5 Signs Your Nonprofit Needs Workflow Automation
Your program coordinator just spent 45 minutes copy-pasting donor information from a Google Form into your CRM. Again. Your executive director manually sends the same "welcome aboard" email to every new volunteer. Your development team forgets to follow up with donors because there's no system to remind them.
This is the unglamorous reality of nonprofit work: Hours vanish into repetitive administrative tasks that nobody wants to do but everybody agrees are "important."
Workflow automation can fix this. But here's the thing nobody tells you: automation isn't about replacing people or building complicated systems. It's about reclaiming time for the work that actually matters.
Here are five signs your nonprofit is ready for automation—and where to start if you've never done this before.
Sign 1: Your Team Says "I'll Do It (Manually)" More Than Once a Week
If you hear phrases like these, you have an automation problem:
"I'll just copy this into the spreadsheet myself"
"Remind me to send that follow-up email next week"
"Can someone update the donor list with these new contacts?"
"I need to manually check if anyone RSVP'd"
Every time someone says "I'll do it manually," they're volunteering for a task that will:
Take longer than expected
Get delayed when they're busy
Introduce human error
Need to be done again next week
What to automate:
Form submissions → CRM updates. When someone fills out a contact form, donation form, or volunteer application, that data should flow directly into your CRM or database. No copy-pasting.
How to start:
Use Zapier (starts free) or Make.com (starts free) to connect your forms (Google Forms, Typeform, Squarespace) to your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Airtable). A basic automation takes 15 minutes to set up and saves hours every week.
Sign 2: Important Follow-Ups Fall Through the Cracks
You know you should:
Send thank-you emails within 24 hours of a donation
Follow up with event attendees after programs
Check in with volunteers after their first shift
Remind board members about upcoming deadlines
But in reality? Half of these don't happen because everyone's too busy, and there's no system to ensure they get done.
This isn't a people problem. It's a systems problem. Your team isn't forgetful—they're overwhelmed.
What to automate:
Time-based follow-ups. Emails that should go out 1 day, 3 days, or 1 week after an event, donation, or signup.
How to start:
If you use Mailchimp, HubSpot, or similar email tools, set up simple automation sequences:
New donor → immediate thank-you email → 1-week impact update
New volunteer → welcome email → 3-day check-in → 2-week feedback request
Event RSVP → reminder 1 day before → follow-up 2 days after
These aren't complicated. Each sequence takes 30-60 minutes to build and runs forever.
Sign 3: You're Manually Creating the Same Reports Every Month
If your monthly routine includes:
Exporting data from multiple platforms
Copy-pasting into Excel or Google Sheets
Reformatting columns and creating charts
Emailing the report to your board or funders
...and this takes 2+ hours every time, you need report automation.
What to automate:
Data aggregation and reporting. Pull data from multiple sources (CRM, payment processor, event platform) into one dashboard that updates automatically.
How to start:
Three levels of sophistication:
Basic: Use Google Sheets with IMPORTRANGE or built-in integrations to pull data automatically from forms, Stripe, Eventbrite, etc. Free.
Intermediate: Use tools like Coefficient (Google Sheets add-on) or Zapier to sync CRM data into reporting sheets automatically. $20-$50/month.
Advanced: Build live dashboards in your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot) or use a tool like Google Data Studio (free) to create visual reports that update in real time.
Start with the basic option. You can always upgrade later.
Sign 4: Onboarding New Staff or Volunteers Takes Forever
Every time someone new joins your team, you:
Manually send them welcome emails
Give them access to 6 different tools one by one
Schedule training calls
Send them a folder of documents to read
Hope they remember everything
This takes hours. And it's inconsistent—every new person gets a slightly different experience depending on who onboards them.
What to automate:
Onboarding sequences. When someone is added to your "New Volunteer" or "New Staff" list, trigger a series of automated emails, task assignments, and access grants.
How to start:
Create a simple email sequence (in Mailchimp, HubSpot, or even scheduled Gmail) that sends:
Day 1: Welcome email with links to key resources
Day 2: How to access tools (CRM, Slack, Google Drive)
Day 3: Training video or guide
Day 7: Check-in email asking if they have questions
Bonus: Use a tool like Zapier to automatically grant access to Google Drive folders, Slack channels, or Airtable bases when someone is added to your team list.
