The board wants last month’s membership numbers broken out by level and by ZIP code. Altru’s standard membership report gets you halfway, the layout is locked, and the column you need isn’t on it. Every Altru administrator hits this at some point.
The short version: the canned reports in Altru are built to be run, not edited. You can usually change what goes into them, but not how they look or which columns they show. When you need more detail, the answer is almost always a query, not a different report. Below is how to get the most out of the canned reports, where they stop, and how to build the detail yourself.
What you can change on a canned report
Most standard Altru reports open with a set of parameters before they run. Those parameters are where nearly all of your control lives, so it’s worth looking at them closely before deciding a report won’t work:
- Date ranges. Many reports accept a custom range, not just preset periods. Running the same report for two ranges and comparing them side by side covers a lot of “this year vs. last year” asks.
- Filters and selections. Some reports let you limit results to a selection (a saved list of constituents, memberships, or transactions). This is the single most useful lever: build the group you care about in a query, save it as a selection, and feed it to the report.
- Program, level, or category options. Membership, sales, and revenue reports often let you narrow by program, level, sales method, or designation.
- Export format. Reports can generally be exported (Excel and PDF are the common choices). Exporting to Excel is the quickest way to add a column, a subtotal, or a chart the report doesn’t have.
Parameters vary from report to report, and we’d rather not guess at the options on any specific one. If you’re unsure whether a report supports a filter you need, run it with a narrow date range you can check by hand, or ask Blackbaud support before you rebuild anything.
What you generally can’t change
Altru is hosted, and the standard report definitions aren’t something administrators typically edit. In practice, expect that you can’t add or remove columns, change grouping, or rename headings on a standard report’s layout. If a report doesn’t include a field, no parameter will make it appear. If you’re unsure whether a particular report offers any layout options, Blackbaud support can confirm.
Knowing this early saves time. The common trap is spending an afternoon hunting through report options for a field that simply isn’t there.
Getting the detail with queries instead
Queries are where Altru gives you real flexibility. A query lets you pick the record type (constituents, memberships, revenue, sales orders, and so on), choose the exact output fields, and apply your own filters. The result is a list you can export and shape however you want.
A workable approach
- Start from the canned report. Run it and note the totals. These become your check numbers.
- Build a query on the same record type with the same date range and filters, plus the extra fields you need: ZIP code, household, constituency, sales method, whatever the question is.
- Reconcile. Count or sum the query results and compare them to the report. If they don’t match, the difference is usually a filter (refunds, comps, voided transactions, or how the report defines a date). Fix that before anyone sees the numbers.
- Save the query with a clear name and a description of what it matches, so the next person knows it was reconciled against a specific report.
- Export and format. Pivot tables in Excel or Google Sheets handle the “by level and by ZIP” style of question well.
Use smart fields for the calculated stuff
If your detail depends on a calculated value (lifetime giving, number of visits, years as a member), check whether a smart field already exists or can be set up for it. Smart fields are precalculated and can be added to queries as output or used as filters, which keeps your queries simpler and faster. Their values are recalculated by a process rather than live, so confirm when that process last ran before reporting on it.
Keep a short list of “house” reports
Once you’ve built a few reconciled queries, treat them as your organization’s own report library. A small, well-named set beats dozens of one-off queries that nobody trusts. A few habits help:
- Prefix shared queries consistently (for example, “RPT -” for anything used in board or finance reporting).
- Write the reconciling report and date logic in the query description.
- Review the list once a quarter and delete what nobody runs.
- Decide who is allowed to edit the shared versions. A well-meaning filter change can quietly break a monthly number.
When the export step becomes the job
The weak point in this approach is the manual export. If someone runs a query, downloads it, and pastes it into a spreadsheet every Monday, the spreadsheet is only as current as that person’s calendar. Social Good’s Data Bridge syncs Altru query results to Google Sheets and other tools, so the reconciled queries described above can feed a shared sheet without the weekly download.
Quick answers
Can I copy a canned report and edit the copy?
Generally not; standard report layouts aren’t something Altru users can edit the way they edit a query. Rebuild the detail you need as a query and treat that as your editable version.
Why don’t my query totals match the canned report?
Usually a definition difference: which dates are used, whether refunds and comps are included, or which transaction statuses count. Narrow both to a single day and compare line by line to find it.
