Virtuous offers multiple ways to see your data at a high level, including filters, queries, and standard reports built right into the dashboard. For cases where you need something more, you can also create a custom report.
To get started, in the Navigation bar, select the Reports option on the fly away screen.
On the My Reports page, select ‘New Report’ on the upper right hand side of the screen. There you'll see sections for each different type of report you can create:
- Contact
- Gift
- Gift Ask
- Gift Split
- Grant
- Planned Gift
- Pledge
- Project
- Recurring Gift
Select the type of report you'd like to build. The report wizard will walk you through four main steps to creating your report.
Select Graph
To begin, you'll need to enter the details for your new report.
Your report must have a unique name (this will make it much easier to find later!). To keep things clear, you can use the report criteria in your report name. For example, "2020 Gifts by Gift Type" or "Average Gift Amount by Month." Add a description if you'd like to provide additional details on your report.
You'll have the option to create your own private custom reports, only visible to you. By default, all reports are visible to any user with access to the Query Tool. Just uncheck the "Share this report..." box if you'd like to keep your report private.
Next, you'll actually select a graph for your report.
Note the graphic on the right that highlights where your graph will appear in your final report. This graphic only shows placement, and will not reflect your actual chart selection. Note that in the screenshot above, "Line Chart" is selected, but the graphic still shows a bar chart.
If you do not want to have a graph generated with your report, just select "Only show raw data." You can change your graph selection at any time, even after your report is created.
Group Fields
With the basics set up, it's time to build out the key data elements for your report.
First, you'll want to select up to three fields you can use to group data together in your report. For example, do you want to see pledge amounts grouped together by month for the last year? Average Recurring Gift amount by frequency? In these cases, "Pledge Month" and "Frequency" would be your "Group By" field selections. Click in the box to see a list or begin typing to search for a specific field and then click it to select it for your report.
Once you have set your grouping, you can select a value to summarize.
Each report type will have a few options to select from, including Amount and Contact. Once you've made a selection, you'll also have the option to select how your data will be aggregated. You can select up to three of the following options:
- Average: Calculate the average of values within each grouping. For example, this is a great way to track the average gift amount by month to see trends over time.
- Count: Find the raw number of records in each grouping. For example, in a grants report, you could use this to see how many grants are in each status category.
- Distinct: Find the number of unique records in each grouping. For example, in a gift query, you could use this with "Contact" to identify the number of Contacts who donate each month, regardless, of how many gifts each Contact gives monthly.
- Max: Identify the largest value in each group. For example, you could use this to determine what the highest Recurring Gift amount is for each Frequency.
- Min: Identify the smallest value in each group. For example, you could find the smallest Gift given each year.
- Sum: Calculates the totals of all values in each group. This allows you to see totals, for example, a breakdown of year-to-date giving totals by Gift Type.
Choose Fields
Now that your chart data is set, you can select values to include in your data table. Select as many values as you'd like to see in your report details.
Just click in the box to see a list or begin typing to search for a specific field and then click it to select it for your report.
Filter Data
Finally, you'll need to set limits on which data to include in your report. You'll see radio buttons offering two options, either a filter or a report.
If your criteria are fairly simple and do not require any OR statements, then you can use filters. For example, if you are creating a report called "Year to Date Giving by State," you would want to filter for all Gifts in the current year. The filter criteria will be saved as part of your report and can be edited by editing your report.
Use queries if you need more complex criteria, or if you need to use nested queries. Note that your saved query must be the same type as your report. This means that you cannot use a Contact query, for example, to filter data for a Gift query. You would need to nest your Contact query into a Gift query in order to use it in your report.
When you use a saved query to create a report, Virtuous will automatically create a new copy of your query to use with the report. The new query will have the same name as your custom report.
Once you have selected your query, just click "Save Report" to save and view your new report.
To learn more about working with your new report, you can check out this support article on managing your custom reports.