Sign 5: Small Tasks Pile Up Until They Become Crises
You know the pattern:
Donor email addresses slowly get outdated
Volunteer schedules aren't updated in real time
Event registrations sit in your inbox uncategorized
Someone asks "Do we have data on X?" and the answer is "Probably, but I'd have to look for it"
Then, right before a board meeting or funder report deadline, someone has to spend 8 hours cleaning up months of neglected data.
This happens because small maintenance tasks aren't urgent—until suddenly they are.
What to automate:
Data hygiene and routine maintenance. Automatically tag contacts, update records, archive old data, and flag missing information.
How to start:
Set up simple "if this, then that" rules in your CRM or database:
If someone donates, tag them as "Donor" and add them to a specific email list
If a volunteer hasn't signed up for a shift in 90 days, tag them as "Inactive" and add them to a re-engagement campaign
If an event registration is submitted, automatically add it to your calendar and notify the event coordinator
These automations prevent small tasks from becoming weekend projects.
Where to Actually Start (Without Overwhelming Your Team)
Here's the truth: Most nonprofits fail at automation because they try to automate everything at once. Don't do that.
Instead, follow this process:
Step 1: Pick one painful, repetitive task
Not ten. One. The task that makes your team groan every time it comes up. Common starting points:
Donor thank-you emails
Volunteer sign-up confirmations
Form data → CRM updates
Weekly team status reports
Step 2: Document the current manual process
Write down every step someone does manually right now. Be specific:
"When a donation comes through PayPal, I get an email notification. I open the email, copy the donor's name and email address, open our Google Sheet, paste the info into a new row, manually add the date and amount, then send a thank-you email."
Step 3: Find the simplest automation tool that works
You don't need enterprise software. Start with:
Zapier (free for 5 automations): Connects 5,000+ apps. Great for beginners.
Make.com (free tier available): More powerful than Zapier, slightly steeper learning curve.
Built-in automations: Most CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce, Airtable) have automation features already. Check before buying new tools.
Step 4: Build and test with fake data first
Don't test automations on real donors or volunteers. Create test contacts, submit test forms, and make sure everything works before going live.
Step 5: Monitor for the first two weeks
Check daily to make sure the automation is working as expected. Fix issues immediately. After two weeks of smooth operation, you can trust it and move on to the next task.
Common Automation Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake 1: Automating a broken process
If your current manual process is confusing or inefficient, automating it just makes it confusing faster. Fix the process first, then automate it.
Mistake 2: Over-automating communication
Automated emails are great for confirmations and reminders. They're terrible for relationship-building. Don't automate donor cultivation emails or personal check-ins. People can tell.
Mistake 3: Setting it and forgetting it
Automations need maintenance. APIs change, integrations break, email templates need updates. Check your automations quarterly to make sure they still work.
Mistake 4: Not telling your team
If people don't know an automation exists, they'll keep doing the task manually. Document what you automate and train everyone on what changed.
Real ROI: What You Actually Get Back
I worked with a small nonprofit that spent 6 hours a week manually updating donor records from PayPal and Venmo donations. We automated it in 90 minutes.
ROI calculation:
6 hours/week saved × 52 weeks = 312 hours/year
At $25/hour (conservative staff cost) = $7,800/year saved
Cost: $0 (used Zapier's free tier)
But here's what really mattered: Their development coordinator stopped dreading Monday mornings. She redirected those 6 hours into actual donor relationships and grant writing. Within three months, they secured two new grants totaling $50,000.
That's the real ROI of automation: it gives you time back for work that actually moves your mission forward.
Your Next Step
Don't wait until you have budget for a consultant or "the right tools." Start small:
This week, write down the three most annoying repetitive tasks your team does
Pick one
Spend 30 minutes Googling "[your tools] automation" to see what's possible
Build one simple automation this month
That's it. One automation. Then build the next one next month.
In a year, you'll have 12 automated workflows running in the background, saving your team hundreds of hours. And you'll wonder why you waited so long to start.
Not sure which task to automate first? Book a free 30-minute call and I'll help you identify the highest-impact automation for your organization.
