A messaging system (10) for notifying subscribers of incoming e-mail messages includes an e-mail system (12) communicating with a notification system (14). The e-mail system (12) includes a user interface (22) that permits subscribers to populate filter lists (16) with e-mail message attributes, such as sender e-mail addresses. The filter list (16) is provided to the notification system (14), which selectively notifies subscribers of incoming e-mail messages based on the contents of their respective filter lists. The notification system (14) can alert subscribers to incoming e-mail messages by pager, facsimile, voice mail, synthetic speech via cellular or conventional telephones, or the like.