Searching, filtering and saved lists
Build a list once and use it for email, SMS, calls and exports.
Quick answers
11 questions · click to openWhat is a list?
A saved set of filters, kept under Lists. It records who created it and when, so months later it’s obvious whose list it’s and what it was for.
Is a list a snapshot or does it stay current?
It saves the filters, not a frozen set of people — so it stays current as your data changes. A list of lapsed members is accurate the day you use it, not the day you built it.
Where do I build the filters?
On the People screen. Filter until you have the group you want, then save it as a list.
What can I use a list for?
Email campaigns, SMS campaigns, call campaigns and exports. Building it once and reusing it’s the point.
What does emailable mean?
The count with unsubscribed and bounced people excluded — in other words, who would actually receive an email. It’s usually lower than the total, and that’s normal.
What can I filter on?
Location, membership (including which public page someone joined through), tags, donations (including lifetime totals, first/last gift dates, and gift counts by year), volunteer status, email and event engagement, and any person custom fields you have defined (under More filters → Custom fields).
Can I see who joined through a particular membership page?
Yes. On People, open More filters, then Membership, and choose Membership from page. It lists membership pages a visitor can open on the website, and No membership page recorded for members whose membership was never tied to a public page. The page stored when they joined stays put.
Why can't I find a tag in the filter?
The list shows every tag already on a person you can see. Scroll it, or type part of the name. A tag that isn't on anyone yet won't appear.
Will my colleague see the same people in my list?
The same filters, but not necessarily the same people. Lists are scoped by division like everything else, so someone with a narrower role sees fewer.
Why can't I delete a list?
A list can't be deleted while an email campaign or a saved transaction report still uses it. The message tells you how many. Delete those reports, or save them again without the list, then try again.
How many people show per page?
25 by default. Use the Show control next to the pagination at the bottom of the table to switch to 50 or 100.
Filtering is the thing you’ll do most in Cobber, and a list is just a filter you decided to keep.
Filtering people
Start on People and narrow down. You can filter on the obvious things — state, suburb, postcode, membership status and type, tags — and on behaviour, like whether someone has donated or volunteered. More filters → Membership → Membership from page shows people who joined through a membership page a visitor can open on the website. Choose No membership page recorded for members whose membership has no public page — for example one added in the dashboard or by import. Someone who is not a member does not appear. The page stored when they joined stays put. The tag filter lists every tag already on a person you can see: open it and scroll, or type to narrow the list. Person custom fields you define under Custom Fields also appear under More filters → Custom fields — useful for tier, sector, role and anything else you store on contacts.
More filters → Email engagement covers how people responded to a campaign: Opened, Clicked, Replied, and the negative of each — Did not open, Did not click, Did not reply. You can point any of them at one campaign or at every campaign, and limit it to the last so many days.
The negatives mean “was sent one and didn’t”, not “never heard from”. Someone who was never emailed at all doesn’t appear, which is what you want when you are chasing people who ignored something rather than people you never asked.
The count updates as you go, which is the useful part: it tells you whether an audience is worth sending to before you write anything.
For saved reports (filters plus column layout on People), see Saved people reports.
Saving it as a list
Once the filters give you the group you want, save it. A list keeps:
- the filters themselves, so the list stays current as people join and leave
- who created it and when
- the campaigns that have used it
Lists show two numbers: Members, everyone matching the filters, and Emailable, which excludes people who have unsubscribed or hard-bounced. The second is the one to look at before an email campaign — a gap between them is normal.
Using a list
The same list works for an email campaign, an SMS campaign, a call campaign or an export. That’s the reason to save it rather than rebuilding the filters each time: your “lapsed members in Brisbane” is the same group whichever way you decide to reach them.
Name lists so they still make sense in six months. “Lapsed members — Brisbane — 2026 renewal push” beats “Brisbane list”, especially once there are thirty of them.
Deleting a list
You can’t delete a list while an email campaign or a saved transaction report uses it, because those would quietly start matching everyone instead. Cobber tells you what is still using it. Delete those reports from Reports (or save them again without the list), then delete the list.
What your colleagues see
Lists are scoped by division, like everything else. Two people opening the same list can see different numbers of people, because each sees only those their role covers. That’s working as intended — see targeting a list or division.