Advanced Query Wizard: Create a Smart Group Query

A Smart Group is a dynamic collection of constituents you identify by defining an Advanced Query, such as new CRM constituents who need to be added to Engage for a Welcome Email Series.

When new constituents meet the criteria of the Smart Group, they are added to the Smart Group automatically. Salsa CRM updates group members once a day at 7 AM in the time zone of your organization. Every 12 hours, the query looks for any constituent added in the last 24 hours, and the Smart Group (optionally) syncs them to Engage. Over in Engage, you can automatically add those new supporters to an Email Welcome Series that cultivates them into engaging with your mission and perhaps donating to your cause.

Check out our Advanced Query Wizard Overview article for more information. To prepare a new Smart Group query...

1. From the CRM Navigation Bar, choose Reports > Queries > Advanced Query Wizard. The Advanced Query Wizard launches.
2. Click the Create New Query button at the top of the Query Wizard window. This opens Step 1 in a new browser tab for your new query.
3. In the Query Type frame on the left side of the window, choose a Constituent query type.
   
   In our example, you could build a query of constituents who were added to the CRM within the last 24 hours, then add the query to a Smart Group.
   
   The Constituent type query also contains a Donation Info table with basic transaction data. This enables you to identify constituents and their donation history, without running multiple queries.
4. For the Purpose of this Query frame, choose Salsa Engage. This ensures your constituents will sync by including all the output fields that Engage needs. Output fields that are included in this manner have a red border and cannot be removed but may be filtered.
5. If you never intend this smart group to sync with Engage, choose General as the Purpose of this Query. You will then need to add Constituent Number so Salsa CRM can add the constituent to the Smart Group.
   
6. Click Next. The Step 2: Select Query Criteria window will open.
7. To add Filter Fields and Sort Fields, select Filter and Sort respectively, For example,to make sure your query contains only people, not businesses, add a filter on Constituent Type = Individual.
   
   
8. Adding the Spouse name to the output will not include the Spouse in a Smart Group sync to Engage. Only the fields in red will sync. However, if the spouse meets the filter criteria they may be included in the query results.
9. Even if you have duplicate results in your query with the same constituent number, the constituent will be added to the group only once and will sync to Engage only once.
10. Once the fields, sort order, and filters are set up the way you want them, click Next. The Step 3: Preview, Exclude, and Modify Data screen will open. It will be populated with the data from your query.
    
    PRO TIP: Select the Back button to go back one step in the Wizard if you want to change query parameters to get a different result. The Gear button provides for additional functionality. See Advanced Query Wizard Overview for details.
11. Click Next. The Step 4: Post-Query Options window will open.
12. Click the Save... button at the top of the list of buttons.
13. Click Save Query Criteria.
14. Enter a query description you will remember when you add it to the Smart Group designation.
15. Click the Finish button.

The last step is to create a new Smart Group.