Automations are workflows that execute automatically and help you streamline repetitive tasks. You can leverage the information you learn about your supporters or donors to create more personalized interactions or you can automate your own workflow to make it easier for you to accomplish more with your time.

 

Getting Started

You can open Automation from the link in the Sidebar.

You can then create your Automation using an existing template or use the custom builder to create a solution that meets your needs.

Read more on setting up Automations

Automations can be particularly useful when you want to create an email series that responds dynamically to your supporters' actions.
Read more about automating your email series
 

Using a template is the easiest way to get started. They are designed to help you accomplish many kinds of tasks including marketing efforts that help you build email series for your supporters as well as automations that help you streamline your back-end record-keeping and daily tasks. The templates that are available will depend on the package your organization has selected.

Read more about Automation templates

Tracking the results

There are several ways to monitor and track your results with your Automations:

• The Automation dashboard displays a summary for each workflow of how many total contacts have entered, how many are currently engaged, and the date when someone last entered.
• The Performance page for each workflow displays more details on how many contacts have flowed through each step, statistics on each email sent, and a calculation of what percentage of your contacts have chosen specific actions.
• The Workflow Steps Report gives you details for each step in your Automations including how many contacts are currently at that step, how many have already moved through that step, and the description and status of each step.
• The Workflow Contacts Report gives you detailed information about the contacts that moved through each workflow, including when they first entered, when their most recent entry was, and where they are in the workflow.
• Use Automation search criteria in Create a List to search for contacts who went through your workflows or particular steps in your automations.

Read more on monitoring Automations
 

Best Practices

Before you begin, we suggest that you think through your Automation carefully and take the time to create and test any searches you will need in advance, especially if you are building a complex supporter journey or task flow.

When deciding which Actions to add, make sure that your user account has permission to publish that particular step. Before you begin, check with your organization's administrator to make sure you have access to all the step types you need. You may need to change your User Profile or arrange for a higher-level user to Publish the workflow you've created.