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

When working in Virtuous, you'll notice there are a lot of ways of gathering data in Virtuous. There is the Filter option, available across many pages in virtuous. You can also use a Query to put specific criteria together to find a selection of data. And finally, there are Reports that display data. But which tool is best? That depends on what information and in what format 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 Can Filters 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 are Filter Limitations? 

• Cannot be saved.
• Cannot be shared with other users.
• Cannot schedule results to automatically sedt to users.
• Limited to fields associated with the Filter type being used. (e.g., cannot mix Project information with Contact information if building a Filter on the Contact page)
• Only one set of criteria can be applied at any given time 
• Cannot 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.

To learn more about working with Nested Queries in Virtuous, check out this Support Article. 

What Can a Query 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 are Query Limitations?

• Only one type of data can be included in an export 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. 
• Cannot allow for 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.

To learn more about using the Project Summary Report, check out this Support Article. 

Two Types of Reports 

• Standard Reports
• Custom Reports

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

To review the full list of Standard Reports available, check out this collection of Support Articles. 

What Can Standard Reports Do? 

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

What Are Standard Report Limitations? 

• No room for customization. Standard Reports are intended to be used as a plug and play option. 
• Unavailable to be a scheduled Report to have results automatically sent to users.

Custom Reports will need to be built out in Virtuous. 

To learn more about building Custom Reports in Virtuous, check out this Support Article. 

What Can Custom Reports 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 scheduled to send to a user with a set recurring time.
• Be added to your dashboard in a widget space.

What are Custom Report Limitations? 

• Only one type of data can be included in an export output. 
• Cannot allow for mathematical operations within each Query parameter.