Contact Groups vs. Contact Lists
Contact Groups are used to name groups of contacts for identification/segmentation purposes (e.g., Board Members, volunteers, sponsors, etc.). These will appear as checkboxes in the contact record. A contact may be part of one or many Contact Groups. The group will not change unless a user modifies the record and checks or unchecks a Contact Group. Please refer to our guide on 'Contact Groups' for the step-by-step process to set these up in your database.
Contact Lists are a way to create segmented lists of contacts by choosing specific information using Eleo's Filter Rule tool. A Contact List can be set up to be dynamic, so every time you run it, it will pull the most updated list of records that meet the criteria you selected. You do not need to recreate the list every time you make updates. You will only have to click on 'Generate Preview' each time to ensure it re-pulls the contact list. Our guide on 'How to Create a Dynamic List' will be helpful for you when learning more about this type of contact list.
Contact lists can also be set up to be static (or set) based on manually added contacts into the list or by using the 'Save to List' button in our standard reports. This saves the contact information from a report instead of statistical data, allowing you to use the contact list for mailings and other purposes. These do not update unless you manually add additional contacts to them. You can use a contact list by itself or as a way to narrow down the names listed on a mailing or in a report. Our guide on 'How to Create a Static List' will be useful when learning more about this.
