In Churchteams, reports can (1) provide feedback from collected information, or (2) use our powerful filters to perform mass actions within the database.
To get started, go to Reports > New.
In this tutorial, we'll show you how to Save and Schedule your report after you've created it, but if you'd like to jump straight to those tutorials instead, here are the references:
How do I save reports and access them later?
What are Scheduled Reports, and how are they used?
Creating a New Report in Churchteams:
Start your thinking about reports by considering your desired outcome, and use our report options and filters to achieve your goal. If you create a report you'll use regularly; we'll show you how to Save the Report at the end of this tutorial and even Schedule it to run automatically.
Report Types
There are four types of reports if you have financial access. Otherwise, you will only see the first three types. Click the header bar of any category to expand it and see the available reports. Click one of the Examples buttons for any category to see some of our report options and examples.
1. Groups: include rosters, volunteer schedules and block out dates, attendance, and missing person reports
2. Members: include lists, family directory, export and database maintenance reports
3. Communication: includes labels, email & texting options, member update requests, and reports for adding people to workflows
4. Financial: include contribution detail and charts, statements, reconciliation, pledge, and recurring giving reports.
Within each category, consider whether you need an output of collected data (what we traditionally think of when we think of reports) or do you need to have mass changes made in the database. Typically, the report names that begin with an action, such as "Suspend, Remove, Export, Mass Update, and Send Email," will perform mass actions within the database, using our filters to capture people with something(s) in common, and then take that action. Our other reports are more traditional data output reports.
Report Options
Once a report is selected, most will open with an Options column on the left side of the page, allowing you to select options to be included in your report. These fields will display whether you have the corresponding data in the database or not. The more reports you run, the more valuable current and accurate data for all members and groups is when using report options and filters.
Report Filters
In addition to the Report Options, we include Report Filters. Filters let you choose the people you want to be included in your chosen report. To make the filters easier to locate, we've categorized them by Group, Member, and Contribution filters. Here are some examples:
- Group Filters: People in groups, not in groups, attended a group during a specific date range, people who registered for groups with specific form responses, etc.
- Member Filters: People with a specific church member type, a specific gender, zip code, birth month, ministry interest, family role, etc.
- Contribution Filters: Families that gave for the first time in a specific date range, stopped giving, gave three or more times in a date range, or are recurring donors, etc.
Report Summary; Running and Saving Report
The Summary box in the upper right of the report creation page summarizes what the report will do once you run it. We recommend you review the Summary before running the report to ensure that the options and filters you've selected are correct. Click the green button to Run the Report.
Depending on the report you've selected, the system will either display output data based on your selections or prompt you for a few more choices to perform mass actions (such as in the cases of sending an email, mass updating member information, or removing people from the database).
Saving a Report
There are two options for saving a report - (1) while still on the report creation screen (shown in the image above, inside the yellow Summary box) or (2) just after clicking Run Report (see image below)
The report is displayed in this first image below - a Member Listing Report - and the "Add to Saved Reports" button is available at the top of the page.
In the following example shown below, and with most reports that are mass action and you are prompted to complete at least one other step before the report or action runs (in this case, the email editor opens), you must click the "Add to Saved Reports" button before completing any further action. The software gives you a display of what action and whom it will affect.
For more details on Saved Reports, including dynamic date filters, adding Tags, changing the Security Level of Saved Reports, and Search options, read more here.
Once you have Saved a report, you can also Schedule most to run at automatic intervals. Read more about Scheduled Reports here.