Building effective Automation Workflows in Virtuous CRM+ requires strategic planning and attention to timing, Query design, and data health management. This guide provides practical tips to help you create successful Workflows that engage your donors at the right time and avoid common pitfalls, all to help your organization increase generosity and create meaningful relationships.
Table of Contents
Tip #1: Use Appropriate Query Timeframes
Tip #2: Exclude Irrelevant Contact Types
Tip #3: Use Nested Queries for More Specific Targeting
Tip #4: Individual vs Contact Workflow Type
Tip #6: Be Strategic with Tags
Tip #1: Use Appropriate Query Timeframes
Automation Workflows run once per day in the early morning hours. This means that updates in CRM+, for example Gifts that are entered today, will not cause Contacts to be enrolled in Workflows until tomorrow morning.
This timing affects how you should structure your Queries:
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Avoid "Today only" Queries: Since Workflows run early in the morning, activities completed "Today" will never be included in the Workflow run. For this reason, we recommend you do not use “After Yesterday” as a parameter in your Query. Instead, use longer timeframes like “After 30 Days Ago” for Workflows.
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Account for Actions timing: If your Workflow Steps include Delays or Actions that take significant time to complete, Contacts may age out of your Query criteria before completing all Steps. For example, using “Last Gift Date > On or After > 7 Days Ago" will initially pull Contacts into the Workflow, but if the Actions take over a week to complete, those Contacts will no longer qualify for the Query and will not complete the remaining Actions. Design your Queries with longer timeframes to accommodate these delays.
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Create Date vs. Gift Date: When building Queries for Gift-related Workflows, consider whether you want to filter by: Create Date, when the Gift record was entered into CRM+, or Gift Date, the actual date when the Gift was given. Choose the appropriate date field based on your Workflow's purpose and timing requirements.
Tip #2: Exclude Irrelevant Contact Types
Consider excluding certain Contact Types or Custom Contact Types from your Workflows. Should Foundations, like Donor Advised Funds or other charitable organizations, be enrolled into your Workflow? Consider excluding Foundations, Organizations, or other non-Household-based Custom Contact Types in your Query. This ensures your messaging and Actions are appropriate for the intended audience. Learn more about Custom Contact Types here.
Tip #3: Use Nested Queries for More Specific Targeting
Use Nested Queries to allow your Workflow to target and enroll Contacts and Individuals based on more specific criteria such as specific Project or Campaign giving, In-Kind giving, Pledge giving, and more! Click here to learn more about Nested Queries.
Tip #4: Individual vs Contact Workflow Type
Workflows are built to target either Contact or Individual records only. This means Workflows are powered by either Contact or Individual Queries. So, it is important to figure out which Query Type to use. Click here for help deciding which Automation type is best for your purposes.
Tip #5: Unenroll to Re-Enroll
To allow Contacts or Individuals to go through a Workflow multiple times, you must enable the “Allow Re-enrollment” Setting. For a Contact to be re-enrolled in the future, they must first exit the Workflow after the initial enrollment. This means that the Contact must no longer meet the criteria of the Query after completing the Actions in the Workflow. For example, a “thank you for your recent gift” type of Workflow should look for Gifts in the last 30 days rather than all Gifts since 2020. If our Query pulls in all donors since 2018, the list will be large and repeat givers will not requalify. A shorter timeframe ensures that only this month’s donors will be enrolled, and next month they’ll be unenrolled. This ensures Contacts "leave the buffet line" and can re-qualify for future Workflow runs.
Some suggestions to ensure Contacts are unenrolled from Workflows at the appropriate time include:
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Use recent and dynamic Date parameters in your Query, such as "On or After > Last 30 Days" instead of "After > 01/01/2020".
- Add a Tag at the end of a Step which is Queried out for enrollment in that Step. Note: if the Tag is added too early in the Step, the Contact will be un-enrolled before completing all Actions.
Click here to learn more about enrollment.
Tip #6: Be Strategic with Tags
Workflows are great for managing Tags when Contacts engage with your organization and need to be labeled in a certain way.
