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Role Groups create themselves. You define criteria — “all Leaders”, “members aged 18-25”, “everyone with Certification Level = Advanced” — and the system automatically adds every matching member. When a member’s profile changes, their Role Group memberships update too. Use Role Groups when you need a collaborative space for a segment of your organization that’s defined by who members are, not where they are (that’s Local Centers) or what project they’re on (that’s Private Groups). Role groups configuration showing automated groups with criteria for Youth Scouts, Adult Leaders, and Eagle Scout Candidates

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Do I need Role Groups?

Your situationRecommendation
You want a space for all Leaders to coordinateYes — create a Role Group with criteria “User Type = Leader”
You need age-specific content (youth program, seniors group)Yes — create a Role Group with an age range
You want to reach all members of a specific professionYes — criteria based on a custom field
You need a project team with hand-picked membersNo — use a Private Group instead
You want to send announcements to everyoneNo — use the Main Group

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How Role Groups work

You define criteria:    User Type = "Leader"
                                ↓
System scans all members and adds matches
                                ↓
Maria gets promoted to Leader → automatically added
                                ↓
Tom steps down from Leader → automatically removed
There is no manual membership management. The system keeps the group in sync with your member data. When someone’s profile changes — they get a new user type, turn 18, update a custom field — their Role Group memberships adjust automatically.

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Enable Role Groups

Settings → Groups → Module Settings → toggle Role Groups on.

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Creating a Role Group

Settings → Groups → Role Groups → Create Role Group
1

Name the group

Give it a clear name that reflects the membership: “All Leaders”, “Youth Members (13-17)”, “Board of Directors”.
2

Define criteria

Select the criteria that determines membership. You can combine multiple criteria.
3

Enable features

Choose which features the group needs: Discussions, Events, Files, Issues.
4

Set permissions

Configure who can post, create events, and upload files.
5

Save

The system immediately populates the group with all matching members.

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Criteria types

You can base Role Groups on any of these member attributes:
CriteriaExample groups
User Type”All Leaders”, “All Volunteers”, “Staff Members”
Age range”Youth (13-17)”, “Young Adults (18-30)”, “Seniors (60+)“
Gender”Women’s Network”, “Men’s Group”
Custom fields”Certification Level = Advanced”, “Department = Engineering”, “Years of Membership > 5”

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Combining criteria

You can combine multiple criteria for more specific groups:
  • User Type = “Leader” AND Age > 18 → “Adult Leaders”
  • Custom Field “Department” = “Engineering” AND User Type = “Staff” → “Engineering Staff”
Be careful not to over-segment. A Role Group with criteria so specific that only 2-3 people qualify isn’t useful — you’d be better off with a Private Group. Role Groups work best for meaningful segments with 10+ members.

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What happens inside a Role Group

Each Role Group is a full collaborative space, the same as any other group:
FeatureUse it for
DiscussionsCoordination between all members of this segment — training updates, best practice sharing, role-specific announcements
EventsRole-specific meetings, training sessions, professional development
FilesTraining materials, handbooks, templates relevant to this role
IssuesTrack tasks and action items for this segment

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Practical examples

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Youth scouting organization

Role GroupCriteriaPurpose
All LeadersUser Type = LeaderLeadership coordination, training resources
Youth MembersAge 10-17Age-appropriate activities and discussions
Young AdultsAge 18-25Transition support, young leader development
Board MembersUser Type = Board MemberBoard governance, meeting documents
ParentsUser Type = ParentParent communication, volunteer coordination

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Professional association

Role GroupCriteriaPurpose
Certified MembersCustom Field “Certification” = YesCPD tracking, certification renewals
New Members (< 1 year)Custom Field “Join Year” = currentOnboarding resources, mentorship matching
Committee ChairsUser Type = Committee ChairCross-committee coordination

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How membership stays current

  • When you change a member’s user type, their Role Group memberships update automatically
  • When a member’s birthday crosses an age threshold, age-based groups update
  • When an admin updates a custom field value on a member’s profile, relevant groups adjust
  • The system syncs regularly — changes are reflected within minutes, not days
You cannot manually add or remove members from a Role Group. Membership is 100% criteria-driven. If someone needs to be in the group, adjust their profile to match the criteria. If they shouldn’t be in the group, change the attribute that qualifies them.

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Permissions

Like all groups, Role Groups have posting controls:
SettingWhen to use
Only admins can post — ONWhen the group is primarily for admin-to-segment announcements (e.g., “All Leaders” gets leadership updates)
Only admins can post — OFFWhen members should discuss among themselves (e.g., “Youth Members” has peer conversations)
Only admins can create eventsWhen events should be coordinated centrally
Only admins can upload filesWhen documents should be curated by admins
Assign a group administrator from within the matching segment so they understand the audience.

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Common scenarios

No. Change their user type to “Leader” and the system automatically adds them to any Role Group with criteria “User Type = Leader”. They’ll also be removed from groups they no longer qualify for (e.g., “Volunteers” if that was their old type).
Role Groups don’t support manual additions. Two options: (1) Adjust the criteria to include those people — perhaps add a custom field value they share. (2) Use a Private Group instead if the membership doesn’t map cleanly to profile data.
Either narrow the criteria (add an additional condition) or enable “Only admins can post” to make it an announcement channel. Direct discussion to smaller Private Groups for sub-topics.
No — that’s what Local Centers already provide. Each Local Center is itself a group with discussions, events, and files. Role Groups are for cross-cutting segments that span all locations (e.g., “All Leaders” regardless of which center they belong to).
Archive the group. Content is preserved for reference but the group is hidden from the sidebar. If you’re sure it’s not needed, you can delete it entirely.