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Communication lists let you group supporters so you can send the right message to the right people and give those supporters control over what they receive. This guide covers how to create and configure a communication list, how to use lists to target a message audience, and how unsubscribes work — both unsubscribing from a single list and the global “do not contact” suppression that overrides everything.

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What a communication list is

A communication list is an opt-in group of supporters (donors/contacts) for a given channel, such as email or SMS. Supporters can be added to a list manually, automatically by tag, or by subscribing themselves through a public form. When you send a message, you choose which list(s) to send to, and WeGive only delivers to supporters who are actively subscribed and have not been globally suppressed. You manage lists from Communication Lists in the dashboard. The list view shows each list’s ID, name, channel, and engagement stats (Supporters, Unsubscribed, Sent, Opened, Clicked).

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Create a communication list

  1. Go to Communication Lists.
  2. Click the + button (top right) to open Create Communication List.
  3. Fill in the configuration fields described below.
  4. Click Review details, then save.

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Configuration fields

Name of Communication List (required)
The internal and public-facing name of the list, e.g. “All Supporter Updates” or “Monthly Newsletter.” This is the name supporters see on subscription and preference pages when the list is visible. Description (required)
A short explanation of what the list is for. When the list is visible, supporters may see this to help them decide whether to subscribe. Visibility (toggle: Visible / Hidden)
When Visible is on, the list appears on supporter profiles and preference pages, and supporters can subscribe or unsubscribe themselves. Turn it off to keep the list internal — for example, an admin-managed segment you don’t want supporters to opt into directly. Visible To
Controls who can see the list when visibility is on. For example, Tagged Supporters limits the list’s visibility to supporters who carry a specific tag, rather than showing it to everyone. Double Opt-In (toggle: Required / Not Required)
When Required, a supporter who subscribes through a public form is not subscribed immediately. WeGive sends them a confirmation email with a Confirm Subscription button, and they only become an active subscriber after clicking it. This is best practice for compliance (CAN-SPAM/GDPR) and for list quality, because it confirms the supporter genuinely wants your messages. When Not Required, public subscribers are added as active subscribers right away. Require Recaptcha (toggle: Required / Not Required)
When Required, the public subscription form requires a reCAPTCHA challenge before it submits. Use this to block bot sign-ups on publicly shared subscribe forms. Auto-Add By Tags
Search and select one or more tags. Supporters who carry a selected tag are automatically added to the list, so you don’t have to add them by hand. This keeps the list in sync with your tagging rules as supporters are tagged over time.

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Add supporters to a list

Beyond public sign-ups and auto-add-by-tag, you can add supporters from the dashboard. There are two distinct actions, and the difference matters:
  • Subscribe — adds the supporter to the list and marks them as actively subscribed, so they will receive messages sent to the list.
  • Add — places the supporter on the list as a member without changing their subscription state. Use this when you want them associated with the list but don’t want to override their existing subscribe/unsubscribe choice.
You can apply these actions to selected supporters or to a filtered set.

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Target a message to a communication list

When you build a message, the Audience step is where you decide who receives it.
  1. In the message builder, open the Audience step (“Choose who receives the message”).
  2. Add the Communication List in the corresponding field.
  3. Under Message Type, choose Marketing, as Transactional will overwrite your Communication List subscription preferences.
  4. Under Audience Rule Groups, add a rule.
  5. Set the rule field to Communication Lists, the operator to is in list, and select the list (e.g. “All Supporter Updates”).
  6. WeGive calculates an audience preview so you can confirm the recipient count before sending.
You can add more rules to a group, and add more groups, to combine list membership with other criteria. Only supporters who match the rules, are actively subscribed, and are not globally suppressed will be included. Every message you send should give supporters a way to opt out. WeGive provides a merge variable for this:
Insert this variable into your message content (on the Compose step). When the message is delivered, WeGive renders it as a personalized unsubscribe link for that supporter. When the supporter clicks it, they are unsubscribed — their subscription for the relevant list is set to inactive — and the unsubscribe is recorded against that specific message so you can see it in the list’s stats.

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Variable Fallbacks

In the Variable Fallbacks section of the Compose step, you can set a default value for donor_communication_list_unsubscribe (and other variables) used when a supporter’s data is missing. You can supply plain text or reference another variable, for example:
This ensures the message still renders cleanly if a supporter record is incomplete.

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How unsubscribing works

There are two levels of opt-out, and it’s important to understand the difference.

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Single-list unsubscribe

When a supporter unsubscribes from one list — by clicking the unsubscribe link in a message, or toggling the list off on their preference page — WeGive marks them as not subscribed to that list. Their record on the list is kept (it isn’t deleted), so you retain the history that they were once subscribed and when they opted out. They simply stop receiving messages sent to that list, while remaining subscribed to any other lists they’re on.

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Unsubscribe from all lists

A supporter can also unsubscribe from all of your communication lists at once. This sets them to not subscribed on every list they’re on, but is still list-level — it doesn’t permanently bar future contact if they later resubscribe to a specific list.

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Global unsubscribe (Do Not Contact)

Global unsubscribe is a supporter-level suppression that sits above individual lists. On the supporter’s communication preferences, these flags control it:
  • Do Not Contact — suppress all outreach across every channel.
  • Do Not Email — suppress email specifically.
  • Do Not SMS — suppress text messages.
  • Do Not Mail — suppress physical mail.
When one of these flags is set, WeGive will not send through that channel regardless of which lists the supporter belongs to or whether they appear in a message’s audience. In other words, global suppression always wins over list membership. This is the true “global unsubscribe”: it’s the safeguard that keeps a suppressed supporter from being contacted even if they’re swept into an audience by a list rule. These consent flags are treated as protected data — they are excluded from audit rollbacks specifically so a suppressed supporter can’t be accidentally re-contacted by reverting a change.

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Where to view and manage a supporter’s subscriptions

Open a supporter’s profile and go to their communication preferences to see every list they’re on, their subscription status for each, and their Do Not Contact / Do Not Email / Do Not SMS / Do Not Mail settings. From here you can subscribe or unsubscribe them from individual lists or update their global suppression flags directly.

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Best practices

  • Always include {{donor_communication_list_unsubscribe}} in any list-based email so supporters can opt out — it’s both a compliance requirement and good list hygiene.
  • Select Marketing as the Message Type.
  • Turn on Double Opt-In for any list with a public-facing subscribe form to confirm intent and protect deliverability.
  • Use Auto-Add By Tags to keep operational lists in sync instead of adding supporters manually.
  • Respect global suppression: if a supporter is set to Do Not Contact, don’t try to work around it with list membership — the system will (and should) block the send.