This article lists the triggers and actions available in Automation 2.0, what each one does, and the options you can configure.
Types of Triggers
- Event triggers start when something happens in Keela, such as a donation being received or a contact completing a form.
- Scheduled triggers check for matching contacts on a recurring basis at the times you choose, such as contacts in a saved segment.
- Smart triggers help you follow up based on Keela Intelligence information, such as lapsed donors, donor readiness, or engagement stage (these also allow you to set your recurring schedule)
Event triggers
Use these triggers to respond to activity in Keela.
| Trigger | When to use it | What to set up |
|---|---|---|
| Contact added | Welcome or follow up with a new contact when their record is created. | • Under Created source, choose which sources should start the workflow: manually added contacts, Raisely, Zapier, imports, or Keela Donation, Revenue, Membership, Subscription, Custom, and Crypto Forms. • All listed sources are included by default except Zapier. • Turn on Zapier if contacts added through it should enter. |
| Transaction received | Follow up when a donation or revenue transaction is recorded. | • Choose Any donation or revenue transaction (the default), Donations only, or Revenue only. • Choose the sources to include: Manually added, Raisely, Zapier, or Imports. • All sources are included by default except Zapier. |
| Contact is tagged | Start a journey when a tag is added—for example, follow up with contacts who receive a Volunteer tag. | • Under Tags, select one or more tags. • The workflow starts when one of those tags is applied. |
| Contact receives email | Follow up when a contact receives an email. | • Choose the Email type to watch. • See Choose which emails to watch below for the available options. |
| Contact opens email | Follow up when a contact opens an email. | • Choose the Email type to watch. • You can watch interaction emails, Email Marketing emails, or selected categories or emails. |
| Contact clicks a link in email | Follow up when a contact clicks a link in an email. | • Choose the Email type. • Decide whether Any link should count or only a Specific link. • For a specific link, enter its URL. |
| Keela form completed | Follow up when someone completes a Keela form. | • Under Forms, include any Donation, Crypto, Revenue, Membership, Subscription, or Custom Forms. • Under Specific Forms, search for and select individual forms by name. • You can use form types, named forms, or both. • Named forms do not have to belong to the form types you checked. |
| Recurring transaction scheduled | Follow up when a recurring gift is scheduled. | • Choose Any donation or revenue transaction (the default), Donations only, or Revenue only. • Choose the sources to include: Manually added, Raisely, Zapier, or Imports. • All sources are included by default except Zapier. |
| Donation milestone | Celebrate when a donor crosses a giving milestone, such as their tenth donation or a total giving amount. | • Choose Number of donations or Total donation amount, then enter the milestone to reach. • Choose a Timeframe: Lifetime, This fiscal year, Last 12 months, or Custom. • For Custom, select a date range. |
Choose which emails to watch
For the three email triggers, choose one of these Email type options:
- Any interaction email — the default selection.
- Any email marketing email.
- Any email marketing email in specific categories — select Newsletter, Fundraising, Occasions & Holidays, Events, Stewardship, or Other.
- Any email marketing email in specific emails — select the sent or automation-enabled emails you want to use.
Choosing forms: You can include all Membership Forms and one specific Donation Form, for example. To watch only named forms, leave the form types unselected.
Scheduled triggers
Scheduled triggers check for matching contacts at the times you choose. Use them for journeys such as birthday greetings or follow-ups with contacts in a saved segment.
| Trigger | When to use it | What to set up |
|---|---|---|
| Contact's birthday | Send birthday greetings or start a follow-up before a contact's birthday. | • Choose On the contact's birthday or Before the contact's birthday. • For Before, enter how far in advance to start in days, weeks, months, or years. • Choose the Time of day. |
| Contact is in segment | Start a journey for contacts who match a saved segment. | • Select a segment under Choose a segment. • Set how often Keela should check it using the schedule options below. • Matching contacts can enter when they meet the workflow's entry rules. |
Set the schedule
For triggers with schedule options, choose how often Keela should check for matching contacts:
1. Select a Run frequency: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly.
2. Use Repeat every to set the interval between checks.
3. Complete the timing options shown for your frequency, such as the day of the week, monthly timing, day of the month, or month of the year.
