Catholic Discipleship Parish leader Instructions and resources

The parish leader dashboard is a display with all the versatility you will need to successfully help parishioners take the survey. The pastor or parish administrator designates a CDP administrator to set up the dashboard by establishing a username and password. Only this person can make purchases and generate the parish report using the dashboard. Additional persons, working with the CDP administrator, could help with tasks such as creating CDP groups, coordinating with CDP group leaders, and sending emails to parish leaders and parishioners.

Set up your dashboard to begin using the CDP in your parish

1. Click here to watch a short video to learn about using the dashboard.
2. Click here to start using the CDP in your parish. You will be taken to a dashboard where you can enter basic information about your parish. You will receive a unique parish code which you and your parishioners will use.
3. The dashboard will allow you to enter the names and emails of your parishioners whom you will invite to take the CDP. You can also establish (1) who will be designated the CDP Administrator; (2) groups which you wish to designate, allowing them to receive a group report (e.g., your parish pastoral council, catechists, the social justice group, etc.); and (3) the starting and ending date for your parishioners to take the survey.
4. Invited parishioners receive the parish code and an online link that takes them to a landing page where they use the parish code and create an individual account with a username (their email) and password, take the CDP, and receive their own personal report. Their username and password give them access to their CDP information at any time. Please note that the CDP administrator will be able to identify each parishioner’s username since the username is the parishioner’s email address, but the administrator will never see the parishioner’s password.
5. Individuals registering to take the CDP through your parish code can take the CDP at no charge since the parish pays for each parishioner via either VISA or Mastercard according to this fee scale:

Once parishioners have registered to take the CDP in Step 2, the CDP administrator can establish the pre-assigned parish groups using the dashboard. This process includes identifying group leaders and group members and placing them in groups. The CDP administrator then notifies each group leader that his or her group is now established with a particular parish group code. The group leader then takes over the leadership functions of the group as given in the group portal here.

The CDP administrator can monitor each parishioner’s progress on your dashboard by viewing the percentage of CDP completion and how many parishioners have completed taking the CDP. You can send emails via the dashboard encouraging participants to complete the CDP by XX date and congratulate parishioners who finished taking the survey. Your goal is to have as many parishioners as possible complete the CDP by the ending date established by parish leaders.

The parish leader dashboard identifies parishioners assigned to CDP groups. Group leaders can encourage group members to complete the CDP by the established ending date in your parish. You can email updates to group leaders about CDP progress in the parish and provide them with suggestions to motivate their group members to complete the CDP. 

When you arrive at the ending date of your campaign and determine that parishioners likely to take the CDP have already done so, you click on the “Close and Generate CDP Parish Report” button of the dashboard. A parish report will appear on the computer screen and as a PDF. You can share the link to this report with parish leaders, designated CDP group leaders who in turn share the report with their group members, and all other parishioners on your dashboard registered to take the CDP. Parish leaders will determine if they want to share all or parts of the parish report, such as an executive summary.

Parish leaders will determine how they wish to use the parish report. The section below presents suggested meeting frameworks for reviewing the parish report in two different settings: with parish leadership first, and then with a larger number of parishioners.