover the card, the send is skipped and logged, nobody is mailed, and nothing is charged. Admins buy points under Billing, then Print Points.
- Who can connect Planning Center?
- In MailStream, only a user with the admin role can connect, disconnect, or edit automations. In Planning Center, the person who approves the consent screen lends their permissions, so use an account with administrator or manager access to People. MailStream never sees your Planning Center password.
- What data does MailStream read and write?
- It asks for the "people" scope only and reads your organization name, your Lists, and, for each person who joins a connected List, first name, last name, nickname, birthdate, and mailing addresses. It writes two things back: a webhook subscription for the List-join event and a Note on the person’s profile after each card. It does not edit people, addresses, or Lists.
- Can I pause without deleting?
- Yes. Turn Active off in the editor and the automation keeps its setup and mails nobody. Disconnecting revokes the token at Planning Center, deletes the webhook subscription, and pauses every automation. Cards already created still mail, and your automations keep their settings for when you reconnect.
- Is there a nonprofit rate?
- A nonprofit postage rate for churches and ministries is in the works. The published rate is $0.58 per postcard including postage today. Contact us if you want to be told the day the nonprofit rate goes live.