Novi's Group feature is a great way to segment your database into groups that have certain commonalities - whether it's member type, location, the same custom field values, etc.
Groups have five main purposes:
To sync to MailChimp or Constant Contact for email marketing
To lock down content (e.g. blog/news categories, static webpages, etc.)
To lock down certain pricing (e.g. event tickets, products, etc.)
To create a directory on your website
To share custom reports with non-admin users
If you're using Novi Groups as a quick and easy built-in-report, that's a great idea! Just keep in mind that Custom Reports offer a wide variety of additional column options. If you need to pull a more detailed report on these members, such as address fields split into separate columns, primary contact information, etc. we recommend using the Custom Report feature instead of the Groups functionality.
Create New Group
To create a Group:
Go to Members > Groups in the left navigation.
On the Groups screen, click the Add Group button in the upper right-hand corner.
You can also copy an existing Group!
Go to Members > Groups in the left navigation.
On the main Groups screen, find the group you want to copy and click the arrow in the Action column.
Then select Copy Group.
From there, you can rename the new group and edit the setup as needed (more info below).
Once the group has been created (either from scratch or copied from an existing group), there are two different approaches to the setup. Below are some tools to help you determine which is correct for your scenario. As always, if you need some help working up a plan, please reach out to our support team & we'd be glad to help point you in the right direction.
Limit to Specific Records
This is the fastest way to create a small group in Novi. Simply toggle this to "On" and select any members you'd like to include in the group.
While this approach allows you to quickly add any members you'd like, the downside is that you are now on the hook to manage the group. Therefore, this may not be the ideal approach for larger groups.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Each group must be built on "Limit to Specific Records" (above) OR using "Conditions" (below), but you cannot use both or the group will not populate correctly.
Conditions
Creating a group with conditions can be a more flexible approach. If you're unfamiliar with creating conditions, you might want to search for "conditions" in our help section for a variety of articles with more information.
Group condition options are listed in sections:
Custom Fields - Applicable custom fields created by the association.
Customer Activities - A list of activity types that appear on a record's activity timeline that can be pulled based on "days ago" conditions.
Events - A list of all non-recurring events that can be pulled based on "Registered" or "Not Registered" conditions. Note: This will pull attendees, not purchasers, and guest registrations will not be included because they are not linked to a member record.
Member Fields - Specific pre-existing fields in Novi, such as address, member type, open balance, etc. See "Member Field conditions available" below for a list of available fields.
Product Purchases - A list of ecommerce products that can be pulled based on "Has Purchased" (not including canceled orders, but fulfilled or open status does not count) or "Has Not Purchased" conditions. Note: If the purchaser was not logged in (i.e. they were a guest), they will not be included in the Group.
Subscriptions - A list of subscription products based on the number of days ago of the subscription expiration dates.
To search for a condition:
Click into the Conditions section of a group.
From there, a dropdown will appear, presenting you with all of your condition options.
Additionally, you may type into the condition box to easily filter/find a specific condition.
Here is an example of a Product Purchase condition:
Member Field Conditions Available
Auto-Pay
Billing Address City, State, Zip & Country
Credentials
Has a Headshot or Logo
Has a User Account
Has Member Benefits (This will include any record in your database that is currently receiving benefits, both dues-paying and inheriting records.)
Is A Person
Job Title
Last Login - Days Ago (The group will be updated as soon as the user logs in, as well as nightly. People who have never logged in will have a null value. Removing or changing the user account will reset the Last Login date to a null value. Note: A user can stay logged in for days, or even up to several weeks at a time, so we recommend entering a value of 30 days or more.)
Member Since Date - Days Ago
Member Type
Membership Expiration - Days Ago (A positive number would identify members that expired in the past. A negative number of days would project members who are scheduled to expire in the future.)
Membership Expiration Date
Membership Status (Options: Non-Member, Prospect, Pending, Current, Grace Period, Expired, or Inheriting)
Open Balance (Refers to all open invoices for a member record, plus their sub-companies and staff.)
Open Dues Balance (Refers to the balance on open dues invoices created within Novi, for the member record only. It does not include invoices created in QuickBooks.)
Original Join Date - Days Ago (This is an optional field for tracking when a member first joined. If there has been a lapse in membership, this date will be different from the Current Membership Since date.)
Original Join Date - Specific Date (This is an optional field for tracking when a member first joined. If there has been a lapse in membership, this date will be different from the Current Membership Since date.)
Overdue Balance (Refers to all past-due invoices for a member record, plus their sub-companies and staff.)
Overdue Dues Balance (Refers to the balance on past-due membership dues invoices created within Novi, for the member record only. It does not include invoices created in QuickBooks.)
Parent Member Type
Prefix and Suffix
Shipping Address City, State, Zip, Country & County/Parish
Fields related to seats:
Assigned Seats
Unassigned Seats
Total Seats
Group Beneficiaries
Don't forget to also determine which group beneficiaries should be in the group. For example, if you're pulling a group of companies, should their staff also be in the group?
Group List Columns
Once the group has been created, remember that the columns on your group member list are driven by the gear icon in the top right corner. To add new columns to a group member list, click the gear and select the columns you'd like to display.
Group Category
There are several uses for groups in Novi and no limit to the number you can create, so keep your groups list organized by utilizing Group Categories.
When creating a new group, select the category it belongs in from the drop down.
The categories available are based on your group categories list in Novi, located beneath Members on the sidebar.
Additional Resources