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How to create, schedule, and export custom Reports
How to create, schedule, and export custom Reports

Create and share custom reports, filter data with greater precision, and automate scheduled reports.

Alyssa avatar
Written by Alyssa
Updated over a week ago

This feature is only available to Givebutter Plus users.

Givebutter Plus is a paid subscription service that gives you access to buttery advanced features to help you raise more. Read more about Givebutter Plus

Givebutter's advanced reporting feature offers enhanced visualizations, customizable metrics, and dynamic comparisons for real-time tracking of campaign, event, and fundraising performance. Easily create and share custom reports, filter data with greater precision, and automate scheduled reports for efficient analysis.

Creating a report ⚙️

To create a new report, click the New report button in the upper right corner of the Reports page. You'll be asked if you want to begin from a template or start from scratch. Both options are entirely customizable.

Report templates 🧩

You can select pre-built reports from a selection of templates for popular use cases. Template reports can be viewed, exported, and shared as-is, but you can also use them as a starting point and customize them to meet your needs.

LYBUNT

LYBUNT (Last year but unfortunately not this year) reports help identify lapsed donors, making it easier to re-engage them and build a stronger support base. This can lead to more predictable revenue and better budgeting.

  • Report type: Contacts

  • Template parameters:

    • Filter – Transactions between 1/1 and 12/31 of last year

    • Filter – No transactions between 1/1 and 12/31 of this year

New Donors

A new donor report helps assess campaign effectiveness, identify growth areas, and turn first-time donors into recurring supporters. Tailored communications can increase future engagement and strengthen your donor pipeline.

  • Report type: Contacts

  • Template parameters:

    • Data table – "First time supported at" column

Recurring Donations

A total recurring transactions report shows repeat donations, helps identify trends, and measures donor commitment. This helps keep donors engaged and build a steady stream of support.

  • Report type: Transactions

  • Parameters:

    • Filter – Transactions between 1/1 and 12/31 of last year

    • Filter – No transactions between 1/1 and 12/31 of this year

Recurring Donors

Recurring donor reports help forecast revenue, strengthen relationships, boost retention, and provide personalized outreach. This helps maximize donor potential, increase contribution amounts, and foster a stable donor base.

  • Report type: Contacts

Retained Donors

A retained donor report tracks loyal supporters, identifies patterns, assesses engagement strategies, and identifies potential candidates for long-term giving.

Shows donors that have donated more than once, within the last two years.

  • Report type: Contacts

  • Parameters:

    • Filter – Has transactions between 1/1 of last year and 12/31 of this year

    • Filter – Has transactions count: greater than 1

Top Donors

Top donor reports help identify and strengthen relationships with your most impactful supporters. Personalized communication, updates, and recognition can deepen engagement and encourage continued support.

  • Report type: Contacts

  • Parameters:

    • Data table – "Total transacted", sorted most transacted to least transacted

Total Transactions

A total transaction report gives you a clear picture of how much your organization has raised over a set period, tracks donor behavior, and helps time campaigns based on peak giving times for best results. It can also improve revenue forecasting.

  • Report type: Transactions

Reports created from a template will be shown as Created by Givebutter in your list of Reports.

Creating from scratch ✍

Select a category for the type of report you want to build:

  • Contacts – Create a contact-based report for all of your contacts.

  • Transactions – Create a transaction-based report for all of your transactions, including auction bids, donations, and tickets.

Building your report 🛠

Reports created from scratch or from a template must be given a unique name to proceed (limit 50 characters). You cannot create multiple reports with the same name, even if they have the same parameters.

To begin building your report, you'll have the option to edit the Report name you set, and add an optional description (no character limit).

report details

Customizing the date range

To customize the date range of the visualization (as applicable) and the data table, you can configure custom date ranges.

  • For contact reports, the selected date range filters the table by the date a contact was created.

  • For transaction reports, the selected date range filters the visualization and the table by the date a transaction was made.

Date range options include today, last 7 days, 14 days, 4 weeks, 3 months, 12 months, month-to-date, quarter-to-date, year-to-date, all-time, or a custom date range. If working from a template, you can still edit these dates.

date range

Adding filters

To add filters to your data, click the Filter button. You can select multiple cumulative filters to further narrow down the information included. Available filter options differ based on the type of report category you're creating.

filter button

Full list of reporting filters (Transactions)

  • Date

  • Amount

  • Contact

  • Campaign

  • Fund

  • Team

  • Team member

  • Payment status

  • Payment method

  • Check deposited

  • Creation type

  • Acknowledgment

  • External label

  • Auction item

  • Campaign matches

  • Number

  • Plan ID

  • First name

  • Last name

  • Company

  • Email

  • Phone

  • Amount

  • Status

  • Acknowledged at

  • Created at

  • Transacted at

  • Contact ID

  • Street 1

  • Street 2

  • City

  • State

  • ZIP

  • Country

  • Donor name

  • Recurring status

  • Campaign title

  • Creation source

  • Payment method

  • Check number

  • Team name

  • Team raised

  • Team member first name

  • Team member last name

  • Team member email

  • Team member phone

  • Team member raised

  • Donor first name

  • Donor last name

  • Donor email

  • Donor phone

Full list of reporting filters (Contacts)

