Searching, filtering and saved lists

Build a list once and use it for email, SMS, calls and exports.

People

Quick answers

6 questions · click to open

What 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.

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.

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, tags — and on behaviour, like whether someone has donated or volunteered.

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.

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

The Lists screen, showing members and recent campaigns.

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.

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.