Welcome first-time donors automatically
Set up an automation that, after someone's very first gift, emails them a welcome and makes a task to call them a few days later.
- 1
Open Automations
Go to Outreach → "Automations" and scroll to "New automation".
Start a new automation. - 2
When: first gift
In "When" choose "Someone gives for the first time". Name it, for example "Welcome new donors".
Choose "Someone gives for the first time". - 3
Then: email the person
In "Then do" choose "Email the person". Type a subject such as "Welcome to our community, {{first_name}}" and a short message. You can use {{amount}} for their gift.
The first action: a welcome email. - 4
Also: a call task
In "Then also (optional)" choose "Make a follow-up task". Type "Call {{first_name}} to say thank you", set "due in days" to 3, and pick who should call.
A second action: a call task. - 5
Save
Press "Save automation". It starts with first gifts that come in from now on.
- 6
Check it next week
Come back and see the number of times it ran. The tasks appear in "To do" for the person you chose.
The call tasks show up in To do.
Tips
- A first gift is counted only when it went through (a pending bank transfer counts once it clears).
- To reach out again if they don't give a second time, add a "Someone hasn't given in a while" automation with 365 days.
If something isn't working
Someone who gave before got the welcome.
Their earlier gifts are probably on another record. Combine the duplicates.
No email went, but the task did.
They have no email or chose "Do not email" — the email was skipped.