4. Choose the Time of day.
The time defaults to 06:00 unless the trigger has a different default. Always review the schedule before activation.
Smart triggers
Smart triggers help you follow up based on giving history or Keela Intelligence information. Like scheduled triggers, they check on the schedule you choose.
| Trigger | When to use it | What to set up |
|---|---|---|
| Donor is lapsed | Reconnect with donors who have not given for a period of time. | • Enter a Lapsed donor window and choose Months or Years. • For example, 12 months looks for donors who have not given in the last year. • Set the checking schedule. • Matching donors can enter according to your entry rules. • Use Only once or Custom interval if they should not enter at every check. |
| Donor readiness | Follow up when a donor moves into a selected readiness state—not at every check while they remain there. | • Choose Not ready, Shows potential, or Ready. • Set the checking schedule. |
| Donor score category | Follow up when a donor moves into a selected score category—not at every check while they remain there. | • Choose Champion, Promising, or Needs More Love. • Set the checking schedule. |
| Contact engagement stage | Follow up when a contact moves into a selected engagement stage. | • Choose Disengaged (little to no recent interaction), Newcomer (not enough data yet), Financially Engaged, Socially Engaged, Financially and Socially Engaged, or Interested but not Engaged. • Set the checking schedule. • Keela updates stages about every 24 hours using roughly the last year's activity, so a new interaction may not change the stage immediately. |
| Contact is major donor | Follow up with contacts Keela Intelligence identifies as major donors, based on roughly the top 10% of giving or pledges over the last 24 months. | • Set the checking schedule; there is no separate category to select. • The default is Yearly, at around 09:00, because major donor status changes slowly. • Adjust it to suit your follow-up. |
Actions
An action is a task that the workflow automates for you, such as sending an email or adding a to-do. Full actions list below:
| Action | When to use it | What to set up |
|---|---|---|
| Send email | Send an Email Marketing email to the contact, such as a welcome or thank-you message. | • Select an email that has already been sent or a draft enabled for automation. • If you need a new email, prepare it in Email Marketing first; you cannot create one in the workflow builder. • Review the workflow's email settings to confirm who can receive it. |
| Notify users | Let your team know about a contact's activity. | • Enter a Subject (required). • Select the Users to notify (required). |
| Update contact field | Keep the contact's record up to date as they move through the workflow. | • Provide at least one of Priority, Assignee, or Notes. • For Priority, choose Low, Medium, or High. • Select an assignee or enter notes if those fields should also change. |
| Add or remove tags | Organize contacts based on their progress or activity. | • Choose Add or Remove (required). • Select the Tags to apply or remove (required). |
| Add To-do | Create a follow-up task on the contact's record. | • Enter the task in To-do (required). • Add Details or an Attachment if needed. • To set a deadline, enter Due date after and choose minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. • Use Set a due time for a specific time. • Select an Assignee if someone should own the task. • Choose whether to notify them when it is created and remind them before the due date. • For a reminder, set how far in advance it should be sent. |
Wait Until Step
Wait Until holds a contact at a step in your workflow while Keela waits for a specific event or condition, such as the contact opening an email or making a donation. It applies to contacts already in the workflow; it does not start a new workflow.
Unlike a Delay, which waits for a fixed amount of time, Wait Until lets a contact move on as soon as the selected event happens, up to the maximum wait time you set.
What happens while a contact waits?
- If the event happens before the maximum wait time: the contact stops waiting and follows the Yes path.
- If the maximum wait time is reached without the event happening: the contact stops waiting and follows the No path.
The maximum wait time is the longest a contact can remain at this step. It prevents them from waiting indefinitely.
For example, you could wait up to seven days for a contact to open an email. If they open it after two days, they follow the Yes path then; they do not wait the remaining five days. If they have not opened it by the end of seven days, they follow the No path.
What can you wait for?
Wait Until uses some of the same event and condition options as workflow triggers:
- Transaction received
- Contact is tagged
- Contact receives email
- Contact opens email
- Contact clicks a link in email
- Recurring transaction scheduled
- Contact is in segment
- Keela form completed
Choose the event or condition and its settings, then set the maximum wait time.
Wait for an email sent in this workflow
For email-related waits, choose Email sent in previous step to track emails sent previously within the same workflow rather than unrelated emails.