Helpful Automations

Hello! In this lesson we’re going to build a few super useful task automations that your team might find helpful. In a previous lesson, we provided a detailed look at Funraise’s Tasks and how they work; today we’ll just be building a few automations.

We’ll build automations for the following situations:

• Failed Donations
• VIP Donors, and...
• Subscription Birthdays
  

Failed Transactions

Let’s jump in! Start in the Task section and click New Task Automation to create this first example. 

In this example, we want a Task assigned to ourselves each time a failed Transaction occurs

Transactions can fail for any number of reasons: a donor’s card might have expired, or they could have entered their information incorrectly. In either case, a donor wanted to donate but was unable to do so. A member of your team should follow up with the donor to make sure that you receive their intended donation.

Let’s start with automation settings. 

• The automation name should describe the fitler rules for this automation, so we’ll use Failed Transactions.
• Next, assign this to yourself.
• For the response type, select Follow up.‍
• Now, give the task a color... red feels appropriate here.
• For the task note, describe the action that should be taken to complete this task. For example, you could start with… 1) Check to see if the donor was able to successfully transact after this failed transaction. 2) If not, find the reason for the Transaction failure and follow-up with the donor.
  

The remaining settings will allow us to automate a few workflow processes.

• We don’t recommend reassigning a Supporter just because they have had a failed Transaction, so leave this unchecked.
• And because this task is not necessarily an important part of the donor journey, you may not want a completed task to create an interaction in this case, so leave this unchecked as well.
• Next, define the rules for this automation. Click Automation in the flyout side menu.
• Any new Transactions that meet the parameters that we set here will create a Task.
• You’ll just need one filter for Status—equals—Failed. 
  

And that’s it! After saving this automation, when a failed Transaction occurs, you’ll be assigned Task to follow up.

VIP Donors

For our next automation, let’s say that a specific member of your team maintains your large donor relationships and writes personal thank you letters for donations over $1,000.

• For the automation name, use Donations over $1000‍
• Assign the correct teammate.‍
• Thank is a good response type for this task.
• For the color, green feels appropriate.
• In the Task note field, provide instructions for completing the task. Something like, “Send a personalized letter to the donor”.
• Because the top donors are managed by a specific team member, check the box here. Now, when a donor makes a large donation, they’ll be assigned or reassigned to the correct teammate.
• Also, check the box to create an interaction when the task is complete. This will provide a historic record of the Thank You letter being sent to the donor.
  

Alright—now it’s time to build the automation rules. You just need two filters.

• First, a filter for Amount—is above or equal to—1000.
• ‍Second, you only want to respond to successful Transactions, so add a filter for Status—equals—Complete
  

After saving this automation, new Transactions at or above $1000 will create a task AND the donor will be reassigned to the proper teammate.

Subscription Birthdays

For our final example, let’s create an automation to celebrate Subscription birthdays!

A Subscription birthday happens when a monthly donor gives their 12th recurring donation—which means they’ve been a monthly donor for a full year. This is a great touchpoint to thank the donor for their commitment to your mission and maaaaybe even ask them to increase their recurring gift.

Please note: This example assumes that all of your recurring donors are giving at a monthly frequency—which is most common. If you have recurring donors giving weekly, quarterly, or yearly, you’ll need a different strategy.

• For the name, we’ll use “12th Subscription Recurrence”—remember, it’s helpful to use a name that clearly references the automation filters.
• Next, we can select an assignee, response type, and task color. (Make it festive; this IS a birthday!)
• For the task note, enter helpful notes like, “1) Thank the donor for their commitment to our mission. 2) Check if the donor is ready for an upgrade.”
• We wouldn’t recommend reassigning a Supporter based on this type of automation, so leave this checkbox unchecked. 
• You will want to make sure this communication is tracked, so check the box to have completed Tasks shown as interactions.
  

Now, set up the automation rules.

• You just need one filter for Recurring Sequence—equals—12. This means that on the 12th recurring Transaction for a Subscription, a Task will be created.
  

After saving this automation, you’ll see a new Task whenever it’s time to say Happy Birthday to a donor’s recurring Subscription.

And that’s a wrap! We hope these suggestions help you and your team get started with Tasks. See you soon!