Create and manage contact lists

Create a new list, rename a list, or permanently delete a list to better manage your contacts

Contact lists act as containers that store multiple email addresses together. Creating and maintaining multiple lists is the most basic way to segment your contacts into different groups based on different characteristics that are relevant to your organization. For example, you can create different lists for customers at different locations, or create lists based on the season your contacts are most likely to make donations in.

1. From the contacts dashboard, click the Lists tab to:

• Create a new contact list
• Rename an existing contact list
• Delete an outdated contact list
  
   
   

If you have lists that you send to often, marking them as a favorite makes it easy to put them at the top of your Lists table so you can find them quickly. Just click on the star to sort your lists.

Did you know? When you send an email, you can send to an individual list, multiple lists, or use our segmentation tools to target contacts across multiple lists based on their shared characteristics and behavior.

Create a new contact list

You can create up to 1,000 different lists to segment and manage your contacts.

1. Click Create List button in the upper right-hand corner.
   
   
    
2. Give your new list a unique name.
3. Click Save.
   
   
    
4. Click Add Contacts to:

• Create a new individual contact.
• Copy and paste contact information.
• Import a file of contacts.
  
  
   

If your contacts are already in your account, you can also move the contacts from an existing list into your new list.

Rename an existing contact list

The name of your list is important. Not only does it give you an idea of which contacts are on it, but the name of your list is visible on your sign-up forms and gives your contacts a better idea of what kind of content they'll receive.

Rename a List through the Lists tab

1. Next to the list you want to rename, click . . .  > Rename.
   
   
    
2. Give your list a new name. Each list name must be unique.
3. Click Save.
   
   
    

Rename a list while viewing it

1. Next to the list you want to rename, click . . . > View list.
   
   
    
2. From the list view, click . . . > Rename list.
   
   
    
3. Give your list a new name. Each list name must be unique.
4. Click Save.
   
   
    

Delete an outdated contact list

As you organize your contacts, clean up clutter by deleting extra or unnecessary email lists. Before you get started, it's a good idea to move any contacts you want to keep onto a different list, so they're not left un-mailable.

You need at least one email list in your account to allow for new signups and unsubscribes, so you won't be able to delete all of your lists, but you can remove all the contacts from your account, if needed.

Did you know? While you can always re-add contacts, we don't remember which contact list they used to be part of. If you think you'll need to reference the contacts that were part of your deleted list at a later time, it's a good idea to export the list and save it before you delete it.

Delete a list through the Lists tab

1. Select the lists you want to delete.
2. Click Actions > Delete.
   
   
    
3. Choose to:

• Delete the list and contacts - This option deletes the list and all of the contacts on it from your account. If you have contacts on multiple lists, they won't be removed from them. Deleted contacts aren't marked as unsubscribed, so if you need to add them back to your account later, you can.
• Delete the list only - This option only deletes the list and leaves the contacts in your account. You may end up with contacts that are not assigned to any list, but you can manually add them to a different list so that they don't miss out on the emails you're sending.

4. Click Delete.
   Note: If your selected list is currently in use with a scheduled email, you'll see an error message prompting you to unschedule your email before you can delete the list. You can also let the email finish sending and then delete the list.
   
   
    

Once you've deleted a list, don't worry about your past reporting. None of your existing reporting information changes and it will all still be there for you when you need it. Deleted contacts are represented in your reporting with a strike-through across their email address.

Delete a list while viewing it

1. Next to the list you want to delete, click . . . > View list.
   
   
    
2. From the list view, click . . . > Delete list.
   
   
    
3. Choose to:

• Delete the list and contacts - This option deletes the list and all of the contacts on it from your account. If you have contacts on multiple lists, they won't be removed from them. Deleted contacts aren't marked as unsubscribed, so if you need to add them back to your account later, you can.
• Delete the list only - This option only deletes the list and leaves the contacts in your account. You may end up with contacts that are not assigned to any list, but you can manually add them to a different list so that they don't miss out on the emails you're sending.

4. Click Delete.
   Note: If your selected list is currently in use with a scheduled email, you'll see an error message prompting you to unschedule your email before you can delete the list. You can also let the email finish sending and then delete the list.
   
   
    

Once you've deleted a list, don't worry about your past reporting. None of your existing reporting information changes and it will all still be there for you when you need it. Deleted contacts are represented in your reporting with a strike-through across their email address.

Questions?