Which Tool is Best? Filter vs. Report vs. Query

There are a lot of ways of gathering data in Virtuous. But which way is best? That depends on what information you need.

Here's a quick map to determine when you should use a filter, report, or query:

Each of these has a list of things they can do and a list of things they cannot do. For a brief overview:

*This is true only for custom reports. Email sends are not available for standard reports.

For a deeper dive, keep reading for further definition and clarification on their pros and cons.

Filters

A filter is a tool that you'll see on many screens, like the contact and gift screens, where you can quickly find a list of records with a set of parameters. These are often single-use.

For example: You may want a quick list of gift splits toward a particular project this past week - let's say Urban Youth is the project. You can navigate to the gifts screen, select the Gift Splits tab, then use the project code and gift date parameters to narrow down which were given toward Urban Youth.

What they can do:

• Pull a list of records from a particular object (e.g., a list of contacts, gifts, or tasks).
• Use multiple parameters (e.g., tag is Major Donor and state is CA).
• Use "And" statements.
• Be used in segmentation, automation, etc.
• Have output exported.

What they can't do:

• Be saved.
• Be shared with other users.
• Have results automatically sent to users.
• Have fields from multiple objects as input (e.g., cannot mix project information with contact information).
• Use "Or" statements.
• Visualize trends in data.

Queries

The Query Tool is one of the most powerful data tools we have in Virtuous. It allows you to ask more complex questions of the database than what Filters can handle. In other words: Queries allow for flexibility by combining data across multiple objects or types (which can be done via nested queries).

For example: You may want a list of donors who have given toward a specific project (see this article to walk through this scenario).

What they can do:

• Pull a list of records from a particular object (e.g., a list of contacts, gifts, or tasks).
• Pull a mixed object list (via nested queries).
• Use multiple parameters (e.g., tag is Major Donor and state is CA).
• Use "And" statements as well as "Or" statements.
• Be used in segmentation, automation, etc.
• Have output exported.
• Be shared with other users.

What they can't do:

• Contain different groups of data in the output.
  • For example: If you want your output to include specific information about projects AND specific information about gifts, this might not be possible. You'd be limited to basic information about projects on a gift query's output. 
• Mathematical operations within each query parameter. 
  • For example: You cannot pull a list of people who gave the same amount in 2021 as they did in 2020.
• Visualize trends in data.
• Have results automatically sent to users.

Reports

A key difference between reports and filters/queries is that reports visualize trends and comparisons in data that you can use for analysis. You can also create a report with raw data, or lines of records. Additionally, you can use a filter or query to narrow down the data you want to include in your report.

For example: You may want to compare how much has been given toward each project this past week. This would be a use case for something visual like the project summary standard report.

There are two types of reports: 

• Standard Reports
• Custom Reports

Standard Reports are already built out in Virtuous to display commonly used sets of data. 

What they can do:

• Display trends in data depending on the type of Standard Report
• Be exported.

What they can't do:

• Have a lot of room for customization.
• Have results automatically sent to users.

Custom Reports will need to be built out in Virtuous - you can learn how to build them here. 

What they can do:

• Draw information from a filter or query.
• Display trends in data using a pie chart, bar graph, line graph, or even raw data.
• Be saved.
• Be exported.
• Be shared with other users.
• Be automatically sent to a user with a set recurring time.
• Be added to your dashboard in a widget space.

What they can't do:

• Contain different groups of data in the output.
• Utilize mathematical operators between data points.
• Have results automatically sent to users.