You can use filters to group your contacts into segments based on criteria such as their contact details, tags, and donation history. When you take the time to segment your contacts and send targeted communications to the right people, you get better overall engagement and elevated donor stewardship.
What are filters? 🪣
Filters sort contacts based on specific pieces of information, such as the campaign they donated to, the number of tickets they purchased, the total amount they've donated, or custom field information.
Filters can be used to include or exclude information. For example, you might filter for donors from the past year while excluding contacts with a specific tag or campaign activity. Combining multiple filters with AND/OR logic allows you to narrow your results and remove groups you don't want included.
Applying filters ➕
On your dashboard, head to your Contacts page, located in the left-hand sidebar.
Above your list of contacts, you'll see preset filter options. Click on a filter, and enter your parameters to apply it to your list of contacts.
Any parameters highlighted in blue can be edited, including the "greater than" parameter, "and" or "or" qualifiers between multiple filters, and other options that vary by filter.
To search for a filter that isn't shown in the preset options, click More filters, type the filter you'd like to use, and select it from the list.
To add multiple cumulative filters, click on another filter. You can add as many simultaneous filters as you like to narrow down your list of contacts.
Filter options ⚙️
Total contributions – Total donor contributions greater than, less than, or equal to a specific amount
Recurring contributions – Recurring contributions greater than, less than, or equal to a specific amount
Date – Dated on, before, after, or between specific date(s)
Tag – Tagged with all, any, or none of a specific tag, or multiple tags
More filters (full list)
More filters (full list)
Contact
Contact type
Total contributions
Last donation amount
Total soft credits
Recurring contributions
Date added
Company
Birthday
Bidder status
Widget sign-ups
Trackable messages
Received mailing
Tag
Custom fields
Engage Email Status (by email, then by status)
Address
Email
Email type
Phone
Phone type
Subscription status
Activity
Last communication date
Name
Last donation date
Deletable
Household name
Household ID
Household status
Donorsearch
Donorsearch rating
Major Gift Likelihood
Lowest External Gift Amount
Total Likely External Gift Amount
Annual Gift Likelihood
Transactions
Transactions count
Date
Amount
Contact
Campaign
Frequency
Type
Fund
Appeal
Team
Team member
Payment status
Payment method
Check deposited
Creation type
Acknowledgement
External label
Auction item
Contact type
Campaign matches
Internal note
Public message
Dedication
Custom fields
Promo code
Deletable
Team member
Campaign members count
Amount raised
Fundraising goal
Supporter count
Date registered
Ticket
Tickets count
Date
Status
Ticket type
Campaign
Custom fields
Bundle
Groups
Event
Promo code
Bidder status
Bidder ID
Recurring plan
Recurring plans count
Amount
Created on
Next bill date
Status
Payment method
Fund
Frequency
Campaign
Pledge
Pledges count
Amount
Amount fulfilled
Remaining balance
Created date
First installment date
Next installment date
Fulfillment date
Status
Type
Fund
Installment frequency
Campaign
What are segments? 🧑🤝🧑
Segments are saved filter groups of contacts that you plan to use more than once.
Segments are dynamic and refreshed in real time, so if any new contacts that fit within that segment are added, they will be automatically added to that group. Similarly, if any contacts fall out of that segment (for example, they donate more than your maximum donation filter is set to), they will be automatically removed from that segment.
Givebutter default segments 💾
Givebutter segments are pre-defined, ready-to-use default filters designed to give you a strong starting point for outreach, reporting, and donor stewardship. Instead of building filters from scratch, you can instantly access commonly used contact groups right from the segments drawer.
Default segments are dynamic, meaning they automatically update as your contact data changes.
You can use a default segment as-is, or further customize it with additional filters and save it as your own segment. Available Givebutter segments include:
LYBUNT – Donors who gave last year but not this year.
SYBUNT – Donors who gave in a previous year but not this year.
New Donors – First-time donors within the last 30 days.
Recurring Donors – Donors with active recurring plans.
Retained Donors – Donors who gave year over year based on rolling 12-month activity.
Widget signups – Contacts who signed up to receive communications via a signup form widget. These segments are customized to your account and labeled using the widget’s name.
Creating a segment ➕
Apply the desired filters (you can add as many as you like) and then click Save as Segment.
Enter a name for your segment, and click Save.
Viewing segments 👀
To access your saved segments, click the segments icon on the right side of the contact menu bar.
Your list of saved segments will open in a sidebar. Click on a segment to view that group of contacts.
Editing a segment ⚙️
Open the segment you'd like to edit by following the steps for viewing a segment.
Click the Edit icon to the right side of the segment name.
You can then make changes to the filter parameters and segment title. When you're done, click Save in the upper right corner. You have the option to save this segment as-is or save it as a new segment.
Deleting a segment ❌
Select the drop-down next to Filter, and hover over Segments.
Click the (...) button next to the segment name, then click Delete.
Exporting filtered groups and segments 📂
On the Contacts page, apply the filters and/or segments you want to export data for. The resulting CSV will only include the data that you filtered or segmented.
Click the Export button at the top of the page, and then Export to CSV.
Click Export in the pop-up window. You'll be emailed when the export has been completed.
Segments + Engage ✉️
Once you create segments, you can export them, apply tags, or personalize outgoing emails or SMS messages in Engage!
When you schedule an outbound email in Engage, you can choose to send it directly to a specific segment. The segment will refresh before you send – this automatically pulls the most current contacts that meet the specified segment filter criteria.
FAQ 🤔
Can I exclude contacts when using filters?
Yes! Filters can be used to both include and exclude contacts based on your criteria. For example, you might create a list of contacts who donated this year while excluding contacts who have the "Volunteer" tag. Combining multiple filters with and/or logic allows you to narrow your results and remove groups you don’t want included.
Sometimes people refer to this type of setup as an “exclude filter.” In practice, this means using contact filters with boolean logic to remove contacts that match certain conditions. For example: Donated this year AND Tag is not “Board Member”. This would return donors from the past year except contacts tagged as board members.
Why am I getting zero results?
If your filters return zero results, it usually means the conditions are too restrictive. This can happen if too many "and" conditions are stacked together, if filters contradict each other, or if a double-negative is unintentionally created, for example combining “is not” with a condition that already includes “did not.” If something looks off, try removing filters and adding them back one at a time until you identify the condition that is limiting the results.
When should I use "and" vs "or"?
Use "and" when contacts must meet every condition you specify. This creates a smaller and more specific list because each contact must satisfy all criteria. Use "or" when contacts can meet any one of the conditions, which results in a broader list. For example, filtering for contacts tagged “Volunteer” OR “Event Attendee” will include anyone who belongs to either group.
Can I combine different logic in multiple filter groups?
Yes. Each filter group uses a single operator (either "and" or "or") but you can create additional filter groups to build more advanced logic. This allows you to combine different conditions across groups while keeping each group simple and easier to understand.