JQL query to find tickets in progress on the backlog of a project that doesn't run in sprints

[Ellery.Saunders]

I am trying to do a fairly simple task and having great difficulty finding a method of doing it without it being time consuming and very manual.

I have a support project that has a backlog of tickets covering various support tasks that are outstanding.

We run the support project without sprints and have a board that includes tasks currently being worked on.

I have developers with spare capacity pick up tasks or have high priority tasks created by said developers.

They have a habit of creating/picking up tasks in the backlog and working on them without being on the board. 

I am trying to simply query tasks in the backlog that are not in a 'todo' status so that i can bulk move them onto the board and surface work that is being done easier.

I have tried various forms of JQL but they seem to rely on using sprints. Ideally I would like to be able to query on board/in backlog.

[Jack Brickey]

Are you using a Kanban board? Does your team move the issue from To Do to In Progress or some other status? If so you could use - project = abc and status != “to do”.