Create an Actionable List Definition

Plan Your Actionable List Definition

With a Data Processing Engine definition in place and run at least once, you have the dataset to create an actionable list definition.

The actionable list definition is where you filter the dataset, set the visible columns, and define list member statuses for actionable lists. For example, HNMI’s admin, Elle, is setting up a donor qualification actionable list. She must add statuses for list members to track their progress in the qualification processes. These values are available on the actionable list for fundraisers at HNMI.

In this step, you create the actionable list definition and a flow to refresh its data.

Create an Actionable List Definition

You already set up a Data Processing Engine definition from the template, now use it to create an actionable list definition.

1. From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter actionable, and then select Actionable Segmentation Settings.
   
2. Select Use Existing Data Processing Engine Definition.
   
3. Specify these details.
   
   • Name: Major Donor Qualification
   • Object: Account
     
   • Select Major Gifts Fundraising Account Actionable List.
     
4. Save your work. If you receive an error message you can disregard it.
   

It takes some time for the new actionable list definition to collect its data. To check your definition’s status, refresh the page. When the Dataset Status for the actionable list definition changes to Completed, you’re ready for the next step.

Next, define the visible columns for the actionable list definition. This step sets which columns are visible as default columns in the actionable list and their display order.

1. In the Major Donor Qualification row of the List Definitions table, click + Add Columns.
   
2. Move these columns to the Selected Fields area by selecting them and then clicking .
   
   • Name (Text)
     
   • City (Text)
     
   • State (Text)
     
3. Save your work.
   

You must also define list member statuses for the actionable list definition. Fundraisers use these statuses when they’re working with an actionable list. Elle is working on actionable lists for major donor qualification, so she creates four statuses for HNMI’s donor qualification process. Create those statuses now. Plus, to make it easier to immediately determine the status of each donor, select colorful icons for each status. If the icons don’t appear in the Icon picklist, you can just enter the status values—we don’t check the icons.

1. In the Major Donor Qualification row of the List Definitions table, click + Add Statuses.
   
2. Specify these details to create the New status.
   
   • Icon:
     
   • Status: New
3. Click New Status.
   
4. Specify these details to create the Qualification status.
   
   • Icon:
     
   • Status: Qualification
5. Click New Status.
   
6. Specify these details to create the Cultivation status.
   
   • Icon:
     
   • Status: Cultivation
7. Click New Status.
   
8. Specify these details to create the Disqualified status.
   
   • Icon:
     
   • Status: Disqualified
9. Save your work.
   

Finally, set your column display format. This step ensures that the data in the column is formatted correctly, such as making sure that revenue values are displayed as currency and not text.

1. In the Major Donor Qualification row of the List Definitions table, click and select Edit Column Display Format.
   
2. Compare the Column Format and Filter Input Format values and make adjustments so that the formats are compatible. In this case, you can accept all of the automatically generated suggestions. Click Apply Suggestions.
   
3. Save your work.
   
4. Review the warning message about saving the wrong format for a column, and click OK.
   

The actionable list definition is ready! All that’s left is to activate the definition. Before you do that, here’s a recommendation: If you want to modify the visible columns, member statuses, or display column format of an active definition, deactivate the definition first. But that becomes more difficult as your team’s actionable lists depend on a definition.

Activate the Major Donor Qualification template now. Enable Active and click OK on the warning window.

Schedule Updates to an Actionable List Definition

Actionable lists work best when they change as the data in your Salesforce org changes. Elle’s fundraising team wants new prospective donors to appear on a fundraiser’s qualification lists as those donors meet the criteria. This means Elle must update the dataset behind the actionable lists.

To update the dataset, you can create a schedule-triggered flow in Flow Builder to automatically run your actionable list definition. The flow can be as simple as a single Action element that runs your Data Processing Engine definition either daily or weekly. Elle sets up her flow to run weekly because HNMI’s fundraising team doesn’t expect the list data to change dramatically each day. She can go back and update the flow if she needs the dataset to refresh more frequently.

Here’s how to set up the flow.

1. From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter flows, and then select Flows.
   
2. Click New Flow.
   
3. Select Start From Scratch and click Next.
   
4. Select Schedule-Triggered Flow and click Create.
   
5. In the Set a Schedule panel, specify these details.
   
   • Start Date: Tomorrow
     
   • Start Time: 12:00 a.m.
     
   • Frequency: Weekly
     
6. Click between the start and end elements.
   
7. Find and select the Action element.
   
8. In the Action pane, find and select Major Gifts Fundraising Account Actionable List-ActionableList.
   
9. Specify these details.
   
   • Label: Generate Major Gifts Fundraising Account Actionable List Data
   • API Name: This field auto-populates with Generate_Major_Gifts_Fundraising_Account_Actionable_List_Data
   • Description: This action refreshes the dataset for the Major Gifts Fundraising Account Actionable List.
10. Save your flow and specify these details:
    
    • Flow Label: Major Gifts Fundraising Account Actionable List DPE
      
    • Flow API Name: This field auto-populates with Major_Gifts_Fundraising_Account_Actionable_List_DPE
      
    • Description: Refreshes the dataset for the Major Gifts Fundraising Account Actionable List one time each week.
      
    • Save your work.
      

That’s it! This simple flow runs the Data Processing Engine definition that feeds the actionable list definition and actionable list once each week.

There’s one more step that Elle completes: activate the flow by clicking Activate. This step is optional for you in this project org, because you aren’t actually using this dataset after you complete this project.

With the actionable list definition created and the dataset ready to update automatically, you’ve completed the foundational work to build an actionable list. You set up your actionable list in the next unit.

Resources

• Salesforce Help: Create an Actionable List Definition
• Salesforce Help: Refresh Datasets Periodically Using Flows
• Salesforce Help: Automate Tasks with Flows