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Removing inactive contacts

  • December 11, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 58 views
J

Hi EA folks! I’m looking to keep our number of contacts below the paid-for threshold. What’s the best way to do this? Find old contacts with no donation history and no longer subscribed to emails, and bulk-delete them? Has anyone gone through this process?

Best answer by Jasmine Mostrom

Hi ​@kmartin, I can get why that might be a bit confusing since subscription statuses are tied to emails but create a list is going to look at the entire contact record (including all of it’s emails). What you’re going to want to do is create a multi-step search using Create-a-List, by following the below instructions:

 

  1. Create a new search in Create-a-List
  2. Using the email section, set Subscription Status = Unsubscribed
  3. Click Add Step
  4. Select Remove Contacts
  5. Using the email section, set Subscription Status = Subscribed

This should give you a list of contacts who only have unsubscribed emails. 

I will flag that, technically, we have a third email subscription status called Not Subscribed. This status acts similar to Unsubscribed, as those emails cannot receive emails sent through Targeted Email or a Workflow Automation, but it is more like a neutral status where you were given an email (on a form or through external means) for a contact that didn’t explicitly opt-in or out. You aren’t allowed to email them through blast messaging, but maybe the email is used for contact matching or one on one communication purposes.

If this is a status that is being used in your system, you may want to modify #5 above to check both options and be Subscription Status = Subscribed or Not Subscribed. You could also separate these out from each other by repeating #4-5 by creating a Remove Contacts step just for the Not Subscribed status.

Additionally, I would suggest making sure to take a look at the Suppressions on each step to verify if you want to include or exclude contacts like those that have been marked as Deceased. 

3 replies

Liz Ragland
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  • Liz Ragland
  • Community Manager
  • December 12, 2025

Hi ​@Jeff Gang I’m not familiar with your particular data or the size/age of your database but here’s where I would start from a priority list: 

yes to your suggestion of unsubscribed and no donation history. 
Bounced emails - if none of these have donated within 2 years, I would delete. If they have donated, I would attempt to fix. 
Unengaged contacts - contacts with no donation history and have not opened an email or engaged with your organization (Advocacy form, event attendee etc) in the past 2 years. 

Depending on the age of your data...I once worked with a customer who imported donations from 10+ year ago but they had no email addresses for the majority of these contacts and they didn’t send that much direct mail  + more than 2/3 of these donors had not donated within this decade. I advised them to remove these contacts if they had no giving history within the most recent 4 years. 

Others might recommend trimming to only keep those  that have engaged within the past 12-18 months but again, depending on the size and age of your data and how much you are wanting to trim that’s really up to you!

Liz at Bonterra
    K
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    • kmartin
    • First Timer
    • January 22, 2026

    Following up on this, we’re also trying to clean up our database, and I’d like to know how to see people who are truly unsubscribed. If I have my work and personal email subscribed, and choose to unsubscribe my personal email, I will still show up in the “Unsubscribed” filter when making a list, even though I’m not. How do I see who is truly unsubscribed, and doesn’t have a separate, subscribed email?

    J
    Forum|alt.badge.img

    Hi ​@kmartin, I can get why that might be a bit confusing since subscription statuses are tied to emails but create a list is going to look at the entire contact record (including all of it’s emails). What you’re going to want to do is create a multi-step search using Create-a-List, by following the below instructions:

     

    1. Create a new search in Create-a-List
    2. Using the email section, set Subscription Status = Unsubscribed
    3. Click Add Step
    4. Select Remove Contacts
    5. Using the email section, set Subscription Status = Subscribed

    This should give you a list of contacts who only have unsubscribed emails. 

    I will flag that, technically, we have a third email subscription status called Not Subscribed. This status acts similar to Unsubscribed, as those emails cannot receive emails sent through Targeted Email or a Workflow Automation, but it is more like a neutral status where you were given an email (on a form or through external means) for a contact that didn’t explicitly opt-in or out. You aren’t allowed to email them through blast messaging, but maybe the email is used for contact matching or one on one communication purposes.

    If this is a status that is being used in your system, you may want to modify #5 above to check both options and be Subscription Status = Subscribed or Not Subscribed. You could also separate these out from each other by repeating #4-5 by creating a Remove Contacts step just for the Not Subscribed status.

    Additionally, I would suggest making sure to take a look at the Suppressions on each step to verify if you want to include or exclude contacts like those that have been marked as Deceased. 

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