📌 Note: Groups are currently only available on Enterprise and Network plans. For more information on this feature, please get in touch with a sales representative.
What are groups?
A Group allows you to segment your NationBuilder account by assigning control panel users to manage specific subsets of your nation. This is particularly useful when different users are responsible for overseeing distinct regions or teams.
For example, imagine your organization is divided into three zones, each with a communications manager, development director, and volunteer coordinator. You could:
Create a permission set for each role—such as a “Volunteer Coordinator” role—limiting access to only the people assigned to them.
Create a "Zone 1" group and assign the relevant control panel users as members.
Assign residents of Zone 1 to that group.
Now, the Volunteer Coordinator can only access people in Zone 1, based on their permission set.
Let’s go further: your Communications Manager may also need access to people in the region but must be allowed to send emails from certain addresses that the Volunteer Coordinator shouldn't use. By assigning specific Broadcasters to be managed by the Zone 1 group, you ensure the Communications Manager has the needed access—while the Volunteer Coordinator’s access remains limited by their permission set.
How to set up a group
1. Create the group
To create your first group:
Navigate to People > Control panel users, then click the “Groups” tab.
Click “Create group” and provide:
A name
A description
The list(s) of people the group should manage
You can update the list(s) at any time. When new people are added to this list, they are automatically assigned to the group. When they are removed from this list, they have that assignment removed.
Once a list is assigned to the group, the Dashboard tab of that group will display stats about the assigned people.
2. Designate control panel users as group members
After creating a group, assign control panel users as members—these users will manage the people and assets associated with the group.
Click “Manage group members” to add users.
Once added, the group name will appear as a badge on the user’s profile.
Managing a group
As your organization evolves, you may need to update group members or change the lists assigned to a group.
To remove a user from a group, click the caret next to their name under the “Group members” tab and select “Remove from group.”
To expand a group’s visibility, add more people to a list under the People section, then go to Groups > Settings and assign the list to the appropriate group.
Once someone is assigned to a group, you’ll see that reflected in the “Groups” section of their profile.
Limit visibility and access by group
A control panel user’s visibility into your database is determined primarily by their permission set.
Go to Settings > Nation defaults > Permission sets to configure access levels.
To restrict access based on group membership:
Set People, Website, or Communications permissions to “Assigned” within their permission set.
If People access is set to “Everyone”, the user will see all profiles regardless of their group.
If set to “Assigned”, they will only see the people linked to their group via list assignment.
Limit website access
If each zone in your organization has its own website, you can restrict who manages which site:
Create a Zone 1 group and assign the appropriate users.
Navigate to the Zone 1 website > Site settings tab.
Under “Assign website management to specific groups,” select the Zone 1 group.
⚠️ Important: Control panel users must have Website access set to “Assigned by group” in their permission set for this restriction to apply.
A website can be managed by multiple groups, and multiple groups can manage the same people list.
Limit broadcaster access
You can also restrict Broadcaster access by group:
To control access by group, change the Communications permission of at least one permission set to “Assigned by group.”
⚠️ Important: Once this change is made:
The “Which permission set can manage this broadcaster?” setting will be replaced by “Which groups can manage this broadcaster?”
You’ll be prompted to confirm before finalizing the change.
2. In the Broadcaster settings > Basics tab, you can assign a group to manage it.
📌 Note: Users with “Assigned by group” Communications access will not be able to create new broadcasters, even if their permission set includes “Manage broadcaster.”