> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://orgo.space/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Email lists

> Reusable audiences for campaigns: how lists behave when an email is actually sent, and what feeds them

An email list is a saved audience: the people a campaign goes to. This page covers
what a list does once email starts moving. For building one, criterion by
criterion, see [Lists & Segments](/docs/platform/users/lists).

**Built for** organisations sending to part of their base rather than all of it.
**Replaces** pasting addresses into a mail client.

Lists live at **Administration** → **Communication** → **Lists & Segments**
(`/email-lists`). Creating, editing and deleting a list needs HR\_TENANT or
COMMUNICATION\_TENANT. Adding or removing an individual person from a manual list
needs ADMIN\_TENANT.

***

## Two kinds, one difference that matters for email

An **automated** list is a set of criteria. A **manual** list is a fixed set of
people.

For email the difference is timing. An automated list is evaluated again at the
moment the campaign is sent, not when you drafted it, so anyone who became
eligible in between is included and anyone who no longer qualifies is dropped. A
manual list sends to the rows in it, less two subtractions: anyone who is not
subscribed, and anyone whose member account has since been merged away or
deleted. Nothing is ever added to it.

That makes automated lists the right choice for anything recurring ("members who
have not paid") and manual lists the right choice for anything deliberate ("the
twelve people going to the retreat").

***

## Subscribed is not the same as in the list

Every member and contact carries a subscription state for email. A list shows both
numbers: the total and how many of those are **Subscribed**.

Campaigns only reach subscribed people. A list of 900 with 620 subscribed sends to
620\. The count shown next to **From a list** when you pick a newsletter audience is
the subscribed count, which is why it is often lower than the list total you were
expecting.

Unsubscribing is the member's decision and lists do not override it. Removing
someone from a list does not unsubscribe them, and unsubscribing does not remove
them from any list: the two are independent.

<Note>
  System emails ignore lists entirely. A renewal reminder goes to the member whose
  fee is expiring, whether or not they are in any list and whether or not they have
  unsubscribed from campaigns. Unsubscribing stops marketing, not the messages
  about someone's own membership. See
  [System emails](/docs/platform/emails/system-emails).
</Note>

***

## Where a list gets used

<Steps>
  <Step title="As a newsletter audience">
    In the newsletter composer, choose **From a list** and pick it. This is the
    main use. See [Newsletter](/docs/platform/newsletter).
  </Step>

  <Step title="As an import target">
    A data import can add everyone in the file to a manual list as it runs, which
    is the fastest way to turn a spreadsheet into an audience. Only manual lists
    can be picked: an automated list decides its own membership, so Orgo refuses
    the import rather than silently ignoring it. See
    [Importing data](/docs/platform/customization/import).
  </Step>

  <Step title="As the output of a question">
    Ask Orgo can propose a list from a plain-language question and save it as a
    real list you can then send to. See [Insights](/docs/platform/insights).
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## Adding people to a manual list

Three ways in: **Add** searches members and contacts by name, **Add CSV** takes a
file of addresses, and an import can populate the list as part of a larger job.

Adding someone who is already in the list is safe. The existing entry is kept and
the row is reported as skipped, rather than failing. This matters more than it
sounds: the add dialog only knows about the page of members it has loaded, so on a
long list you will regularly try to add someone twice without realising.

Removing someone deletes their place in the list and nothing else. Their profile,
history and subscription state are untouched.

***

## Local centre boundaries

If a newsletter belongs to a local centre, that centre's boundary is applied on
top of the list. A list containing people from three centres, used by one centre's
newsletter, reaches only that centre's people. A list cannot be used to reach past
a boundary that the sender does not have.

***

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The campaign reached fewer people than the list holds">
    Open the list and compare **Total** with **Subscribed**. The gap is everyone
    without an explicit opt-in: people who unsubscribed, and people who never
    made a choice. On an automated list the subscription chips on the recipients
    table show exactly who was skipped. A manual list has no such chips, so use
    the [email log](/docs/platform/emails/email-log) to see who actually received the
    campaign, or open the individual records.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Someone new should be in an automated list but is not">
    Check the list's member status setting. Automated lists default to active
    members only, so lapsed members drop out of them silently. That one setting
    can still be changed after the list is created.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I need a list to change from manual to automated">
    You cannot: the type is fixed when the list is created. Create a new automated
    list with the criteria you want and retire the old one.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Someone unsubscribed but keeps getting email from us">
    Check [Email logs](/docs/platform/emails/email-log) for what they actually
    received. If it is a system email (renewal, invoice, event confirmation) that
    is expected: unsubscribing only stops campaigns.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Related

* [Lists & Segments](/docs/platform/users/lists) - building a list and the full criteria reference
* [Newsletter](/docs/platform/newsletter) - choosing a list as a campaign audience
* [System emails](/docs/platform/emails/system-emails) - the email lists do not control
* [Contacts](/docs/platform/contacts) - non-member people who can be in a list
* [Email logs](/docs/platform/emails/email-log) - proving what a given person received