Since Automation 2.0 became available to everyone on September 3, we’ve continued to add improvements based on your feedback. This article rounds up what’s new — from faster ways to start a workflow to smarter triggers and safer handling when something a workflow depends on changes.
What’s new
Start from a workflow template
When you create a new workflow, you can now start from a prebuilt template instead of a blank canvas. Templates cover common nonprofit journeys, such as welcome series, win-back, stewardship, milestone celebrations, and major-donor follow-up. To use a template, select New workflow, then choose a template under Choose a starting point (All, Essentials, or Keela Intelligence). As soon as you select a template, a populated draft opens right away — there’s no extra step to confirm a name or assignee. The draft uses the template’s name, which you can rename at any time, and its triggers, delays, emails, and other steps are already laid out.
Templates are a starting point, not a locked journey. Review every step before activation, since some steps may still need setup (for example, selecting an Email Marketing email for a Send email action), and configure the workflow’s Settings.
Suggested workflows on Contacts & Transactions tables
Keela now suggests ready-to-start workflows where you already work. On the Contacts and Transactions tables, select Suggested workflows to open a drawer of ideas tailored to your data. Each card shows a category, why it was suggested, and a short description.
Like templates, selecting a suggestion creates the draft immediately, with its name and steps already in place — no confirmation step. Review and adjust it, then select Review & Activate when you’re ready.
Smart triggers powered by Keela Intelligence
A new Smart triggers category in the trigger picker lets you start workflows from Keela Intelligence donor signals, not only from events:
- Donor readiness — starts when a donor moves into Not ready, Shows potential, or Ready.
- Donor score category — starts when a donor moves into Champion, Promising, or Needs More Love.
- Contact engagement stage — starts when a contact moves into a stage such as Disengaged, Newcomer, or Financially and Socially Engaged.
- Contact is major donor — starts for contacts Keela Intelligence identifies as major donors (roughly the top 10% of giving or pledges over the last 24 months).
- Donor is lapsed — starts when a donor hasn’t given within a window you set (for example, 12 months), so you can build win-back and re-engagement journeys.
Smart triggers check for matching contacts on the schedule you choose. Readiness, score, and engagement stage triggers start a workflow when a contact moves into the selected state — not at every check while they stay there.
More than one trigger on a workflow
A workflow can now start in more than one way. On the Workflow canvas, triggers appear together under Any of these triggers. Select + (Add trigger) beside the trigger cards to add another entry point, then configure it on its own. Every trigger leads into the same shared steps.
- Each trigger has its own settings, and you can add, edit, or remove triggers independently.
- You can use the same trigger type more than once — for example, two Contact is tagged triggers with different tags.
- When any trigger fires for a contact, the contact starts one run through the shared steps. If more than one trigger matches the same activity, the contact still starts only one run, so there are no double sends.
- A workflow needs at least one configured trigger before it can be activated.
- When you create a workflow from written instructions, you can ask Mission Assistant for more than one trigger in your prompt.
Migrate legacy workflows with multiple starting triggers
Legacy workflows with several starting triggers can now be migrated. One-click Migrate creates a single Automation 2.0 draft in which each legacy start becomes its own trigger under Any of these triggers, all sharing the same steps. As with any migration, the draft stays inactive until you select Review & Activate. If a multi-start workflow still shows Can’t migrate with an older “supports one starting point” reason, hover over the row and select Try again. Workflows that use a classic segment, are drafts, or use a starting trigger that isn’t available in Automation 2.0 yet (including starting triggers with their own filter conditions) will still show Can’t migrate; hover over the status to see why. Migration also now carries over Keela Forms starting triggers and legacy Add To-do stages, so more of your existing workflows can move over in one click.
Custom entry interval
In a workflow’s Settings tab, the Custom interval entry rule lets contacts re-enter a workflow only after a waiting period you set. Enter an amount and choose months or years — for example, 9 months or 1 year. This is useful for stewardship and win-back journeys that may repeat, but shouldn’t restart too soon.
Bulk actions on workflows
From the Automation 2.0 workflows list, select one or more workflows with the checkboxes, then open Actions to Archive or Delete them in one step.
Automatic pause and notification when a linked form, segment, tag, or email is deleted or archived
If a form, segment, tag, or automation email used by a workflow is deleted or archived, those workflows will be automatically paused and you will get an in-app notification. This keeps workflows from running with a missing resource.
- A system-paused workflow shows an alert-style Paused chip in the workflow list. Hover over the chip to see why it was paused.
- Both the workflow creator and the user who deleted or archived the form, segment, tag, or email receive the in-app notification, with the workflow name and the reason.
- Select the notification to open Automation 2.0, update the workflow to use a valid resource (or remove the step that depends on it), then reactivate.
Autosave
Changes in step sidebars and the Settings tab now save automatically as you edit, so there’s no separate Save step.
Why it matters
Getting started is often the hardest part of automation. Templates and suggested workflows give you a clear starting point for common donor journeys, and Smart triggers connect those journeys to Keela Intelligence signals. Multiple triggers mean you can build one workflow for every way a contact should enter a journey, instead of keeping copies in sync.
- Faster starts: Pick a template or suggestion and customize, instead of building from scratch.
- Intelligence-led follow-up: Start workflows when donor readiness, score, engagement stage, major-donor status, or lapsed status changes.
- Fewer duplicate workflows: One workflow can cover several entry points, with one run per contact.
- Smoother migration: More legacy workflows, including those with multiple starting triggers, migrate in one click.
- More control: Custom entry intervals and previous-step email waits let you shape timing more precisely.
- Fewer surprises: Clearer run statuses, automatic pauses, and in-app notifications make it easier to spot and fix issues.
Related articles
- Creating & Managing Automation 2.0 Workflows
- Triggers, Actions & Other Steps on Automation 2.0
- Automation 2.0 Settings
- Migrating legacy Automation workflows to Automation 2.0