Planning Center Is the Source of Truth
Flowforth syncs your people from Planning Center. If multiple people have the same email address in Planning Center, they’ll each appear as separate people in Flowforth with that same email address.How Sending Works
Let’s say Person A and Person B both have the same email address.- If a list only includes Person A, Person A receives the email. Any merge tags (like first name) reflect Person A.
- If a list only includes Person B, Person B receives the email. Merge tags reflect Person B.
- If a list includes both Person A and Person B, Flowforth sends one email to that address. This prevents the same person from receiving the same email twice. Since both people share the inbox, they both see the email — but the merge tags will only reflect one of the two people.
Flowforth automatically de-duplicates recipients by email address. When
multiple people on the same list share an email, one send is made to that
address and the other is recorded as “did not send” with the reason “Duplicate
email address.” This gives you full visibility into how the email was recieved.
What About Merge Tags?
When two people share an email and both are on the same list, Flowforth picks one person’s information for the merge tags (like{{first_name}}). There’s no way to predict which person’s name will be used, so the email might say “Hi Sarah” or “Hi Mark” — but both people will see the email in their shared inbox regardless.
If personalized greetings are important, you could encourage members to add their own individual email address in Planning Center.
Summary
| Scenario | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Only Person A is on the list | Person A gets the email with their merge tags |
| Only Person B is on the list | Person B gets the email with their merge tags |
| Both are on the list | One email is sent; merge tags reflect one person |
Need help with a specific situation? Contact support@flowforth.co.