You will need the Full Account permission, with no campus limit, organization limit or campus override, to archive an organization. Archiving reaches the whole account, so any limit or override blocks it, even an override that only adds access.
Archiving an organization cannot be undone. Archive is the only way to retire an organization, and organizations cannot be deleted. Read this whole article before you start.
The archive happens in three stages. First the window runs eight checks. If they all pass, it asks you to choose what happens to each part of the organization. When you save, everything settles in one step.
To start, go to Settings & Tools (Cog icon in the tool-bar) > Your Organization > Account Settings, open the Organizations tab, and choose Archive on the organization's row. The action does not appear on the default organization, on an organization that is already archived, or for anyone with a limit or override.
Stage 1: the eight checks
The checks run in this order. The window stops at the first one that fails and tells you which it is. Fix that one and try again, because the next check may then appear.
It is the default organization. Make another organization the default first. If the current default has an onboarded One Church Giving merchant account, the new default needs one too.
It has an active campus. Move each campus to another organization, or convert it to a venue, delete it or switch it off. Merging only folds campuses together, so the last campus still needs one of the other steps. How do I merge, convert or move a campus? explains each option.
A payment or refund under 10 days old is still waiting to settle. Wait until it settles, then try again.
An integration still holds it. That can be an integration assignment, a mapped sub-unit, an onboarded One Church Giving merchant account or a live Remote Deposit merchant. Remove the organization from each integration the window lists.
Older waiting gifts can still settle. Wait until they settle, then try again.
Gifts sit on the Unallocated designation. Choose a designation for each of those gifts.
Integration records are waiting for it. Assign or release the records the window lists. If archiving would leave only one organization, any waiting record blocks the archive.
No active default organization would remain. Contact One Church support.
The window's preview runs the same eight checks in the same order as the archive itself. Test gifts do not count toward any of them.
Stage 2: choose what happens to each part
Every part of the organization that has anything in it needs a choice before you can archive. The counts are read again when you save, and every check finishes before anything changes.
Note: Until every part has a choice, the window shows Choose what happens to everything this organization owns before archiving it.
People
Only people who are in no other active organization get a choice. You can move them to another organization, or leave them with no organization. People left with no organization are available to every organization, including in its directory.
People who also belong to an active organization keep their links to it, and need no choice.
Records held only by this organization
For records that belong to this organization alone, choose to keep them as history or move them to another organization.
Keep as history - hides events, forms, groups, sermons, plans, keywords and email templates, closes chat channels, and stops plan reminders. The records stay readable.
Move - the records go to the organization you choose. A moved group takes its meetings and sign-up forms, and a moved event takes its registration form.
A moved event, form or group loses the archived organization's merchant account, and a moved form also loses its designations and pledge campaigns. They take no payments until someone picks new ones.
Warning: A group kept as history deletes its future meetings, along with their sign-ups and bookings. This happens whatever you choose for events.
Running items
Anything still scheduled to happen gets one of these outcomes:
Future events - deleted with their sign-ups and bookings, with their series stopping today, or moved.
Open forms - closed or moved.
Scheduled sends - deleted or moved. Moving scheduled texts needs an organization with a verified texting number.
Workflows - disabled or moved.
Recurring gifts, pledges, repeating bills and report schedules - these can only end. There is no move option.
Open batches - closed without posting. There is no choice, and no journal entry is made.
Warning: Ending a recurring gift stops it and logs that on the donor's profile, but the archive sends the donor nothing. Tell your recurring donors yourself before you archive, so they know their gift has stopped and can set up a new one if they want to keep giving.
Users and roles
If two or more organizations will stay active, only users and roles limited solely to this organization need settling. The window lists them, with nothing chosen in advance.
Each listed user either gets another organization or loses staff access. Archive stays refused until every listed user has a choice.
Each listed role must get another organization.
You cannot remove your own access.
Library, venues and app versions
The organization's document library moves under a new top-level folder in the organization you choose. If that would take the organization past its storage limit, the window warns you, but the archive still goes ahead and uploads to that organization are refused until it has room. How does media storage work across organizations? explains storage limits.
Venues move to the default organization with their rooms and resources. Their bookings keep the same clock times, now in the default organization's time zone.
App version assignments are deleted. The versions themselves stay.
When every part has a choice, save. The final confirmation reads Archive [organization name]? It leaves the Organizations list and its records stay readable. Archiving cannot be undone.
Stage 3: what happens after
Once the archive is saved:
Users who lost staff access are signed out.
The organization's texting number is released. For about a day, a STOP texted to that number still stops texts from every active organization. After that, a STOP to it is no longer recorded.
Its sending domain is removed, or only unassigned if another organization uses it.
Its Plaid and Stripe bank feeds are disconnected and removed, so they stop billing. The window lists them before you archive. Bank lines and entries already imported stay in the archived books.
Its add-on seats stop counting, so they free up for another organization. Archiving does not lower your subscription. How do add-on seats work? explains how seats work.
An archived organization is read-only
Nobody, Super Users included, can change a record that belongs only to archived organizations. Staff see This record belongs to an archived organization and can no longer be changed. People profiles are exempt, and a record that also belongs to an active organization stays editable.
Its gifts, batches, recurring gifts, pledges, designations and campaigns cannot be changed, and nothing can be written to its books. Deleting a designation or a giving page is still allowed.
New money is refused with This organization is no longer accepting payments. Money that still arrives from a payment processor after the archive lands in a batch that is closed at once, never a posted one.
Its books stay readable for people who hold Full Read Accounting at every campus. Its giving appears in giving reports for people who hold Full Read Contributions at every campus of it.
Its campuses stay inactive. They can be edited but not activated.
Its public site address sends visitors to the site home.
If this leaves one organization
Archiving the second of two organizations does more than the archive itself, because your account goes back to having one active organization. What happens if I go back to one organization? explains how your account works afterward.
Every record held by the remaining organization drops its organization and returns to All. Records held only by the archived organization keep it.
Every organization limit on every user and role is deleted, along with campus limits at the archived organization. A user or role left with no campus in their limit loses the limit and reaches everything. The window lists the users whose limit names this organization, and for each one, or for everyone at once, you choose between keeping their access, which clears the limit, and removing their staff access. Archive stays refused until every listed user has a choice. Roles cannot be removed, so check who holds them first.
Dashboard, form and chat sharing that names only the archived organization is removed. The account keeps one default designation, giving page and merchant account, all from the remaining organization.
People who belong to the whole remaining organization rather than one of its campuses, and list a campus as their Campus Attended, have it cleared. The window shows how many before you archive.
Giving stays split by organization while the archived organization still owns gifts, batches, recurring gifts, pledges or journal entries. The books stay split while it still owns a journal entry.
If you add an organization again later, the one-time cutover runs again. How do I add a second organization? explains what it does.