List/Committee Example: Combining Two Lists

As an association, you want to be able to add individuals in your database to a list as seamlessly as possible. Maybe your destination list needs to include both members from a certain membership type, status, or category, but you also want to allow non-members or individuals that aren't included in that member group to add themselves or be added.

Adding the member group to a list is easy- you set up and save the report according to your criteria, add the individuals from that report to a list, and sync the list to the saved report so new members are added, and dropped members are removed, automatically. See the Smart List article for more details.

But what about those nonmembers and members that aren't covered in the report that wish to opt in to the group? We can't edit the synced list; GrowthZone will overwrite any changes when the report syncs to the list.

You have two options: the Marketing Automation module, or a Contacts List/Committee Report synced to a third list.

In this example, we'll be setting up three GrowthZone lists:

• Member List: This list WILL be synced with a report and will automatically add individuals with your criteria of choice to the list. This list will NOT be visible in the Info Hub, and should not be manually changed by staff, as the nightly sync will overwrite any changes.
• Opt-in List: This list will NOT be synced with a report, and can be visible in the Info Hub (and even published to your website!) if desired to allow non-members and/or members that are not covered under the member criteria/report to join. It can be manually managed in the back office by staff, and members can be added/deactivated/removed as needed.
• Destination List: This is the list that both the above lists will be added to; this list MAY be synced with a report (depending on the option selected) and will NOT be visible in the Info Hub.

Marketing Automation option:

When our lists are configured and populated (or ready to be populated), we go to the Marketing Automation module.

1. Create a Marketing Automation workflow and name it for the Destination List.
2. Add both the Member list and the Opt-In list as source lists.
3. Add one step- "Add to List"- and point to the Destination list.
4. Activate the workflow!

Timing details:

• Marketing Automation steps update once an hour.
• The Members list will update every night via the report.
• The Opt-In list will update as people join/are added. 
• The list combination step will run once an hour if changes are detected to the Opt-In list.

Contacts List/Committee Report option:

When our lists are configured and populated (or ready to be populated), we go to the Reports module and find the Contacts List/Committee Report.

1. In the report's List/Committee dropdown. select the Member List and the Opt-In List.
2. Run the Report. Some contacts may be on both lists; this is fine, as GrowthZone will de-dupe emails to the list during the sending process.
3. Save the Report with the name of the Destination List.
4. Use the "Add to List" option to save the report contacts to the Destination List, and be sure to Sync Nightly with the saved report!

Timing details:

• The Members list will update every night via the report.
• The Opt-In list will update as people join/are added. 
• The Destination List will update every night via the report. NOTE: there may be a delay in contacts being added to the Destination List from the Member List, depending on the order in which the reports are run during the overnight process; unfortunately we have no control over the order in which the overnight report syncs are run.

Regardless of which option you choose (or have access to), you now have two disparate lists being joined together under a single list. Go forth and communicate!