  • Contact

    • First Name

    • Last Name

    • Primary Email

    • Primary Phone

    • Website URL

    • LinkedIn URL

    • Facebook URL

    • Total Contributions

    • Recurring Contributions

    • First Donation Date

    • Last Donation Date

    • Last Donation Amount

    • First Time Supporter At

    • Date

    • Birthday

    • Bidder Status

    • Widget Sign-ups

    • Trackable Messages

    • Received Mailing

    • Tag

    • Custom Fields

    • Address

    • Activity

    • Last Communication Date

    • Created At

    • Total Transacted

    • Gender

    • Date of Birth

    • Company

    • Title

    • Note

    • X URL

  • Donorsearch

    • Donorsearch Rating

    • Major Gift Likelihood

    • Lowest External Gift Amount

    • Total Likely External Gift Amount

    • Annual Gift Likelihood

  • Transactions

    • Transactions Count

    • Date Added

    • Amount

    • Contact

    • Campaign

    • Fund

    • Team

    • Team Member

    • Status

    • Payment Method

    • Check Deposited

    • Creation Type

    • Acknowledgement

    • External Label

    • Auction Item

    • Campaign Matches

  • Team member

    • Campaign Members Count

    • Amount Raised

    • Fundraising Goal

    • Supporter Count

    • Date Registered

  • Tickets

    • Tickets Count

    • Date

    • Status

    • Ticket Type

    • Campaign

    • Custom Fields

    • Event

    • Promo Code

  • Transaction Plan

    • Transaction Plans Count

    • Amount

    • Created On

    • Next Bill Date

    • Status

    • Payment Method

    • Fund

    • Frequency

  • Pledge

    • Pledges Count

    • Amount

    • Amount Fulfilled

    • Remaining Balance

    • First Installment Date

    • Next Installment Date

    • Fulfillment Date

    • Status

    • Type

    • Fund

    • Installment frequency

Customizing the data table

Once you're happy with the filters applied to specify the contacts or transactions included in your report, you can customize the information shown in the report data table. Click the table icon to check or uncheck information to appear in your report.

Full list of data table options (Transactions)

  • First name

  • Last name

  • Email

  • Amount

  • Transacted at

  • Number

  • Plan ID

  • Company

  • Phone

  • Status

  • Acknowledged at

  • Created at

  • Contact ID

  • Street 1

  • Street 2

  • City

  • State

  • ZIP

  • Country

  • Donor name

  • Recurring status

  • Campaign title

  • Creation source

  • Payment method

  • Check number

  • Team name

  • Team raised

  • Team member first name

  • Team member last name

  • Team member email

  • Team member phone

  • Team member raised

  • Donor first name

  • Donor last name

  • Donor email

  • Donor phone

Full list of data table options (Contacts)

  • First name

  • Last name

  • Primary email

  • Contact since

  • Total transacted

  • Total donated

  • First donation date

  • Last donation date

  • Last donation amount

  • Gender

  • Date of birth

  • Company

  • Title

  • Note

  • Website URL

What's the difference between adding filters and customizing the data table?

  • Filters narrow down the contacts or transactions included in your report.

  • Data table customizations add or remove information pertaining to the contacts or transactions that meet your report parameters.

Customizing charts 📈

By default, any reports containing visualizations will include both the current period (as defined by the selected date range) and the previous period as set by the custom date range. To remove a data set, click on the legend/title of the data you'd like to remove – clicking will strike it out and remove it from the chart.

Updating the date range for the visualization will also update the date range for the data table.

Saving a report 💾

To save your report, click the Save button at the top of the page. If you've edited an existing report, these edits will apply to any scheduled reports that you've already set up. A saved report will be stored in your dashboard.

save

You do not need to immediately download or send a report – you can save the report in your dashboard and come back to it later.

Exporting as a CSV 📨

To export your report as a CSV (spreadsheet) file, click the blue Share button in the upper right, and select Export CSV. A copy of your report will be sent to the email address you're logged in with.

export as csv

Please note that CSV files do not support graphs/visualizations, if applicable to your report.

Sharing via email 📬

To send a report by email, click the blue Share button, then select Share via email.

share via email

On this page, you'll see a summary of this report, including:

  • The name of the report

  • Number of rows in the data table (records)

  • The report date range

summary

Next, you'll be prompted to fill out the Subject and recipients (Send to) of this email – both of these are required fields. You can optionally add a message to include as well.

To email this report to admins on your Givebutter account, select them from the pre-loaded options, or click in the Send to box to see a list of all admins on your account.

To email this report to someone else, whether it's someone at your organization who isn't a Givebutter admin (or someone outside your organization entirely), you can click in the Send to field and type email addresses manually, separated by a comma.

By default, the frequency for this report will be set to send One time, and the send date will be set to Immediately. Clicking Send in the upper right corner will send this report right away.

Scheduling reports ⏰

To send a One time report at a later date and time, click On date. Here, you can select a date and time to automatically send the report in the future.

To send a report automatically on a pre-determined recurring schedule, select Recurring. This is an ideal choice for automating your reporting to organizational staff, admins, or board members.

Schedule options include:

  • Daily – Select the time to send the report

  • Weekly –  Select the day of the week (ie. Monday) and time to send the report

  • Monthly – Select the day of the month (ie. 15th) and time to send the report

FAQ 🤔

Is the default report date range a fiscal year or a calendar year?

The default report date range for most report templates is year-to-date (calendar year). Fiscal years can vary from organization to organization – you can customize your date range to suit your fiscal year as needed.

Why doesn't my report include a graph or visualization?

  • You created a contact-based report, such as "Top Donors". Only transaction-based reports will result in a visualization.

  • You exported as a CSV – unfortunately, CSV files do not support images.

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