- Avoid adding Tags too early within a Step if your Query excludes those Tags: This can cause Contacts to immediately become ineligible for the Workflow on the next day’s run, unless the Tag addition happens at the final Step.
- Plan for Tag removal: For every Tag you add in a Workflow, we recommend having a plan to remove it later. This prevents Contact records from accumulating too many Tags over time that may not be relevant. For example, when a Donor is tagged “First Time Donor,” consider at what point that Tag should be removed.
Custom Workflow Ideas
In addition to the nine Best Practice Workflow templates, you may want to consider a few custom Workflow options including:
Donor Anniversary Workflow
Modify the Birthday Celebration Workflow template to adapt for Donor Anniversary recognition to say “thank you” to donors on the anniversary of their first Gift.
Data Health Workflows
Monitor your CRM’s data health with Workflows looking for:
- Tags that are no longer actively used or Contacts with outdated Tags. For example, review the criteria for “First Time Donor” Tag. Should a donor with one Gift 5 years ago still have “First Time Donor’ Tag?
- Individuals receiving Emails who haven't opened or clicked for extended periods. Consider nesting a Sent Email type Query into an Individual Query to drill down on email activity, so you’re only sending email marketing to supporters who are actively engaging with your emails.
- Contacts with outdated Custom Fields or Custom Collection data to be updated or emailed a link with a Lead Form to collect new information.
Team Processes
Identify internal processes that can be automated through Virtuous Workflows instead of manual staff work:
- Task assignment based on Gift amounts, like personal emails, phone calls, or mailed letters.
- Contact Record updates based on Giving behavior like Project- or Campaign-based Giving, to add Notes or Custom Fields.
- Automatic Segmentation for marketing Campaigns using Tags or Custom Fields
- Gift officer assignments using Queries to route Contacts to the team members based on giving levels or wealth data. Learn more about moves management tools in CRM+ here.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Contacts Not Entering Workflow
If Contacts you assume should be enrolled in your Workflow are not appearing under the Results tab, check these common issues:
- Query date parameters are too restrictive. Consider widening your timeframe.
- Required Custom Fields or Tags are missing. Review the Contact Record to ensure the qualifying criteria is on the record.
- Contact Type exclusions in the Query apply and need to be revised.
- Workflow Settings are configured to “Run Against New" Contacts or Individuals only when you need "All" records.
Single Contact Needs Removal
While you cannot manually remove a Contact or Individual from a Workflow once enrolled, you can modify their eligibility or prevent them from receiving marketing emails.
- Option 1: Add a Tag like "Do Not Contact" to the Contact record and ensure your Query excludes Contacts with this corresponding Tag. When the Workflow runs the Query for enrollment, the Contact will not qualify.
- Option 2: Unsubscribe the Individual from the Email List used by your Workflow Emails. As every Email uses an Email List, if the Individual is unsubscribed, they will not receive any of the Workflow Emails. They will, however, still be enrolled in the Workflow and any other Actions will still be applied.
Contacts Dropping Out Mid Step
If you have Contacts leaving your Workflow (being un-enrolled) before they’ve completed the Actions, review these factors:
- Are Tags being added early in the Step that conflict with the Query’s exclusion parameters?
- Are time Delays causing Contacts to age out of the Query parameters too soon?
Duplicate Communications Across Workflows
When running multiple Workflows simultaneously and sending out mass marketing Emails outside of Automation, be wary of communication fatigue.
- Review all active Workflows to ensure Contacts aren't receiving conflicting or duplicate communications.
- Consider using Tags to track in which Workflows Contacts are currently enrolled.
Effective Workflow automation requires ongoing monitoring and refinement to ensure they continue meeting your organization's goals and maintain positive donor relationships.
Need more hands-on help building your Automation Workflows? Virtuous Professional Services offers solutions to optimize your CRM data and improve data hygiene, build Queries to determine enrollment, and customize your Workflows. Click here to learn more about our Professional Services offerings, or contact your Customer Success Manager to get started!