Manual Groups Vs Smart Groups In CiviCRM

Donor Management

Why use groups?

CiviCRM offers many ways to access and search for information on contacts, contributions, event participants, members and much more. Using a group makes running a search or accessing key information about contacts faster. In CiviCRM, groups can be designated as a mailing list or user access, but they really help improve your workflow when working in CiviCRM.

Find contacts easily by using a manual or smart group

Smart vs Manual- What’s the difference?

There are two different types of groups: manual or smart groups.

  • MANUAL Groups are when you create a CiviCRM group and you manually put contacts into the group. If you want someone in that group, you have to add them to the group. For example, you may create a BOARD group and you manually add or remove board members as they come on and off the board.
  • SMART Groups are when you create a group using Advanced Search and the SMART GROUP is dynamically created based on the criteria you use to build a group. An example of a SMART GROUP could be  you designate your MAJOR DONORS as anyone who has given $1,000 or more in the last 24 months.
Turn an Advanced Search into a New Smart Group by selecting the records after a search and the action New Smart Group.

Once you have created your groups, you can use them to do a quick search, add report criteria, or create user access or mailing lists.

When you go into CiviCRM→ Contacts→ Manage Groups, the system indicates if it is a smart group or not.