We’re excited to introduce Automation 2.0: a guided, AI-assisted workflow experience in Keela that helps nonprofits create, review, activate, and monitor donor engagement workflows with more confidence.
Automation 2.0 is powered by Mission Assistant, the AI layer across Velora’s suite of products. In Keela, Mission Assistant helps bring AI-powered guidance directly into the workflow-building process, so you can describe what you want to automate in plain language and get help turning that goal into a visible workflow draft.
With Automation 2.0, you can build workflows from a prompt or start from scratch. You can also review visible workflow steps, configure filters and split paths in plain language, complete required action setup, and use Review & Activate before anything goes live.
Watch our overview video here!
ℹ️ Automation 2.0 is currently in beta. This means the experience is being actively developed and refined as we learn from customer feedback and continue improving the feature.
Why we updated Automation
Automation is one of the most powerful ways to save time and create consistent donor follow-up. But we know that building automations can be difficult when you have to translate a donor engagement goal into triggers, filters, delays, actions, and workflow settings on your own.
With the legacy Automation feature, many users knew what the outcomes they wanted to accomplish, but building the workflow could feel technical or time-consuming.
We built Automation 2.0 to help bridge that gap between your outcomes and configuration setup.
The goal is to help your team build donor engagement workflows with more confidence by enabling your team to:
- Get started faster
- Use plain language to build and adjust workflow logic
- Understand how a workflow will run before activation
- Complete required setup before a workflow goes live
- Monitor what happens after activation
How Automation 2.0 helps your team
Automation 2.0 is designed to help you turn donor moments into timely, repeatable follow-ups.
Some examples of what you can do wth Automation 2.0:
- Welcome first-time donors
- Follow up after a donation
- Send thank-you or stewardship emails
- Add or remove tags
- Segment contacts into different workflow paths
- Re-engage donors who have not given recently
- Create more personalized donor journeys
- Monitor which contacts entered a workflow and what happened next
For example, you could create a workflow that starts when a donation is received, filters for first-time donors, waits two days, and then sends a welcome email. Or, you could create a workflow that sends donors down different paths based on giving history or engagement criteria.
What’s new in Automation 2.0
Build from written instructions
You can describe the workflow you want in your own words, and Mission Assistant can help create a draft workflow from your instructions.
For example:
“Create a workflow that welcomes first-time donors two days after their first donation.”
Mission Assistant can help turn that goal into a visible workflow draft with a trigger, filter, delay, and action.
Start from scratch
If you already know the workflow you want to build, you can still start from scratch and manually add the steps you need. You access Mission assistant via the chat at any time to get its assistance building your workflow.
Review a visible workflow
Automation 2.0 shows your workflow as a visible sequence of steps, so you can easily review the flow and what will happen before the workflow runs.
You can see:
- What starts the workflow
- Who enters the workflow
- Which filters apply
- Whether there are delays
- Whether contacts split into different paths
- Which actions will happen
Use plain-language filters and split paths
Filters and split paths help decide who continues through a workflow and which path they follow.
In Automation 2.0, you can describe these criteria in plain language. Mission Assistant helps interpret your instructions into workflow logic, while keeping the criteria visible so you can review and revise as needed.
Complete required setup before launch
Steps that need more information or your input are marked as action required. For example, you may need to select the Email Marketing email that should be sent or choose a tag for an action.
Automation 2.0 keeps workflows in draft until required setup is complete and you choose to activate.
Review & Activate
To activate a workflow select Review & Activate. Mission Assistant checks the whole workflow for blockers, warnings, and missing setup. If nothing is blocking, the workflow is activated.
The review process helps you identify blockers, warnings, and missing setup and gives you a chance to resolve any issues before the workflow goes live.
Activity visibility after activation
After activation, you can review workflow activity and track a contact’s individual path through the workflow in real time. This helps you understand which contacts entered, what happened, and whether any runs need your attention.
The Activity page includes Per Contact and Runs views so you can monitor workflow performance and troubleshoot specific contact’s specific journeys.
How to access Automation 2.0
To access Automation 2.0:
- Log in to your Keela account.
- Go to the Automation area.
- Choose the option to create a new workflow.
- Start from written instructions or build from scratch.
Automation 2.0 is currently in beta. If you don’t see the Automation 2.0 option in your menu, you likely will need to visit Organization Settings > Beta to toggle on this feature. Availability may depend on your account, rollout phase, and user permissions. If you do not see Automation 2.0 in your account yet, contact your account administrator or Keela Support for help.
Preparing to migrate from legacy Automation
Legacy Automation will remain available for a period of time while customers begin using Automation 2.0. This gives your team time to review your current workflows and prepare for a smooth transition to the new automation feature.
Before rebuilding a legacy workflow, review:
- What the workflow is used for
- Whether it is still needed
- What trigger starts the workflow
- Which contacts should enter
- What filters, delays, or split paths are included
- What actions happen
- Whether any donor-facing emails need to be reviewed or updated
Migration tips
- Start with your most important active workflows.
- Rebuild simple workflows first, such as donor welcome or donation follow-up workflows.
- Use written instructions to describe the workflow you want Mission Assistant to help create.
- Review the new workflow carefully before activating it.
- Avoid running duplicate workflows in both legacy Automation and Automation 2.0 for the same donor journey.
- Deactivate or pause the legacy version when you are ready to use the Automation 2.0 version instead.
What’s different from legacy Automation?
Automation 2.0 introduces a more guided, AI-assisted experience while keeping you in control.
| Legacy Automation | Automation 2.0 |
|---|---|
| Users often had to build workflows manually from scratch. | Users can generate a workflow from written instructions or start from scratch. |
| Workflow setup could feel technical or difficult to translate from a donor goal. | Mission Assistant helps turn donor goals into visible workflow drafts. |
| Filters and branching required more manual configuration. | Filters and split paths can be configured using plain language. |
| Branching was more limited. | Automation 2.0 supports more flexible split paths for nuanced donor journeys. |
| It could be harder to understand what happened after a workflow ran. | Per Contact and Runs views help show which contacts entered, what happened, and whether anything needs attention. |
| Users had less guided support before launch. | Review & Activate helps check readiness before a workflow goes live. |
| Missing setup could be harder to spot. | Steps that need input are marked as action required before activation. |
The biggest difference is that Automation 2.0 gives you more guidance, visibility, and control. Mission Assistant can help create, explain, and refine supported workflows, and makes the workflow building experience outcome focused and goal oriented.