The user filter is available to site managers, and it has a few important purposes:

  • Viewing and reporting on a selected group of users
  • Performing an action (such as activating accounts or adding to a user group) on a selected group of users
  • Emailing a selected group of users

In all cases, the user filter enables you to narrow your list of Connect users to those who meet certain criteria, such as email domain, responses to a particular need, birth date, and more. You'll find a number of articles on the user filter here in the Help Center. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions we've received about the user filter.

Where can I find the user filter?

The user filter is available to site managers and can be found in two places:

  • In your user management area (Volunteerism > Users) - Use this area if you want to export a list of selected users or if you want to perform a certain action on the list.
  • At the top of the email blast pate (Communication > Email Blast) - Use this filter if you want to email a list of selected users

To open the user filter on either page, click the User Filter link.

So I can access the user filter in two places. Does this mean there are two user filters?

While you can access the filter from two places, it's all the same user filter. Use the user-management filter to view or export a list of selected users. Use the email blast filter to send an email to a list of selected users.

How does the user filter work?

The user filter enables you to select one or more filter criteria, such as birth date, a response to a selected need, or agency manager status, as shown below.

When you submit a filter, the system pulls all users who meet your filter criteria. You can then export the filtered list into a spreadsheet or send an email to the users within the list.

I want to email all of my agency managers. Can I use the user filter to do this?

You sure can! From your email blast, click User Filter and create a filter on Volunteer > Agency Manager > is an Agency Manager.

Click Submit to narrow that list to your site's agency managers. Next, complete the applicable fields of your email. When you click to send the email, it will go to all of the agency managers in your filtered list.

Can I use the filter to view an agency's fans?

Yes, you can use the filter to view, export, or email and agency's fans. To filter your user list, create a filter on Volunteer > Agency Fan > is a fan of, and then select the agency.

Remember to click Submit to filter the list.

Can I use the filter to email the members of a team?

The filter does not filter users by team. If you would like to send a message to a team, go to Volunteerism > Teams, select a team, select the members to email, and then click Email Members to open an email form. To learn more about emailing teams, click here.

Can users be filtered by whether or not they have met certain qualifications?

If your site uses the qualifications feature, then yes, you can filter users by qualification! You can select to view all users that have been approved or declined for a certain qualification, and whose qualifications are expired or pending.

At this time, the tool does not filter for users who have submitted or not submitted qualifications.

When I export users from the filter, what information is exported?

Your user export will be emailed to you, and it will include the following information (as applicable) about each user listed:

  • Domain (site they are registered on)
  • User ID
  • External ID
  • First and last name
  • Email address
  • Street address, city, county, state, country, and ZIP code
  • Age range and birtdhay
  • Gender
  • Phone, extension, and mobile phone
  • Graduation date
  • Department and role
  • Disaster responder (if they indicated that they want to be contacted in a disaster)
  • Date added
  • Date updated
  • Date last logged in
  • Interests
  • Tags
  • User groups
  • Extra data (answers to custom questions)
  • Comments (as entered into the user profile from the site manager panel)

How do I use the And/Any dropdown in the filter?

This dropdown is useful if you are running multiple filters. For example, let's say you want to filter everyone who (1) is an agency manager and (2) has not logged on yet this year. You would then use that "And" option to indicate that you want to filter users who meet both criteria:

Note: To open a second filter, click the "plus" sign to add a new filter.

You would use the "Any" option if you want til find user who meet any of the multiple criteria you've submitted. For example, if you wanted to filter everyone who responded either one need or another you've selected, you would use the "Any" option.

This filter would pull users who responded to either of these needs.

Why should I save a filter?

If you'll be sending multiple emails to the same filtered group, or if you will want to re-use a complicated filter later, it's a good idea to save the filter so you don't have to re-create it again later.

How do I save a filter?

Once you have run a filter, you'll see an option to save it. Give the filter a title, and then click Save User Filter to save it. In this example, the site manager has named the filter "Camp Info Email."

Once the filter has been saved, you can select it from the Select Saved Filter dropdown.

Can I delete a filter that I saved previously?

Yes! To delete a saved filter, select it from the Select Saved Filter dropdwn, and then click the X to the left of it.

What gets saved: the filter or the list?

The filter, not the list, is saved. Each time you load a saved filter, your Connect system re-runs it. So, if new users have joined your site since the last time you ran the filter, and some of those users meet your saved filter criteria, they will be included in the newly filtered list.

How can I save a list of users?

If you're interested in saving a list rather than a filter (so that the list is the same every time), you can add a tag to an existing list. For example, if you want to create a list of people who are currently agency managers, and you want to email that same group several times through out the year (and you don't want to include new agency managers), you can apply a tag to everyone in that list in bulk. Here's how you would do that:

  1. In the user-management area of your site (Volunteerism > Users), open the user filter.
  2. Run a filter on Volunteer > Agency Manager > Is an Agency Manager and click .
  3. From the Select an Action dropdown, select Add/Remove Tags.
  4. Add a descriptive tag. In this example, the site manager has named the tag "Agency Managers as of 2/2019.
  5. Click Update Tags.

When you are ready to view that list again, you'll run a filter on the new tag, as shown below:

How can I export a filtered list?

To export a filtered list:

  1. From your user-management area (Volunteerism > Users), run and submit a filter.
  2. From the Select an Action dropdown, select Export Users.
    Important: Do not click the Export All Users button to the left of the dropdown, or it will export a list of all the users on your site.
  3. Click the red Export Current User List button.
  4. In the pop-up that appears, enter the email address where you'd like the export to be sent, and then click Email Export.

The exported list typically takes a minute or two to appear in your inbox, depending on the size of the export.

Can I control what information is exported?

While the filter can help you choose which users will appear in an export, the columns in the exported spreadsheet cannot be changed. 

Besides sending emails, what can I do with a filtered list?

Working from your user-management area (Volunteerism > Users) you can perform a number of actions on a filter list. These actions are available in the Select an Action dropdown at the top of the page:

This feature enables you to perform any of the following bulk actions on the user accounts in a filtered list:

  • Add or remove user tags
  • Add the filtered users to a user group (or remove them from a user group) (See this video to learn more.)
  • Export the user list into a spreadsheet
  • Deactivate user accounts
  • Send a password reset email
  • Activate imported user accounts (Click here to learn more.)
  • Remove a selected benchmark from all users who have been awarded it

Notes about the user export: (1) The Export All Users button will generate an exported list of all users on your site, while the Export Users option under Select an Action will export only those users who have been filtered. (2) User exports are not generated automatically. You will be asked to provide the email where you would like the file to be sent, and you will receive the export via email shortly after providing your email address.

How does the filter work with user groups?

You can use the filter to bulk-add users to a user group, bulk-remove users from a user group, or email the members of a user group.

Our Managing User Groups article explains how to add people to a user group in bulk.

To email the members of a user group, go to your Email Blast and run a filter on User Data > User Group > belongs to, and select the user group. Learn more about sending an email through the Email Blast tool in this article.

What are some commonly used filters I should know about?

Because all Connect sites are unique, each site manager will value different filters valuable. The following articles point to filters that are particularly useful for reporting and the email blast:

Listed below are a few of the most commonly used filters, however, that site managers use often:

PurposeFilter Example (Click image for a larger view.)
To email your site's agency managers
To view an agency's fans
To reach out to users who have not provide mobile phone numbers for texting
To reach out to volunteers who responded to a selected need
To see which volunteers have has participated in an initiative
To reach out to the agency managers of agencies that have participated in an initiative