How to Link Calendars Between PTGs
This is a spiffy little feature in Big Nest that helps groups easily get visibility into what other parent-teacher groups are doing.
Big Nest websites operate at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Often, families first experience Big Nest at the elementary level and they bring it to the higher levels as kids age.
So I added a feature that enables Big Nest websites to share calendars with one another.
Running a parent group takes a lot of planning. Often families have kids at multiple school levels. Now you can avoid running conflicting events by viewing other organizations’ calendars.
You can link another PTG’s calendar to your own dashboard so you can see their events while scheduling yours.
This feature is designed for planning, not for publishing events to your community. You’ll want to keep other parent groups’ calendars private so that site visitors don’t get confused about which events are yours.
Step 1: Ask for the Calendar ID
To link another PTG’s calendar, you’ll first need their Calendar ID.
The easiest way to get this is to email the other group and ask for it.
If you’ve been asked for your calendar ID, you can find it by:
- Going to their Admin Dashboard
- Opening Main Pages → Calendar
- Clicking Manage Calendars
The calendar management screen has a button that says “copy id”.
Step 2: Add the Linked Calendar
To add another group’s calendar to your site, first load the calendar dashboard.
In your own Big Nest dashboard:
- Go to Admin Dashboard
- Navigate to Main Pages → Calendar
- Open the Events tab
- Click Manage Calendars
When creating a calendar, you’ll see an option to enter a Linked Calendar ID.
Paste the ID you received from the other PTG.
As long as their calendar is public, Big Nest will be able to display the events.
Once saved, those events will appear in your calendar dashboard.
This allows you to see their schedule while planning your own events.
Keep Linked Calendars Private
Most PTGs use this feature only for internal planning.
If you make the linked calendar public on your site, families may see events from another school and get confused.
For that reason, it’s usually best to keep linked calendars set to:
Private
This way, only your admins see the events while planning.
Why This Is Helpful
Many families have children at multiple schools.
By linking calendars between PTGs, you can avoid scheduling conflicts that affect the same community.
For example:
- elementary school family night scheduled during a high school football game
- two fundraisers competing for the same families
- school events overlapping with district activities
Having visibility into other calendars helps your group plan smarter events.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do both PTGs need to use Big Nest?
Yes. Calendar linking works between organizations that are using Big Nest.
Will this publish the other school’s events on our website?
Not unless you make the linked calendar public.
Most groups keep linked calendars private so they are only used for planning.
What happens if the other PTG updates their events?
Your dashboard will show the updates automatically since the events come directly from their calendar.
By Ben Downey
Founder of Big Nest. I help parent-teacher groups run smoother with practical tools for fundraising,communication, bylaws, and volunteers.