When managing donor information, you'll find fundraising filters in two key sections of your control panel: Finances and People. Understanding the difference between these sections will help you efficiently track and analyze donations.
Finances section: Detailed transaction view
In the Finances section, you'll see individual financial transactions. For example, if Janet donates $50 monthly for a year, you'll find 12 separate transaction entries. This granular view allows you to:
Track each specific donation
Analyze detailed financial history
Examine donation patterns at a transaction level
Reasons for filtering in the Finance section:
Trying to find individual donations within a specific period
Looking for donations specific to one campaign
People section: Donor profile overview
The People section provides a consolidated view of donors. Using the previous example, Janet's profile would appear once, summarizing her total contributions without breaking down individual transactions. This section helps you:
Get a quick overview of donor relationships
See aggregate donation information
Manage donor contact details and history
Reasons for filtering the People section:
See the number of people who have donated within a specific period
Customizing Your Approach
Every organization is unique, so we encourage you to explore and customize these filters to best suit your specific needs. As you become more familiar with the system, you'll develop a filtering strategy that works for your fundraising management.
Key elements of filter use in the Finance section
There are several key elements in filtering through donations, as shown in the image below:
The filter icon: This menu contains all the criteria that can be used to organize your data. All searchable terms can be found here.
Number of donations: This number indicates how many individual donations have been made. If you run a filter based on specific criteria, this number will change to reflect the new total.
Running total: The top number indicates the total accumulated dollar (or relevant currency) amount of individual donations. Similar to the number of donations, the running total number will change to reflect the filter criteria.
Helpful filters in the Finance section
Total donations this year (Finance filter)
This filter shows all transactions in the last 12 months. The "Running total" is the total from the filter results and will change as you change the filter criteria.
Total donations this month (Finance filter)
Similar to the filter above, here we've narrowed the filter down to all transactions within the last month.
Helpful filters in the People section
Total donors this year (People filter)
In the People section, this filter will list everyone who has donated between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025. Because it's in the People section, the focus is on who donated, and less on the amount they donated.
LYBUNTY - Last year, but unfortunately not this year (People filter)
Create a saved LYBUNTY filter (or auto-tagging filter) using this criteria: “Date of most recent donation is between Jan 1 and Dec 31st” of the previous year. This filter is found in the People section of the control panel.
SYBUNTY - Some year, but unfortunately not this year (People filter)
Create a saved SYBUNTY filter (or auto-tagging filter) using this criteria: “Date of most recent donation is before Jan 1” of the current year. This filter is found in the People section of the control panel.
Donor Acquisition - new donors this month (People filter)
Create a New Donor Saved filter (or auto-tagging filter) using the following criteria: “Transaction date of the first donation is in the last 30 days."
Donor Retention (People filter)
Create a Retained Donor Saved filter (or auto-tagging filter) using this criteria: “Donation date is between Jan 1 and Dec 31st of the previous year” AND “Donation date is between Jan 1 and Dec 31st of the current year”
Powering your donor engagement strategy
The real power of these filters lies in their ability to drive targeted engagement and automation. By strategically using filters in both the People and Finances sections, you can create sophisticated communication workflows. Identify donors who haven't contributed in a while and trigger re-engagement campaigns, set up automated thank-you communications for consistent supporters, or create special outreach for donors at different giving levels. The Workflows automation feature is ideal for this.
These filters become your strategic tool for maintaining donor relationships, preventing donor churn, and ensuring no supporter falls through the cracks and they can save filters in the People section to see the results as often as needed. Whether it's sending a personalized check-in to a donor who's gone quiet or creating a special recognition program for long-term contributors, filters are your gateway to more intelligent, responsive donor management.