Who This Is For

This guide is for Action Network admins who need to find people based on date fields in Query Mode.

This article was last updated August 2026, based on feedback received from one of you lovely lot. If you think it needs an update, let us know by using the feedback buttons at the bottom of the article.

Norm Cassidy Digital Support Manager

Working with Dates in Action Network Queries and Reports

Most date queries start with a straightforward question- who joined recently, whose membership ends next month or which Grace members need attention? Start there, in plain English. Once you know who you're looking for, choose the field that holds the relevant date and use the matching example below.

Looking for new joiners? We also use separate seven-day and thirty-day tags in Action Network to identify people who have recently joined. How to Create a New Member Report in Action Network explains how those tags work and who they include.

Choose the Date Field

Before you build anything, make sure you're using the field that holds the date you mean. For Green Party membership data, these are the three you're most likely to need.

• Membership_Join_Date - the date the person first joined.
• Membership_End_Date - the date their membership is paid up to, or the date it ended.
• Membership_Period_Start - the date their current or most recent membership period began (the date payment was due).

Choose this first. A well-built rule against the wrong field will still give you the wrong results.

You can use the same approach with other custom fields that contain dates, provided the values are stored consistently - in the format YYYY/MM/DD.

Email subscriptions and other Action Network date queries are different. Action Network has built-in filters, such as Email Subscription Date. There's an example for that later.

Find People Who Joined After a Particular Date

Let's say you need everyone who first joined after 15 July 2026. That date won't change, so enter it directly against Membership_Join_Date.

In Field Values, put two greater-than signs before a date to mean “after”, or two less-than signs before it to mean “before”.

• 2026/07/15 - only 15 July 2026
• >>2026/07/15 - after 15 July 2026
• <<2026/07/15 - before 15 July 2026

Neither “after” nor “before” includes 15 July itself. Enter the date without a symbol when you want that date only.

For this example, add an Include Field Values rule.

• Field - Membership_Join_Date
• Value - >>2026/07/15

Find people whose original join date is after 15 July 2026.

This is a fixed date. It will still mean 15 July 2026 whenever you run the report.

Find People Who Joined in the Last 90 Days

If you want the report to keep itself up to date, count back in days instead of entering a calendar date. For people who first joined in the last 90 days, add an Include Field Values rule.

• Field - Membership_Join_Date
• Value - >>90_days

Find people whose original join date was within the last 90 days.

Read >>90_days as “after the date 90 days ago”. When you run the report tomorrow, Action Network moves the cut-off forward by one day.

This is a relative date. You may also hear it described as a rolling period - both mean that the window moves with time.

You can use the same pattern with other numbers of days.

• >>7_days - after the date 7 days ago
• <<7_days - before the date 7 days ago
• >>120_days - after the date 120 days ago

Write the number, an underscore and days, with no spaces. For moving periods, use days. Enter 30_days rather than 1_month or 1_year. If you mean a particular calendar month or year, use the method later in this article.

Action Network doesn't update saved targeting continuously. Refresh or recalculate it when you need the latest audience.

Find Grace Members Nearing the End of Grace

This example needs two pieces of information. The member must be in Grace now and their recorded membership end date must be roughly four to six months ago.

Start with all Grace members. Then keep end dates from the last 180 days and take out end dates from the last 120 days. The people left are approaching the end of the six-month grace period.

Membership_Status isn't a date field. It's the separate condition that keeps this report to people who are currently in Grace.

Add these three rules in Query Mode.

1. Include Membership_Status with Grace.
2. Include Membership_End_Date with >>180_days.
3. Exclude Membership_End_Date with >>120_days.

Because >> means after rather than on or after, a date exactly 180 days ago is not included. A date exactly 120 days ago remains because the Exclude rule removes only dates after that cut-off.

Find Grace members whose recorded membership end date was roughly four to six months ago.

Find Dates in a Whole Month or Year

The last 30 days and this month aren't the same thing. If you need a whole calendar month, use the year and month you want and let % stand for any day in it. For September 2026, that is 2026/09/%.

The % means “anything can replace this”. We call this a wildcard.

Here are some examples using 26 August 2026.

• Today - enter 2026/08/26
• This month - enter 2026/08/%
• Last month - enter 2026/07/%
• Next month - enter 2026/09/% against a field that can contain future dates, such as Membership_End_Date
• Last calendar year - enter 2025/%
• The last 30 days - enter >>30_days because this period moves with the day you run the report

Don't rely on shortcuts such as today, next_month, last_year, >>1_month or >>1_year.  Use the exact date, a year or month followed by %, or a number of days instead.

The % sign only looks for the same beginning. It can't correct a date stored in another format, so this works when the field consistently uses YYYY/MM/DD.

Find membership end dates in September 2026.

Find Dates Between 30 and 60 Days Ago

For dates from 30 to 60 days ago, start by including the last 60 days. Then exclude the last 30 days.

Add these two rules.

1. Include your chosen date field with >>60_days.
2. Exclude the same field with >>30_days.

That leaves the dates from 30 to 60 days ago.

Keep >> in both rules. If you use <<30_days for the Exclude rule, you remove the older dates instead.

If the exact cut-off day matters, use fixed dates instead. A date exactly 30 days ago stays in the results. A date exactly 60 days ago does not.

Example using Membership_Join_Date to find dates between 30 and 60 days ago.

Find Recent Email Subscribers

Email subscriptions are one of the Action Network filters that are handled slightly differently - as fixed or relative dates are built into the query editor. So if you wanted to check recent email subscription changes just add an Include rule for the built-in Email Subscription Date filter, then enter a number in days ago or less, such as 7.

Select First-time subscribers only if the person's original subscription is what matters. Leave it unticked if later changes to their subscription status should also count.

Find people whose email subscription was created or updated in the last seven days.

Quick Reference

Once you've worked through the examples, this table gives you the short version for next time. Replace the example dates and day counts with the ones you need.

Troubleshooting

If a result looks wrong, go back to the plain-English question first. Check that you chose the right date field and whether you meant a set date, a moving number of days or a whole calendar month.

The Report Is Still Calculating

If a date query doesn't finish, try these checks.

• Check that the field uses YYYY/MM/DD consistently. Those synced from GPEW centrally have rules in place to prevent non-date values being entered.
• Try an exact date you know exists in the same field. If that completes, check that a moving date uses a number, an underscore and days with no spaces.
• If you expect future dates, use a field that can contain them, such as Membership_End_Date, and enter a month as YYYY/MM/%.

Correct any dates stored in another format before using the results.

The Report Returns Zero

Zero doesn't always mean the query is broken. There may be no matching dates in the field you chose - for example, a join-date field is unlikely to have any dates next month.

There are a few things to check.

• you used the field that matches your question
• the month and day have leading zeroes
• the date uses forward slashes
• a whole-month or whole-year query ends with %
• a moving date uses the number-and-_days form, such as 30_days

The Dates Aren't What You Expected

Check whether you meant a moving period or a calendar period. “The last 30 days” moves forward each day, while “this month” always begins on the first day of the current month.

If one day makes a difference, check that exact date separately before using the audience.